EXPERIMENTAL Chapter Three

RESEARCH
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
Experiments are used to determine not only
whether there is a statistical relationship between
two variables but also whether the relationship is a
causal one.
For this reason, experiments are one of the most
common and useful tools in the psychological
researcher’s toolbox.
WHAT IS AN EXPERIMENT?

Is a type of study designed

specifically to answer the question of
whether there is a causal
relationship between two variables.
 TWO FUNDAMENTAL FEATURES
OF EXPERIMENT
1. The researchers manipulate, or systematically vary,
the level of the independent variable.
 They manipulate the independent variable by systematically
changing its levels.
2. The researcher controls, or minimizes the variability
in, variables other than the independent and
dependent variable.
 They control other variables by holding them constant.
INTERNAL VALIDITY
An empirical study is said to be high in internal validity if the
way it was conducted supports the conclusion that the independent
variable caused any observed differences in the dependent
variable.
Thus experiments are high in internal validity because the way
they are conducted—with the manipulation of the independent
variable and the control of extraneous variables—provides strong
support for causal conclusions.
EXTERNAL VALIDITY
•An empirical study is high in external validity if the way
it was conducted supports generalizing the results to
people and situations beyond those actually studied.
•As a general rule, studies are higher in external validity
when the participants and the situation studied are similar
to those that the researchers want to generalize to.
MANIPULATION OF THE
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
To manipulate an independent variable means to change
its level systematically so that different groups of
participants are exposed to different levels of that variable,
or the same group of participants is exposed to different
levels at different times.
Manipulation of an independent variable must involve the
active intervention of the researcher.
CONTROL OF EXTRANEOUS
VARIABLES
An extraneous variable is anything that varies in the context of a study other than
the independent and dependent variables.
Extraneous variables pose a problem because many of them are likely to have some
effect on the dependent variable.
It is important to control extraneous variables by holding them constant. it is
important to control extraneous variables by holding them constant.
Extraneous Variables as “Noise”-extraneous variables make it difficult to detect the
effect of the independent variable in two ways. One is by adding variability or
“noise” to the data.
 CONTROL OF EXTRANEOUS
VARIABLES
Extraneous Variables as Confounding Variables-
A confounding variable is an extraneous variable that
differs on average across levels of the independent variable.
To confound means to confuse, and this is exactly what
confounding variables do. Because they differ across
conditions—just like the independent variable—they
provide an alternative explanation for any observed
difference in the dependent variable.
EXPERIMENTAL
DESIGN
1 BETWEEN-SUBJECTS
EXPERIMENTS
oIn a between-subjects experiment, each
participant is tested in only one condition.
oThis is a matter of controlling these extraneous
participant variables across conditions so that
they do not become confounding variables.
RANDOM ASSIGNMENT
The primary way that researchers accomplish this kind of control
of extraneous variables across conditions is called random
assignment, which means using a random process to decide which
participants are tested in which conditions.
Random assignment
is a method for assigning participants in a sample to the
different conditions, and it is an important element of all
experimental research in psychology and other fields too.
RANDOM ASSIGNMENT
In its strictest sense, random assignment should meet two
criteria:
•Each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to
each condition.
•Each participant is assigned to a condition independently
of other participants. Thus one way to assign participants
to two conditions would be to flip a coin for each one.
TREATMENT AND CONTROL
CONDITIONS
Between-subjects experiments are often used to determine whether
a treatment works. In psychological research, a treatment is any
intervention meant to change people’s behavior for the better.
To determine whether a treatment works, participants are randomly
assigned to either
a treatment condition, in which they receive the treatment, or
a control condition, in which they do not receive the treatment.
2. WITHIN-SUBJECTS
EXPERIMENTS
•In a within-subjects experiment, each participant is tested under all conditions.
Consider an experiment on the effect of a defendant’s physical attractiveness on
judgments of his guilt.
•The primary advantage of this approach is that it provides maximum control of
extraneous participant variables.
•Within-subjects experiments also make it possible to use statistical procedures that
remove the effect of these extraneous participant variables on the dependent variable
and therefore make the data less “noisy” and the effect of the independent variable
easier to detect.
CARRYOVER EFFECTS AND
COUNTERBALANCING
•The primary disadvantage of within-subjects designs is
that they can result in carryover effects. A carryover
effect is an effect of being tested in one condition on
participants’ behavior in later conditions.
•There is a solution to the problem of order effects,
however, that can be used in many situations. It is
counterbalancing, which means testing different
participants in different orders.
TYPES OF CARRYOVER
EFFECT
1. Practice effect, where participants perform a task better in later
conditions because they have had a chance to practice it.
2. Fatigue effect, where participants perform a task worse in later
conditions because they become tired or bored.
3. Context effect, being tested in one condition can also change
how participants perceive stimuli or interpret their task in later
conditions.
BETWEEN-SUBJECTS OR
WITHIN-SUBJECTS?
•Between-subjects experiments have the advantage of being
conceptually simpler and requiring less testing time per
participant. They also avoid carryover effects without the need for
counterbalancing.
•Within- subjects experiments have the advantage of controlling
extraneous participant variables, which generally reduces noise
in the data and makes it easier to detect a relationship between the
independent and dependent variables.
CONDUCTING EXPERIMENTS

