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INTRODUCTION TO METHODS Higher Psychology. What do Psychologists do?  Discuss in groups  5MINS.

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Presentation on theme: "INTRODUCTION TO METHODS Higher Psychology. What do Psychologists do?  Discuss in groups  5MINS."— Presentation transcript:

1 INTRODUCTION TO METHODS Higher Psychology

2 What do Psychologists do?  Discuss in groups  5MINS.

3 What do Psychologists do?  Study human behaviour and mental processes

4 How do they do this?  5 mins. discussion time

5 How do they do this?  Ask questions and develop theories about how, why and where things happen  Develop these into a specific hypothesis  Carry out research to test these theories – what happens when we try it out?

6 What does this mean? Discuss in pairs  Theory  Hypothesis  Study

7 What does this mean? Theory A theory is an explanation of why something happens (e.g. you failed the test because you studied with the TV on) Hypothesis A hypothesis is a specific prediction of what will happen when you control the situation (students who study with a television on will remember less) Study A study uses a method – in this case an experiment – to test a hypothesis

8 WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT METHODS THAT PSYCHOLOGISTS USE TO CONDUCT THEIR STUDY 

9  EXPERIMENTS (LAB AND FIELD EXPERIMENTS)  OBSERVATION (OVERT AND COVERT)  CASE STUDY  INTERVIEWS  CONTENT ANALYSIS  SEMIOLOGY

10 PLENARY  ON THE COLOURED PAPER PROVIDED WRITE DOWN  ‘TODAY WE LEARNED…………………’

11 EXPERIMENTS AS A METHOD  6 th sep. 2012

12 ENERGISER  Everyone gets a piece of paper and a pencil. In 5 minutes you must draw a picture that conveys who you are with out writing any words or numbers. At the end of 5 minutes I will collect the pictures. Show the pictures to the class one at a time and have them try to guess who drew it.

13 Experiments and Psychology  Experiments are one of the most commonly used methods in psychology  An experiment is a research method in which the researcher – the experimenter – has a high degree of control.  The experimenter controls the independent variable (IV) and measures the dependent variable (DV)  If we were to conduct an experiment on whether television distracts students from studying, what would be the IV and the DV?  What else might affect the study? Variables which we cannot control are extraneous variables

14 WHAT IS A VARIABLE?

15 What is a variable?  A variable is a characteristic that can take on a number of values.  For example the speed at which an individual may respond to a signal.  It can also be the number of items that an individual may solve on a particular test.  The readiness at which we respond or get influenced by a media propaganda

16 LETS NOW LOOK AT DIFFERENT KINDS OF VARIABLES

17 Dependent variable  The phenomena or the behaviour the experimenter wishes to explain and predict are the dependent variables.

18 Independent variable  The behaviour and its related conditions that the experimenter manipulates freely are called the Independent variable

19 Lets look at an example of these variables  An individual takes an IQ test [ which is a psychological test] the number of items solved by the subject [person] is the dependent variable.  The nature of the test and its conditions including the way it is administered are the independent variables.

20 Lets look at another example  An experimenter wants to conduct a test on –  The size of the pupil in different degrees of illumination  He may choose the intensity of illumination as his independent variable.  Manipulating it freely and measuring the pupillary area of the eye will be the dependent variable.

21 Control and experimental groups  For example we are interested in finding out the effect of vitamin A on night vision  We can do this by using a control and an experimental group  The same tests of vision are given to both the groups.  The essential difference between the 2 groups is that the control group does not receive any vitamin A whereas the experimental group does receive a dose of vitamin A

22  Then the test is conducted and results are compared to see if the experimental group has some significant superior performance over the control group

23 More about hypotheses 9 th sep. You may wish to predict the direction of the effect, e.g. Students’ performance will improve with practice Eating chocolate will increase happiness Taking regular exercise will decrease risk of heart disease Alternatively, you can just say that there will be an effect These are examples of experimental hypotheses We also write a null hypothesis, e.g. Practice will have no effect on students’ performance Eating chocolate will have no effect on happiness Taking regular exercise will have no effect on the risk of heart disease

24 STARTER  Watch this video  Identify the kind of experimental method used  Find out the IV  Find out the DV  What would you change to make this expt. Better?

25 Types of Experiment 9 th sep. 2012  There are two types of experiments:  Laboratory – usually in a specially designed room of a university, with full experimenter control. Milgram –study on obedience  Field – conducted in the ‘real world’… not necessarily an actual field. Pillavan – study on subway

26 Research Example Does practice improve memory? The Lucky Loo Driving School would like to know whether practicing in a driving simulator helps students to remember the steps they should follow in conducting the actual driving test. How might a psychologist set up an experiment to test this? What would be the hypothesis for this experiment. What would be the IV, DV and extraneous variables? Would this be a laboratory or field experiment? What would be the best design to use, and why?

27 Types of Experiment  What are the pros and cons of different types of experiment?  Think of situations in which you might use different types of experiment, and explain why.  Ecological validity means the extent to which findings can be applied in the ‘real world’. Which type of experiment has the most ecological validity? Why is this important in psychology?

28 Experiment Design Independent Groups Different participants take part in each ‘condition’ of the study, e.g. one group studies with TV, one group without Repeated Measures The same participants take part in two different conditions, e.g. studying for one test with TV, one without TV Matched Pairs Participants are matched (e.g. two students with similar scores on earlier tests) and one takes part in each condition

29 Pros and Cons of Experiment Designs Independent Groups Participants only need to take part once – don’t get tired or have ‘practice effects’ But different people = different results Repeated Measures Need fewer participants than independent groups, and compare ‘like with like’ But participants get tired, bored, or get better with practice! Matched Pairs Similar advantages to independent groups, and reduces the difference between groups But need to test beforehand, and may not get an accurate match

30 WHAT IS A SAMPLE

31 Sampling  Sampling is extremely important in Psychological research  A small number is taken from the population, the important thing being that this small group is typical (representative) of the larger group.

32 Types Of Sample  Random sampling  Every member of the sampling frame has an equal chance of being selected  This avoids bias in selection

33 Types Of Sample  Stratified  Where the population is divided according to certain criteria e.g gender, age etc.  Then proportionate samples are taken from each grouping/strata

34  Spatial Sample  Sometimes it is useful to study the participants at one particular event i.e. a particular space.  People are usually chosen randomly from the particular population e.g. at a demonstration or a rock concert. They may be only there for a short period of time so this approach has to be quick and easy to execute.


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