OBSERVATION

Do you ever observe while you

are riding on a subway?
•  People who are not scientists often do casual observations. What is the
difference between casual and scientific observation is how they are
conducted.
•  Scientific observation, is made
–  under precisely defined conditions,
–  in a systematic and objective manner,
–  and with careful record keeping.
•  When conducted this way, it gives important information about the
variables and its predictors.
•  Why do we use observation in psychology?
•  One of the aims of psychology is to describe behavior in its natural
setting. Many of the behaviors of an organism is dependent on the
environment (e.g. Some monkeys don't eat meat in wild environments
but eat meat when they are captured. Or obese people who don't eat
when they are with other people)
•  Frequently observation is the first step in the
discovery of the causes of human behavior.
•  Today we are going to examine the kinds of
observational methods, how it is recorded
and level of intervention.
•  First we will classify observational methods to
the level of intervention and then to the
method of recording (recording all behavior or
specific behavior).
 Observation without Intervention
(naturalistic observation)
•  Observation of behavior in a natural setting without any attempt by the observer to
intervene.
•  The observer is a passive recorder. The events occur naturally and is not
manipulated or controlled by the observer.
•  Is it naturalistic observation?
–  Observation in laboratory?
–  Observation of athletes in Olympic games?
–  Observation of internet discussion groups?
•  One major goal of naturalistic observation is to test the validity of laboratory findings
in natural settings (ecological validity)
•  Other major goals of observation in natural settings are to describe behavior as it
ordinarily occurs and to investigate the relationship among variables that are present.
•  E.g. Hartup (1974).investigated the frequency and types of aggression exhibited by
preschoolers in a children’s center. He distinguished two kinds of aggression:
a.  instrumental aggression. (aimed at retrieval of an object, territory or privilege)
b.  hostile aggression (person oriented).

He found that although boys are more aggressive, overall, type of aggression differed between the
sexes. Hartup concluded that both sexes had equal hostile aggression, while boys had higher
instrumental aggression
•  Hartup chose naturalistic observation because of moral and
ethical reasons.
•  E.g. When we want to examine the relationship between
early childhood isolation and later emotional and
psychological development, can you use an experimental
design?
•  Animal studies, case studies of children subjected to
unusual conditions by their parents, or institutionalized
children etc.. Are more ethical
•  Observation is a fundamental method in ethology (is the
scientific study of animal behavior under natural
conditions, and a sub-topic of zoology; similar to the
subtopic of comparative psychology)
 Observation with intervention
(müdahaleli gözlem)
•  Scientists like to temper with nature. They like to
intervene. Intervention is frequently seen in
psychological studies. Generally the reasons for
intervention are:
–  1. To cause an event that occurs infrequently in nature or
normally occurs under conditions that make it difficult to
observe.
–  2. To investigate the limits of an organism’s response by
varying systematically the qualities of stimulus event.
–  3.To gain access to a situation or event that is not open to
scientific observation.
–  4. To establish a comparison by manipulating one or more
independent variables to determine the effect on behavior.
•  Three important methods of
intervention observation researchers
use:

a. Participant observation
b. Structured observation
c. Field experiments
 Participant observation
(Katılımcı Gözlem)
•  When the observer is active and important in the observation
process, it is called participant observation.
•  The observer can either be undisguised (gizlenmemiş) or disguised.
In undisguised participant observation, the individuals who are
being observed know that the observer is present for the purpose of
collecting information. (this method is frequently used by
anthropologists who seek to understand the culture and behavior of
groups by living and working among the members of the group.)
•  In disguised participant observation those who are being observed
do not know they are being observed. People do not always behave
the same way when they know they are being observed.
•  In a classical study by Rosenhan (1973), employed
disguised participants:
Rosenhan- Being Sane In Insane Places.mp4
•  12 psychologist, pediatrician) misrepresented their names,
occupations, and symptoms.
•  Each complained of the same symptoms (hearing voices)
and requested admission.
•  Most were diagnosed as schizophrenia.
•  After diagnosis they stopped complaining.
The pseudo-patient’s observations…
•  If they approached PSYCHIATRISTS with
simple request
–  71% ignored them
•  (walked away with head averted)
•  23% made eye contact
•  2% stopped for a chat
–  (185 attempts)

•  If they approached NURSES & ATTENDANTS with

simple request
–  88% ignored them
•  (walked away with head averted)
•  10% made eye contact
•  2% stopped for a chat
–  (1283 attempts)
 How long did they stay in hospital?

