methods: objectivity

Question 1

what does being objective mean in research?

Answer 1

• being objective means being impartial and free from personal judgement
• important for measuring the dv without researcher bias
• objective measures are consistent and reliable, like using a ruler to measure table length instead of guessing

Question 2

how do cognitive psychologists study concepts like memory?

Answer 2

• cognitive psychology studies concepts eg memory that cannot be directly observed
• while mental processes can’t be directly measured, data from exps and neuroimaging can be observed
• examples include objective measures like memory recall tests and PET scans showing brain activity during tasks