Experiments can be conducted using

either between-subjects or within-
subjects designs.
RECRUITING PARTICIPANTS
You should be thinking about how you will obtain your participants from the beginning
of any research project.
There are several approaches to recruiting participants.
1. Formal subject pool—an established group of people who have agreed to be
contacted about participating in research studies.
2. Participants who are not in subject pools can also be recruited by posting or
publishing advertisements or making personal appeals to groups that represent the
population of interest.
In many field experiments, the task is not recruiting participants but selecting them. The
point of having a well-defined selection rule is to avoid bias in the selection of
participants
 STANDARDIZING THE
PROCEDURE
It is important to standardize experimental procedures to minimize extraneous variables,
including experimenter expectancy effects.
•Experimenter expectancy effect
The way to minimize unintended variation in the procedure is to standardize it as much as possible
so that it is carried out in the same way for all participants regardless of the condition they are in.
•Double-blind study
Another good practice is to arrange for the experimenters to be “blind” to the research question
or to the condition that each participant is tested in. The idea is to minimize experimenter
expectancy effects by minimizing the experimenters’ expectations.
(A single-blind study is one in which the participant, but not the experimenter, is blind to the
condition.)
 EXPERIMENTER
EXPECTANCY EFFECT
Here are several ways to do this:
•Create a written protocol that specifies everything that the experimenters are to do and say from the time they
greet participants to the time they dismiss them.
•Create standard instructions that participants read themselves or that are read to them word for word by the
experimenter.
•Automate the rest of the procedure as much as possible by using software packages for this purpose or even
simple computer slide shows.
•Anticipate participants’ questions and either raise and answer them in the instructions or develop standard
answers for them.
•Train multiple experimenters on the protocol together and have them practice on each other.
•Be sure that each experimenter tests participants in all conditions.
RECORD KEEPING

It is essential to keep good records

when you conduct an experiment.
PILOT TESTING

A pilot test is a small-scale study

conducted to make sure that a new
procedure works as planned.
 PILOT TESTING
There are several important questions that you can answer by conducting a pilot test:
•Do participants understand the instructions?
•What kind of misunderstandings do participants have, what kind of mistakes do they make, and
what kind of questions do they ask?
•Do participants become bored or frustrated?
•Is an indirect manipulation effective? (You will need to include a manipulation check.)
•Can participants guess the research question or hypothesis?
•How long does the procedure take?
•Are computer programs or other automated procedures working properly?
•Are data being recorded correctly?
THANKYOU AND
KEEP SAFE