lecture 6

Question 1

non-experimental research

Answer 1

goal of psychology: describing/” explaining” behavior

• in what ways does X affect Y (and Z)
• between pre-existing groups
• following an intervention
• developmental research

Question 2

Quasi-experimental research

Answer 2

• goal of psychology: cause and effect relationships

- less control than true experiments, but more than non-experimental research

Question 3

validity in research design

Answer 3

-internal and external validity: did you meet the goal of your experiment, can you count on your results, which is most important

Question 4

internal validity

Answer 4

-a change in one variable (the IV) is the only explanations for a change in the other variable (the DV)

Question 5

treats to internal validity

Answer 5

1. extraneous variables: any variable (not of interest) within a research design that could impact the results ex) study ability
2. confounding variables: an extraneous variable that varies systematically (ie. At the same time) with the variable of interest ex) study time
   - demand characteristics: how your participants are acting
   - expectancy effects/ experimenter bias: experimenter acting differently

Question 6

other threats to internal validity (MRS SMITH)

Answer 6

M- Maturation
R-Regression to the mean 
S- Selection of subjects 
S- Selection X maturation interaction 
M- Mortality 
I- Instrumentation
T-Testing
H-history 
-all cofounding variables

Question 7

maturation

Answer 7

• physiological processes occurring within the participants that could account for any changes in their behavior
  ex) growing up
• grades are changing because they’re growing up and becoming better students

Question 8

regression to the mean

Answer 8

participants who receive extreme scores when tested tend to have less extreme scores on subsequent retesting
ex) your first year/first term GPA- they were already doing bad already

Question 9

selection of subjects

Answer 9

• any bias in selecting and assigning participants to groups that results in systematic differences between the participants to each group
• who was the experimental group? Tutor seeking group
• who was the control group? Hand picked by teacher group

Question 10

selection by maturation interaction

Answer 10

• the two groups, although similar at one point, would have grown apart (developed differently) even with no treatment
• experimental group has a much more likely chance of maturation

Question 11

mortality

Answer 11

• differential dropping out of some subjects from the comparison groups before the experiments is finished
  ex) students who were doing bad, dropping out (GPA going up due to it)

Question 12

instrumentation

Answer 12

changes in the measurement procedures may result in differences between the comparison groups that are confused with the treatment effects

Question 13

testing

Answer 13

-when participants are repeatedly tested, changes in test scores may be more due to practice or knowledge about the test procedure gained from earlier experiences rather than any treatment effects

Question 14

history

Answer 14

• extraneous events occurring during the course of the experiment that may affect the participants responses on the dependant measure
  ex) drinking age changes that year, making the students change less

Question 15

external validity

Answer 15

-can we generalize the results of other contexts?
external validity- other people
-population validity: selection bias: WEIRD
external validity- other contexts
-ecological validity : other experiments
-operational definitions
-measurement choices
-experimenter characteristics

• contrived situations :real world
• unrealistic responses