•  The shortest stay was 7 days

•  The longest stay was 52 days

•  The average stay was 19 days

–  They had agreed to stay until they
convinced the staff they were sane!!
 •  DID ANYONE SUSPECT?
•  No
•  What about the REAL patients?
•  35 out of 118 patients voiced their
suspicions
 On release ………………...
•  The pseudo-patients were diagnosed as

•  Schizophrenia “IN REMISSION”

 Rosenhan
The follow up study……………..
•  A teaching & research hospital was told
of the first study

•  and warned that …

•  Over the next three months ONE OR
MORE pseudo-patient would attempt
to be admitted
 What happened……….?
•  Staff members rated ‘new patients’ on scale
1 - 10 as ‘how likely to be a fraud’

•  193 patients ‘assessed’

•  41 rated as a pseudo-patient (by staff)
•  23 rated as pseudo-patient (by psychiatrist)
•  19 rated as pseudo-patient (by both)
How many of these SUSPECTS
were pseudo-patients?……...

• NONE
– No pseudo-patients were sent
– Staff were rating their regular intake
 Rosenhan’s conclusion…..
•  “It is clear that we are unable to
distinguish the sane from the insane in
psychiatric hospitals”
–  In the first study
–  We are unable to detect ‘sanity’
–  In the follow up study
–  We are unable to detect ‘insanity’
 Rosenhan’s study highlighted ...
•  The depersonalisation and powerlessness of
patients in psychiatric hospitals

•  That behaviour is interpreted according to

expectations of staff and that these
expectations are created by the labels
•  SANITY & INSANITY
•  (E.g. in 1959 Griffith wanted to examine what the black people
experience. He disguised as a black person..)
•  There are some problems in disguised participant
observation. Sometimes the observers can loose objectivity
(e.g, Kirkham (1975):
–  polis memurlarını işteki davranışlarını gizlenerek gözleyen bir
kriminolog, başlangıçta ölüm cezasına karşıdır. Ancak emniyette
çalıştığı süre içerisinde kaçırılma, polisin öldürülmesi ve ağır
cinayetlerde ölüm cezası yanlısı olmuştur. Davranışları ve tutumları eski
karakterine çok ters, saldırgan, başkalarına güvenmeme, kronik
hassasiyet, ırkçı olmuştur.
•  Another potential problem is the effect that the observer can
have on the behavior being studied. The size of the group
entered, the role of the observer are the factors that can
influence the study.
–  Griffin, was disguised and was not in a position to affect the behaviors
of all black people. As for Rosenhan, pseudo patients wont change the
way insanity is treated. But in some small groups the participants may
have significant effects: (E.g. Festinger, Riecken ve Schachter,1956.
False prophesy, flood, social psychologists, they believed the
confederate was an alien, no flood at the end; still their beliefs
sterngthened becaluse thie vbelief prevented the flood)
 Structured Observation
•  Often the observer, intervenes to cause an event or set up
a situation where recording is possible.
•  It is a method where more control than naturalistic
observation and less control than field experiments is
exerted.
•  Structured observations can be conducted in natural or
laboratory settings.
–  E.g. Clinical or developmental psychologists give a certain task to
the mother and child and observe their interaction while the task is
completed.
•  It is mostly used in developmental psychology. Jean
Piaget: First gave a problem to solve and then gave
several variations to probe the child's reasoning process.
These observations were the basis of Piaget’s stage
theory. He was criticized because he didn't always use the
same tasks.
 A B
•  Piaget Conservation task
•  Blas(4): -Bak, annen kendine bir bardak limonata
hazırladı (A). Sana da bu bardağı veriyor (B).
Senin de kendi bardağına anneninki kadar
limonata dökmeni istiyoruz. -(hızla döktü ve
A’daki seviyenin biraz üzerine çıktı, yanlışlıkla).-
İkinizin limonatası aynı miktarda mı?-Hayır-
Kimde daha fazla olacak?- Bende- Aynı olması
için nereye kadar dökmeliydin, bana göster.-(aynı
seviyeyi gösterdi)- Böylece ikiniz de aynı
miktarda mı içmiş olacaksınız?-Evet-Emin misin?-
Evet. (Piaget, 1965).
•  E.G. Inattentional blindess and cell phone usage: Noticing
the clown in a campus
–  Only 25% of cell phone users
–  51% of pedestrians walking alone, noticed the clown
–  61% of those listening to music,
–  71% of individuals walking in pairs

