psych research method summary, Summaries of Psychology

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AS Level Psychology

Research Methods

New CIE Spec (9990)

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Exam Information CIE Psychology (9990) In the course you will sit two papers at AS Level and two papers at A Level: AS Psychology

• (^) Paper 1 Approaches, issues and debates: 1 hour 30 minutes (50% of AS Level)
• (^) Paper 2 Research Methods : 1 hour 30 minutes (50% of AS Level) A Level Psychology
• (^) Paper 3 Specialist options: theory (Abnormality and Organisations): 1 hour 30 minutes (25% of A Level)
• (^) Paper 4 Specialist options: application (Abnormality and Organisations): 1 hour 30 minutes (25% of A Level) Assessment Objective What is it? Examples A01 Knowledge and understanding of theories, concepts and evidence Accurately describing a study/theory Correct spellings Concepts are defined Knowing the date of a study (and is the study relevant today?) A02 Apply theories, concepts, evidence and research methods to a range of issues How does the knowledge relate to the question? Linking content/connectives Your writing makes sense! Provide a balanced argument A03 Analyse and evaluate theories, concepts, evidence and research methods to make judgments and draw conclusions Weigh up arguments Which view is strongest? Provide a balanced argument Avoiding list like discussions

Experiments These are one of the most common ways that research is conducted in psychology and through the use of experiments, researchers are investigating cause and effect/causal relationships , i.e., if you change something will it have an effect on something else! So let’s do an experiment!

Variables Typically, a piece of psychological research will have a research aim such as to investigate the impact on listening to music on ability to recall information for a test. A research aim provides an overall purpose of a piece of work and will contain broad statements about the potential outcomes. In an experiment the researcher will identify the independent and dependent variable. Define the following key terms: Independent variable: Dependent variable: Researchers must ensure that they ‘operationalise’ the variables for their research and this means putting them into a measurable form. Here is an example: IV = Alcohol as measured in units DV = Reaction times as measured by how fast a person hits the screen when they perceive a hazard on a driving simulator. How would you operationalise the following?

Hypotheses You may have noticed that the statements above look like examples as hypotheses , which they are! A hypothesis is a statement of intent or a prediction for an experiment. In experiments the psychologist first puts forward an alternative or experimental hypothesis ; this is the statement they wish to test and this can be written in different ways due to the nature of the experiment:

• (^) Directional (one-tailed) hypothesis: this is a statement predicting the direction of a relationship between variables.
• (^) Non-directional (two-tailed) hypothesis: this is a statement predicting that one variable will be related to one another but it won’t state in which direction.
• (^) Null hypothesis: this simply states that the results obtained were due to chance and not the independent variable that the researcher changed or the situation that they engineered. Using the example from earlier related to alcohol and reaction time:
• (^) Alternative or experimental hypothesis: Alcohol will increase reaction times on a driving simulator (this would be an example of a directional/one-tailed hypothesis).
• (^) Null Hypothesis : Any effect of alcohol on reaction times is due to chance OR there will be no difference between the effect of alcohol on reaction times on a driving simulator. Go back to the previous page and re-write the statements as null hypotheses…

An experiment on teaching rats An experimenter noticed that some of her laboratory rats twitched their whiskers whenever their food was brought into the laboratory. She decided to test whether she could teach rats to twitch their whiskers when she flashed a light. First she measured the exact amount of whisker twitching that went on when the food was brought in. Then she flashed a bright light on/off just before each meal. The rats soon started to twitch their whiskers when they saw a light. What are the TWO independent variables being controlled here? What is the dependent variable and how is it measured? Write a suitable alternate or experimental hypothesis for this experiment.

