Vocabulary notes:
| setting | |
| neuroscience | |
| to perform research | |
| determinism | , |
| empiricism | |
| to make observations | , |
| to figure out | , , |
| to find out about the world | |
| parsimony | , , |
| frugal | , , |
| to steer away | , , |
| to be testable | |
| falsifiability | , |
| to prove a theory wrong | |
| to investigate human behavior | |
| case study | () |
| correlational research | |
| naturalistic observation | () |
| to develop a hypothesis | |
| to conduct a psychology experiment | |
| to perform research | |
| randomly | , () |
| to assign participants | |
| independent variable | |
| in-depth | |
| test scores | |
| dependent variable | |
| correlation | |
| causation | , |
| relationship | |
| patterns and causes for behavior | |
| explanatory | |
| exploratory | , |
| intrinsic | , |
| observer | |
| self-esteem | |
| structured observation | |
| attempts at intervention on | |
| to confine | , , |
| validity | , |
| to conform with | |
| to draw conclusions |
EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Experimental psychology is an area of psychology that utilizes scientific methods to research the mind and behavior. Experimental psychologists work in a wide variety of settings including colleges, universities, research centers, government and private businesses. Some of these professionals may focus on teaching experimental methods to students, while others conduct research on cognitive processes, animal behavior, neuroscience, personality and many other subject areas. Those who work in academic settings often teach psychology courses in addition to performing research and publishing their findings in professional journals. Other experimental psychologists work with businesses to discover ways to make employees more productive or to create a safer workplace, a specialty area known as human factors psychology. In order to understand the scientific approach to experimental psychology as well as other areas of scientific research, it is useful to know the four fundamental principles that appear to be accepted by almost all scientists. Determinism One of the first cannons of science is the assumption of determinism. This canon assumes that all events have meaningful, systematic causes. Empiricism The canon of empiricism simply means to make observations. This is the best method of figuring out orderly principles. This is a favorite tool among scientists and psychologists because they assume that the best way to find out about the world is to make observations. Parsimony The third basic assumption of most scientific schools of thought is parsimony. The canon of parsimony says that we should be extremely frugal in developing or choosing between theories by steering away from unnecessary concepts. Almost all scientists agree that if we are faced with two competing theories, that both do a great job at handling a set of empirical observations, we should prefer the simpler, or more parsimonious of the two. The central idea behind parsimony is that as long as we intend to keep simplifying and organizing, we should continue until we have made things as simple as possible. Testability The final and most important canon of science is the assumption that scientific theories should be testable using currently available research techniques. This canon is closely related to empiricism because the techniques that scientists typically use to test their theories are empirical techniques. In addition to being closely related to empiricism, the concept of testability is even more closely associated falsifiability. The idea of falsifiability is that scientists go an extra step by actively seeking out tests that could prove their theory wrong.
|
|
|
Experimental psychologists use a variety of different research methods and tools to investigate human behavior. Experimentation remains the basic standard, but other techniques such as case studies, correlational research and naturalistic observation are frequently utilized in psychological research.
The basics of conducting a psychology experiment involve randomly assigning participants to groups, operationally defining variables, developing a hypothesis, manipulating the independent variables and measuring the depending variables.
The independent variable is the characteristic of a psychology experiment that is manipulated or changed. For example, in an experiment looking at the effects of studying on test scores, studying would be the independent variable. Researchers are trying to determine if changes to the independent variable (studying) result in significant changes to the dependent variable (the test results).
The dependent variable is the variable that is being measured in an experiment. For example, in a study on the effects of tutoring on test scores, the dependent variable would be the participants test scores.
A case study is an in-depth study of one person. Much of Freud's work and theories were developed through individual case studies.
In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes for behavior.
Types of Case Studies
- Explanatory: Used to do causal investigations.
- Exploratory: A case study that is sometimes used as a prelude to further, more in-depth research. This allows researchers to gather more information before developing their research questions and hypotheses.
- Descriptive: Involves starting with a descriptive theory. The subjects are then observed and the information gathered is compared to the pre-existing theory.
|
|
|
- Intrinsic: A type of case study in which the researcher has a personal interest in the case.
- Collective: Involves studying a group of individuals.
- Instrumental: Occurs when the individual or group allows researchers to understand more than what is initially obvious to observers.
Correlational studies are used to look for relationships between variables. There are three possible results of a correlational study: a positive correlation, a negative correlation, and no correlation.
- Positive Correlations: Both variables increase or decrease at the same time.
- Negative Correlations: Indicates that as the amount of one variable increases, the other decreases (and vice versa).
- No Correlation: Indicates no relationship between the two variables.
Limitations of Correlational Studies:
While correlational studies can suggest that there is a relationship between two variables, they cannot prove that one variable causes a change in another variable. In other words, correlation does not equal causation. For example, a correlational study might suggest that there is a relationship between academic success and self-esteem, but it cannot show if academic success increases or decreases self-esteem.
Naturalistic observation is a research method commonly used by psychologists and other social scientists. This technique involves observing subjects in their natural environment.
Naturalistic observation differs from structured observation in that it involves looking at a behavior as it occurs in its natural setting with no attempts at intervention on the part of the researcher.