•  Örn. istismar eden, ihmal eden ve normal ailelerin

çocuklarıyla oyun davranışlarını gözlemek için
laboratuarda çift yönlü aynadan oyun odasını gözlemişler
(Valentino et all., 2006)..
–  Bebeklerin niyetli davranışlarını incelemek için yetişkinlerin
gönüllü (oyuncağı veriyor), gönülsüz (kendi oynuyor) veya kazara
düşürdüğü oyuncaklarla oynama davranışları gözlenmiş.
Yetişkinin gönülsüz olduğu koşulda 9 aylık bebeklerin daha
sabırsız davrandıkları, daha küçüklerin ise böyle bir farklılaşma
göstermedikleri gözlenmiştir.
•  Many researchers prefer structured observation
because it exerts more control than naturalistic
observation; and it is more natural than field
experiments.
•  The failure to follow similar procedures each time an
observation is made and the uncontrolled variables
that may affect the results are the prices to pay!
Field Experiments (Alan Deneyleri)
•  If an observer manipulates one or more independent variables
in natural setting, the procedures called a field experiment.
•  The researchers typically manipulate an independent variable
to create two or more conditions and they measure the effect
of the independent variable on behavior.
•  Experimental and control groups are used and random
assignment is utilized.
•  Etrafımızda oluşan birçok değişikliği fark etmiyoruz. Ancak
Simons ve Levin, dikkate ettiğimiz halde bazen değişimi fark
edemediğimizi bir alan deneyi ile göstermişlerdir.
NOVA _ Inside NOVA_ Change Blindness.avi
•  Used very frequently in social psychology. Darley Latane
study, Milgram (individuals cutting in line while other are
waiting..)«confederate»
 Disadvantages of field
experiments?
1.  Realism
2.  Influence of the experimenter
3.  Ethical issues
1.  Subjects dont know they are in an experiment.
No informed consent
2.  Anonimity and privacy rights may be
violated.
 RECORDING
•  Things to consider while recording:
•  1. Will we record all behavior or selected
behavior?
•  2. Will this be a quantitative or a qualitative
study?
–  If quantitative, the results will include numbers and
statistics, while if quantitative it will be expressed
verbally.
 Narrative recordings
(Anlatımsal kayıtlar)
•  Narrative records provide a more or less faithful reproduction of
behavior as it originally occurred. To create a narrative record,
an observer can write descriptions of behavior, or use audio or
video recordings.
•  Once narrative records are created, researchers can study,
classify, and organize the records to test their hypotheses or
expectations about the behaviors under investigation.
•  Disadvantage: Classification of behaviors is done after the
observations are made. Thus, researchers must make sure that
the narrative records capture the information that will be needed
to evaluate the hypotheses of the study.
Hartup (1974) obtained narrative records as part of his naturalistic
study of children’s aggression.
Sample narrative record from Hartup’s study:

«Marian [a 7-year old] . . . is complaining to all that

David [who is also present] had squirted her on the
pants she has to wear tonight. She says, “I’m gonna
do it to him to see how he likes it.” She fills a can
with water and David runs to the teacher and tells of
her threat. The teacher takes the can from Marian.
Marian attacks David and pulls his hair very hard.
He cries and swings at Marian as the teacher tries
to restrain him; then she takes him upstairs. . . .
Later, Marian and Elaine go upstairs and into the
room where David is seated with a teacher. He
throws a book at Marian. The teacher asks Marian
to leave. Marian kicks David, then leaves. David
cries and screams, “Get out of here, they’re just
gonna tease me.” (p. 339)»
•  Hartup instructed his observers to use precise language
when describing behavior and to avoid making inferences
about the intentions, motives, or feelings of the
participants.
•  We are not told why David might want to throw a book at
Marian or how Marian feels about being attacked.
•  Not all narrative records are as focused as those obtained
by Hartup, nor do narrative records always avoid
inferences and impressions of the observer. Narrative
records also are not always meant to be comprehensive
descriptions of behavior.
•  Field notes include only the observer’s running
descriptions of the participants, events, settings, and
behaviors that are of particular interest to the observer,
and may not contain an exact record of everything that
occurred (frequently used by journalists, social workers,
anthropologists, psychologists)
•  For an precise narrative recording you need:
–  Record it as soon as possible (or video recording)
–  Will it include the interpretations and inferences of
the observer? If yes, only the ones at least two
observers agree on should be included.
–  Observers should be given an operational
definition of the behaviors to be observed and all
decisions must be made before observations.
 Systematic recordings
•  After the target behavior is determined, we make an
objective, clear and inclusive definition of the
behavior.
•  An objective operational will include the observable
properties of behavior.
–  E.g. Using «smiling, not speaking», instead of happy, sad,
pessimistic etc.
•  All observers that are informed should be able to
differentiate the existence or absence of the behavior
sufficiently when these definitions are given.
•  An operational definition is a set of rules that facilitate
detection of the behavior and discriminating it from
other behaviors. If the description is not sufficient, or
ambiguous the observer will refer to subjective
interpretations and thus the reliability of the the
observation will be in danger.
•  A well defined target behavior includes:
–  1. A general descriptive name
–  2. A description similar to a dictionary
–  3. Details (differences from other categories, typical
and borderline examples, reasons for inclusion and
exclusion to the category)
 Example
•  Two researchers have chosen to observe “willingness” and
“making bizarre sounds” as target behaviors in 9-10 years old
hyperactive children.
•  Their operational descriptions:
•  Willingness: Behaviors started to communicate with the
teacher
(+) raising hands, calling the teacher, approaching the teacher
(-) raising hand after the teacher’s question
•  Making bizarre sounds: Audible Vocal sounds that are not
included in verbal communication
•  (+) singing, whispering, crying, shouting, mimicking animal
sounds, intentional sneezing, clearing the throat or coughing,
repeating some words or sentences monotonously
•  (-) logical verbalizations (without repetitions) sneezing or throat
clearing due to sickness,
•  In order to test whether the decriptions are adaquate, a pilot study
where two or more observers record (e.g. video recordings) should
be conducted. These recordings are compared and discussed,
reliability over 80% is necessary.
•  The next step is to decide on behavior categories.
•  Molar an molecular categories
•  E.g. Sharing is the molar category; physical and verbal sharing are
the molecular; popose and accept sharing are molecular

• Choosing molecular behavior categories enables collection of more

information and microanalysis.
 Choosing and recording behavior
dimensions
Which dimensions of behavior are we going to
record?

A.  Frequency recording

B.  Duration recording
C.  Frequency and duration recording
D.  Interval recording
E.  Sequential recording
 A. Frequency recording
•  Recording the number of times the observed
behavior is elicited. Observer records each time the
behavior is seen.
–  i.e. Within a day he cried 5 times, and ate 7 times.
•  Three basic criteria in this method:
–  1. The start and end of the behavior should be clear
(physical contact of two people is a behavior with beginning
and end; while noise is sometimes hard to detect)
–  2. Each behavior should last approximately same duration.
(i.e. If temper tantrums have similar durations frequency is a
good record to keep, but if one lasts 1min and the other 1
hour, then duration should be recorded as well)
–  3. Behaviors that are very frequent and can not be separated
are not suitable for frequency recording (i.e. Hand scrubbing
very frequently )
 Frequency recording
•  Since recording the frequency of every target behavior is
sometimes difficult, we need an independent observer (a class
teacher is not a good choice)
•  How do we use the information collected by frequency
recording?
–  1. If the observation periods are equal, real frequency may
be used
–  2. If the observation periods are not equal, they are stated as
ratio (Observed behavior /total observation period)
3. If the behavior is elicited after a cue, then it can be stated
as ratio (6 instruction and 2 compliance (uyma) is observed,
2/6 compliance ratio %33)
 Reliability of records
•  Inter-rater reliability (consistency)

Minimum observed frequency

X 100
Maximum observed frequency
(i.e 1st rater= 43; 2nde rater recorded 50
43/50=%86)

KAPPA: Used for dichotomous data (yes/no)

 B. Duration Recording
•  The duration of the observed behavior is recorded. The
difference between the beginning and end of a behavior.
•  Which durations may be recorded?