2. Participant variables Participant variables are individual differences between participants that can include IQ, age and personality, which could affect their behaviour in a study and therefore affect the IV. A researcher can do little to control these, but careful selection of participants can reduce these. Repeated measures designs eradicate participant variables, but lead to order effects. Matched pairs designs minimise participant variables , but even twins have some differences that could be significant. Order effects such as practice, boredom and fatigue often occur when a participant is asked to undertake a task more than once (e.g. the control and experimental condition in a repeated measures design experiment – you will learn more about this in the next section). Order effects can be reduced in a couple of ways: Counterbalancing – this would be used in a repeated measures experimental design. The researcher changes the order of the tasks for each participant or uses the ABBA technique. For example, in an experiment testing the effect of alcohol on reaction times, half of the participants would be tested first without alcohol and then with A and then B) and the other half first without alcohol and then with (B and then A). Watch the video to find out more about how counterbalancing is conducted: Random allocation - the order of tasks, presentation of data and so on is decided on the toss of a coin or another random method of selection to control for order effects.

3. Demand characteristics: these are when participants may work out the aim of a study and this can affect their behaviour, for example, they may try to please the researcher by providing socially desirable (social desirability) answers. A single blind test could be used to help overcome this. This is where participants have no idea which condition of a study they are in. In drug trials, a participant would not know whether they are given a real drug or a placebo (sugar pill). 4. Investigator effects: these are the ways in which researchers may unwittingly/unconsciously influence the results of research and this can occur in several ways:

• (^) Physical characteristics of the investigators such as age and gender.
• (^) Accent or tone.
• (^) Investigators may be unconsciously biased in their interpretation of data and find what they expect to find. A double-blind test could be used to reduce this. This involves neither participant nor investigators knowing which condition participants are in. In the above example, the researcher would also not be aware which pill is the placebo or the real drug. There is one other type of extraneous variable that can affect an experiment are these are called confounding variables (think, confusing, as in they confuse the experiment). These are variables there were either not taken into account when establishing controls for the experiment or would be difficult to control for. Remember the example earlier on about whether drinking alcohol affects your driving reaction time? And perhaps the group that were given alcohol to drink before the test scored better than the control group (who didn’t drink alcohol before the test), how could we explain this? Well, it could be due to other factors that weren’t taken into account when planning the experiment such as the age of the participants, social background could be have played a part or even history of alcohol use.

A group of psychology students investigate recall for different types of information. It was hypothesised that there would be a difference in recall between PPTs who learnt 20 words and those who learnt 20 images. An advert was placed in the school’s termly newsletter informing parents of a memory test to be held at the Year 12 parents’ evening. On the night it was decided that the first 20 volunteers would be given two minutes to learn 20 words, while the following two minutes to learn 20 images (mirroring the words in the other condition). After the learning period volunteers were asked to recall as many items as possible in any order (free recall). No time limit was set for recall. Once PPTs had finished the aim was explained and they were thanked for their time. Aim: statement of intent Independent variable: variable that the researcher manipulates Dependent variable: variable that the researcher measures Hypothesis: predicted outcome Standardised procedures: elements of the experiment that were the same for each PPT Extraneous variables: ‘extra’ variables to the IV that should be controlled to avoid their impact on the DV Ethical considerations: issues that might impact on PPTs well-being and how to deal with them Why is it important that the IV and DV are operationalised?

Experimental Design Most experiments compare two groups of participants; an experimental condition (where you ‘manipulate’ something) and a control condition(this is what you compare your results against). There are three ways of assigning participants to groups: Repeated Measures Experimental Design Description Image Advantages Disadvantages Ways of dealing with the disadvantages (counterbalancing)

Description Image Advantages Disadvantages Ways of dealing with the disadvantages Matched Pairs Experimental Design

Types of Experiment There are three types of experiment: laboratory, field and natural. Laboratory experiment This method provides the psychologist with the highest level of control. The experiment takes place in a controlled environment and this controls for situational variables. Natural experiment These could be described as not a true experiment as the researcher is unable to manipulate the IV. Any changes in the IV would occur without the experiment happening. For example, children’s attention could be measured on very dull and very bright days, when the amount of light in the classroom differed even with the lights turned on. The DV could again be measured with a class test. Field experiment The main criticism of laboratory experiments is that they do not reflect real life. Field experiments try to rectify this problem by carrying out research in a natural environment.