Investigating Behaviour

1. Investigating Behaviour Unit 2

2. Unit 2 • Understand experimental and non experimental methods. Tested by: • Nab (20 marks) • Research Investigation (completed as course work and sent to SQA before Easter hols. • Series of questions on a given scenario worth 20 marks in final exam.

3. Experimental Basics • Experiment • Variables • Independent variables (IV) • Dependent variables (DV) • Hypothesis • One tailed • Two tailed • Null

4. Tasks • Listen to the following 2 experiments and for each write down: • What was the IV? • What was the DV? • A one tailed, two tailed and null hypothesis • Memory Experiment

5. Group 1 words • Ball • Dog • Bag • Fall • Milk • Telephone • Wheel • Picture • Cat • Winter • Bicycle • Rabbit • Computer • Comedy • Front • Sky • Basket • Nails • Summer • Television

6. Group 2 Words • Paper • Flat • Chocolate • Table • Swing • Tiger • Hall • Climb • Duck • Seesaw • Notepad • Jewellery • Files • Lion • Pen • Burger • Flowers • Ice Cream • Internet • Glasses

7. For this experiment: • What is the IV? • What is the DV? • What would the one-tailed hypothesis be? • What would the two-tailed hypothesis be? • What would the null hypothesis be? • Which hypothesis was supported?

8. Task 3 • For each of the following questions answer: • Identify the IV and DV • How could you operationalise the IV? • How could you operationalise the DV? • Write a fully operationalised one-tailed hypothesis. • Write a fully operationalised two-tailed hypothesis • Do older people sleep more or less than younger people? • Do people rate food as more attractive looking when they are hungry?

9. Experimental Design • Repeated Measures – when participants complete all conditions (as our memory experiment) • Independent Groups – when participants only complete one condition. • Matched Pairs - uses independent groups but each participant in group A is paired with a participant in group B based on a pre-determined participant variable eg age, IQ, gender, etc

10. Evaluation • Repeated Measures (the one we used) • One test may have been more difficult than the other. – Random allocation would counter this. • By second test participants may have guessed purpose which will affect behaviour – Single Blind Design would counter this. • Order effect. By second test the participants are either more practised or are bored which would confound the results (confounding variables) - counterbalancing • Independent Groups • No control for participant variables – group A might just be more able. – Randomly allocate participants/matched pairs • Need more participants • Matched Pairs • Time consuming. • Can’t control all variables.

11. Design • For each of the following write down whether they are repeated measures or independent groups: • Boys and girls compared on their IQ test. • Hamsters are tested to see if one genetic strain is better at finding food in a maze compared with another group. • Reaction time is tested before and after a reaction time training activity to see if test scores improve. • Participants memory tested in the morning and afternoon. • 3 groups of participants tested to see if nouns, verbs or adjectives are easier to remember. • Participants are asked to rate photos as attractive or unattractive.

12. Task • 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. • Describe how this experiment could be conducted for each of the 3 designs. • Which would be best? Explain your answer. • For which would counterbalancing be necessary? • How would you design the counterbalancing?

13. Extraneous Variables • Experimenter Variables (Eagly & Carli, 1983; Rosenthal, 1966; Rosenthal and Fode, 1963) • Personal variables. • Demand Characteristics • The Hawthorne Effect • Age • Intelligence • Experience etc • Situational Variables • Order effects • Time of day, temperature, noise, Mr Haldane entering the room.

14. How to control these variables • Pilot Study • Standardised Procedures. • Ensures all participants are tested under the same conditions to counter any situational variables. • Standardised Instructions. • Like a script – counters investigator effects. • Double Blind Design. • Neither the participant or the person conducting the experiment knows the aims of the study

15. Experiment and Control Group • 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. • For example: The Drunken Goldfish • Control group – no alcohol • Experimental group – alcohol. • NB if carried out with repeated measures design it is called control conditions and experimental conditions

16. Different types of experiments • Laboratory • Know they are taking part in the study. • Low in mundane realism. • Extraneous variables easier to control. • Field • High in mundane realism. • Don’t always know they are part of an experiment. (ethics?) • Difficult to control extraneous variables. • Natural • Not always appropriate to change IV • Participants may be biased. • Causal conclusions can not be drawn as the IV has not been deliberately manipulated.

17. Task • The class will be divided in to 5 groups. Each group needs to find the mean, median and mode of their topic. • No. of coloured paper clips. • No. of coloured pins. • No. of SG passes at Credit level. • No. of hours slept last night. • No. of siblings (including step and half siblings). • You must design this task yourself and decide what is the best way to collect the data etc.