•  A. The duration between the arousing stimulus and response:

(Latent stage) (gizil dönem)
–  B. Duration of the response: time between start and end of
the response
–  C. Time between responses: Time between succeeding
stimuli
•  We have to decide which ones we will record.
–  For duration recording, the start and the end of the behavior
should be clear and the observer should have the right
materials or devices to measure it. (eye blink)
–  The behavior should last at least few seconds
 How do we use the information
collected by duration recording?
–  1. If the observation periods are equal, total
duration may be used (i.e. in a 5 minute session,
shouting lasted 10 seconds).
–  2. If the observation periods are not equal, they
are stated as percentages.
–  Observed duration /total observation period
(i.e 10sec/ 300 sec)=% 3.33)
•  Inter-rater reliability:
Minimum observed duration X100
Maximum observed duration
(i.e. 1st rater : 120 minutes; 2nd rater: 145 minutes
120/145=%83 inter-rater reliability)
C. Frequency/ duration recording
•  Recording both duration and frequency of
behavior (i.e. 7sec/2 shouting, each shout
lasts for approx. 3.5 sec)
 D. Interval recording
•  Although the frequency and duration recording methods
provide a lot of information, they cannot be used all the
time.
•  Using frequency and duration recording is problematic:
–  If an observer observes 4 different behaviors at the same time
–  If a behavior occurs too frequently
–  If the beginning and the end of the behavior is immense
•  Interval recording can be used in these cases
•  It is not appropriate to use interval recording for infrequent
behaviors (Ex. a behavior seen twice in a day)
•  Interval recording is a very convenient method especially
when more than one behavior and more than one person is
observed.
 Interval recording
•  An observation period divided into equal intervals is
required.
•  The observer observes in one of the time intervals, and
records in the other.
•  Observation interval depends on the how frequent the
behavior may occur. If behavior occurs frequently,
observation interval doesn’t exceed 5 seconds.
•  Exp: 10 sec observation, 5 sec recording. When behavior
occurs, only X is placed in the table

10 sec 10 sec 10 sec 10 sec

Punching
Kicking x x
Çekiştirme x
Pinching x
Teasing x
•  Recording intervals can be given as percentages as
well as total.

# of interval that behavior occured

X 100
Total # of observation interval

Interobserver reliability:

# of times observers agree

X 100
# of times observers agree + # of times observers disagree
 E. Sequential (ardışık)
recording
•  Provides information about the interactions and
relations between behaviors
•  Exp. Observing the obedience behavior of a child
following to his/her father’s instructions. A time limit
(i.e. 3 sec) should be set
•  Probability calculations can be conducted based on
sequential recording
–  Rate of following instructions 33%
–  ex. Rate of crossing the street following the red light
 Use of rating scales in
observation
•  Observers sometimes make ratings of behaviors and events based on
their subjective judgments about the degree or quantity of some trait or
condition.

•  For example, Dickie (1987) asked

trained observers to rate parent-infant
interactions in a study designed to
assess the effect of a parent training
program. Observers visited the home
and asked parents to “act as normal
as possible—just as if we [the
observers] weren’t here.”
•  Ratings using 7-point scales on 13
dimensions describing characteristics
of verbal, physical, and emotional
interaction.
•  An example of one dimension,
“parent’s warmth and affection
toward infant” is described
 Electronic recording and
tracking
•  Research question: The relationship between cognitive coping
strategies and blood pressure among college students
•  Participants wore an ambulatory blood pressure monitor on two
“typical” school days, including a day with an exam (Dolan,
Sherwood, & Light, 1992).
•  Participants also completed questionnaires about their coping
strategies and daily activities.
•  The researchers compared blood pressure readings for different
times of the day and as a function of coping style. Students who
exhibited “high self-focused coping” (e.g., “keep to themselves
and/or blame themselves in stressful situations,” p. 233) had
higher blood pressure during and after an exam than did those
who did not use self focused coping strategies.
 Importance of the observer in
direct observation
Oberserver dependent error sources
A. Observer-Researcher interaction: Expectancy effects
can occur when observers are aware of hypotheses for the
outcome of a study or the outcome of previous studies.
–  using objective and systematic observation methods
–  training the observer
–  providing feedback to the observer
–  operational definitions should be clear, precise, and not open to
interpretation
–  using video and voice recording
•  B. Deceit/Deception: communicating with other observers,
cheating/copying other observers etc.
•  C. Characteristics of the observed behavior and the
environment: It is difficult to observe fast occurring behaviors
 Observer training
1.  Desciption of the behaviors observed and instructions should be
provided to the observer written
2.  Before starting to the actual observation sessions, observers
complete a trial phase in which they observe videos of recorded
session.
3.  In vivo observation
a.  Information should be analyzable
b.  Behavior, environment and increase in number of observers
reduces reliability
c.  If observers have other duties, recordings should be repeated.
Ideallly the observer should be an independent person (i.e.not
the teacher)
Observation sheet: date, session number, place, observer’s name,
observant’s name/nickname/number, time of start/end,
description/definition of the observed behavior