Investigating Behaviour Unit 2

Investigating
Behaviour
Unit 2
Unit 2
O Understand experimental and non
experimental methods.
Tested by:
O Nab (20 marks)
O Research Investigation (completed as
course work and sent to SQA before Easter
hols.
O Series of questions on a given scenario
worth 20 marks in final exam.
Experimental Basics
O Experiment
O Variables
O Independent variables (IV)
O Dependent variables (DV)
O Hypothesis
O One tailed
O Two tailed
O Null
Tasks
O Listen to the following 2 experiments and for
each write down:
O What was the IV?
O What was the DV?
O A one tailed, two tailed and null hypothesis
O Memory Experiment
Group 1 words
O Ball
O Dog
O Bag
O Fall
O Milk
O Telephone
O Wheel
O Picture
O Cat
O Winter
O Bicycle
O Rabbit
O Computer
O Comedy
O Front
O Sky
O Basket
O Nails
O Summer
O Television
Group 2 Words
O Paper
O Notepad
O Flat
O Jewellery
O Chocolate
O Files
O Table
O Lion
O Swing
O Pen
O Tiger
O Burger
O Hall
O Flowers
O Climb
O Ice Cream
O Duck
O Internet
O Seesaw
O Glasses
For this experiment:
O What is the IV?
O What is the DV?
O What would the one-tailed hypothesis be?
O What would the two-tailed hypothesis be?
O What would the null hypothesis be?
O Which hypothesis was supported?
Task 3
O For each of the following questions answer:
a) Identify the IV and DV
b) How could you operationalise the IV?
How could you operationalise the DV?
d) Write a fully operationalised one-tailed hypothesis.
e) Write a fully operationalised two-tailed hypothesis
c)
Do older people sleep more or less than younger
people?
2. Do people rate food as more attractive looking when
they are hungry?
1.
Experimental Design
O Repeated Measures – when participants
complete all conditions (as our memory
experiment)
O Independent Groups – when participants
only complete one condition.
O Matched Pairs - uses independent groups
but each participant in group A is paired
with a participant in group B based on a predetermined participant variable eg age, IQ,
gender, etc
Evaluation
O Repeated Measures (the one we used)
O One test may have been more difficult than the other. –
Random allocation would counter this.
O By second test participants may have guessed purpose
which will affect behaviour – Single Blind Design would
counter this.
O Order effect. By second test the participants are either more
practised or are bored which would confound the results
(confounding variables) - counterbalancing
O Independent Groups
O No control for participant variables – group A might just be
more able. – Randomly allocate participants/matched pairs
O Need more participants
O Matched Pairs
O Time consuming.
O Can’t control all variables.
Design
O For each of the following write down whether they are
repeated measures or independent groups:
1. Boys and girls compared on their IQ test.
2. Hamsters are tested to see if one genetic strain is better
at finding food in a maze compared with another group.
3. Reaction time is tested before and after a reaction time
training activity to see if test scores improve.
4. Participants memory tested in the morning and
afternoon.
5. 3 groups of participants tested to see if nouns, verbs or
adjectives are easier to remember.
6. Participants are asked to rate photos as attractive or
unattractive.
Task
O A psychologist conducted a study to test whether
visual imagery helps memory. There were 2 lists to
be recalled – one with words and one with pictures.
1. Describe how this experiment could be conducted
for each of the 3 designs.
2. Which would be best? Explain your answer.
3. For which would counterbalancing be necessary?
4. How would you design the counterbalancing?
Extraneous Variables
O Experimenter Variables (Eagly & Carli, 1983;
Rosenthal, 1966; Rosenthal and Fode, 1963)
O Personal variables.
O Demand Characteristics
O The Hawthorne Effect
O Age
O Intelligence
O Experience etc
O Situational Variables
O Order effects
O Time of day, temperature, noise, Mr Haldane
entering the room.
How to control these variables
O Pilot Study
O Standardised Procedures.
O Ensures all participants are tested under the
same conditions to counter any situational
variables.
O Standardised Instructions.
O Like a script – counters investigator effects.
O Double Blind Design.
O Neither the participant or the person conducting
the experiment knows the aims of the study
Experiment and Control
Group
O In order to assert that an IV has affected the DV
the experiment needs to be carried out in
comparison with the results of the experiment
without the DV.
O For example: The Drunken Goldfish
O Control group – no alcohol
O Experimental group – alcohol.
O NB if carried out with repeated measures design it
is called control conditions and experimental
conditions
Different types of experiments
O Laboratory
O Know they are taking part in the study.
O Low in mundane realism.
O Extraneous variables easier to control.
O Field
O High in mundane realism.
O Don’t always know they are part of an experiment.
(ethics?)
O Difficult to control extraneous variables.
O Natural
O Not always appropriate to change IV
O Participants may be biased.
O Causal conclusions can not be drawn as the IV has
not been deliberately manipulated.
Task
O The class will be divided in to 5 groups. Each
group needs to find the mean, median and
mode of their topic.
1. No. of coloured paper clips.
2. No. of coloured pins.
3. No. of SG passes at Credit level.
4. No. of hours slept last night.
5. No. of siblings (including step and half
siblings).
O You must design this task yourself and decide
what is the best way to collect the data etc.