Unit 1 - Research Methodology
Explore The Intricacies Of Conducting Flawless Psychological Experiments
Table of content
Experiment time 🕹️
Let's dive into the fun world of psychological experiments! Remember, this is the only method that allows researchers to make cause-and-effect inferences. We can think of it as playing a video game - you control one thing (the joystick or buttons), and something else responds (your character on the screen).
Keywords to keep in mind
Independent Variable (IV): This is what you, the gamer, control. In our world, it's the variable that researchers manipulate.
Dependent Variable (DV): This is the result - the character's actions on the screen. In psychology, it's what changes in response to the IV.
The trick is to ensure that when you control your IV, nothing else changes. But hey, life's complicated, right? 🎭
A real-world example 🌙💭
Let's say you're conducting an experiment where X (IV) is sleep deprivation. You've got two groups: One that sleeps normally (control group) and another that you wake up every 15 minutes (experimental group). You're looking at Y (DV), or memory performance, which you measure with a morning memory test.
🎈 But, wait! There's another variable in the mix. Call it Z - the stress from the experimental group sleeping in an unfamiliar environment (a lab). In this experiment, it could be the stress (Z) that caused a drop in memory performance (Y), rather than the sleep deprivation (X) you were focusing on.
The sneaky character, Z (confounding variables) 🎭
These variables, like Z in our sleep experiment, are known as 'confounding variables'. They're the unexpected plot twists that can distort the relationship between the IV and DV, contributing to bias.
The solution 🎯
We need to keep these confounding variables in check. Think of it as playing fair in the game. They should be controlled, either by eliminating them or keeping them constant in all groups. This ensures they don't mess with our comparison and we get to see the real effects of our independent variable!
In short, designing a psychology experiment is like directing a movie. You need to control all the variables and manage the unseen ones, so your audience (or the scientific community) can see the story you want to tell (or the hypothesis you want to prove). 🎬🔬 So let's remember to always take note of our confounding variables (those sneaky Zs)!
Happy experimenting! 🎉
Unit 1 - Research Methodology
Explore The Intricacies Of Conducting Flawless Psychological Experiments
Table of content
Experiment time 🕹️
Let's dive into the fun world of psychological experiments! Remember, this is the only method that allows researchers to make cause-and-effect inferences. We can think of it as playing a video game - you control one thing (the joystick or buttons), and something else responds (your character on the screen).
Keywords to keep in mind
Independent Variable (IV): This is what you, the gamer, control. In our world, it's the variable that researchers manipulate.
Dependent Variable (DV): This is the result - the character's actions on the screen. In psychology, it's what changes in response to the IV.
The trick is to ensure that when you control your IV, nothing else changes. But hey, life's complicated, right? 🎭
A real-world example 🌙💭
Let's say you're conducting an experiment where X (IV) is sleep deprivation. You've got two groups: One that sleeps normally (control group) and another that you wake up every 15 minutes (experimental group). You're looking at Y (DV), or memory performance, which you measure with a morning memory test.
🎈 But, wait! There's another variable in the mix. Call it Z - the stress from the experimental group sleeping in an unfamiliar environment (a lab). In this experiment, it could be the stress (Z) that caused a drop in memory performance (Y), rather than the sleep deprivation (X) you were focusing on.
The sneaky character, Z (confounding variables) 🎭
These variables, like Z in our sleep experiment, are known as 'confounding variables'. They're the unexpected plot twists that can distort the relationship between the IV and DV, contributing to bias.
The solution 🎯
We need to keep these confounding variables in check. Think of it as playing fair in the game. They should be controlled, either by eliminating them or keeping them constant in all groups. This ensures they don't mess with our comparison and we get to see the real effects of our independent variable!
In short, designing a psychology experiment is like directing a movie. You need to control all the variables and manage the unseen ones, so your audience (or the scientific community) can see the story you want to tell (or the hypothesis you want to prove). 🎬🔬 So let's remember to always take note of our confounding variables (those sneaky Zs)!
Happy experimenting! 🎉