EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Session # 1

Materials:
Textbook, pen and notebook, index card/class list

LESSON TITLE: EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THE Reference:

SCIENTIFIC METHOD Myers & Hansen (2011). Experimental
Upon successful completion of this lesson, the psychology Psychology (7th Ed. Wadsworth Cengage
student can: Learning) )
Kantowitz, Roediger III & Elmes (2009).
1. Explain why we rely on scientific method Experimental Psychology (9th Ed. Wadsworth
2. Identify the principles of the scientific method Cengage Learning)
3. Enumerate the basic tools of psychological research
4. Explain how “cause and effect” is established by
experimentation

SUBJECT ORIENTATION (10 minutes)

The instructor will be starting to introduce himself/herself to the class and the assigned subject, Experimental
Psychology. The course outline will be distributed and discussed accordingly. Listed below are the additional information
vital in orientation:

1. The calendar of activities for major examinations must be relayed.

2. Classroom rules and regulations will be informed per the instructor’s discretions.
3. Computation of grades specific for this subject must be thoroughly explained to students.
4. The essence and significance in grade computation of these modules must be introduced.
5. If this is the first subject of the class, the instructor must initiate an election for block officers.
6. Any other information that will be deemed necessary by the instructor must be properly coordinated to the class.

MAIN LESSON (50 minutes)

The goal of scientific psychology is to understand why people think and act as they do. In contrast to nonscientists, who
rely on informal and secondary sources of knowledge, psychologists use a variety of well-developed techniques to gather
information and develop theoretical explanations. As one example of this scientific approach to understanding, consider
the following case study of the research process.

How exactly do researchers investigate the human mind and behavior? While there are a number of different research
techniques, the experimental method allows researchers to look at cause-and-effect relationships.

In the experimental method, researchers identify and define key variables, formulate a hypothesis, manipulate the
variables and collect data on the results. Extraneous variables are carefully controlled to minimize a potential impact on
the outcome of the experiment.

Experimental Method in Psychology

The experimental method involves manipulating one variable to determine if changes in one variable cause changes in
another variable. This method relies on controlled methods, random assignment and the manipulation of variables to test
a hypothesis.

Psychology is the science of behavior. As, psychologists, we take a scientific approach to understanding the behavior,
and our knowledge about psychological processes is based on scientific evidence accumulated through research.

The goal of scientific psychology is to understand why people think and act as they do. In contrast to nonscientists, who
rely on informal and secondary sources of knowledge, psychologists use a variety of well-developed techniques to gather
information and develop theoretical explanations. As one example of this scientific approach to understanding, consider
the following case study of the research process.

Science – comes from the Latin word Scientia, which simply means knowledge
Methodology – the scientific techniques used to collect and evaluate psychological data, the facts and figures gathered in
research studies.

The Need for Scientific Methodology

Scientific psychology is concerned with the methods and techniques used to understand why people think and act as they
do. This curiosity may be satisfied by basic or applied research, which usually go hand in hand to provide understanding.

Our beliefs are often established by the method of authority, the method of tenacity, or the a priori method. The scientific
method offers advantages over these other methods because it relies on systematic observation and is self-correcting.

 Commonsense Psychology – everyday, non-scientific collection of psychological data used to understand the
social world and guide our behavior.
 Commonsense belief about behavior are derived from data we collect from our own experience and ehat
we have learned from others.

 Pseudoscience - a system of theories, assumptions, and methods erroneously regarded as scientific. It includes
beliefs, theories, or practices that have been or are considered scientific, but have no basis in scientific fact.

Non-scientific data
 Confirmation bias - the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or
supports one's prior beliefs or values.

Non-scientific Inference
 Overconfidence bias - is a tendency to hold a false and misleading assessment of our skills, intellect, or talent.

 Scientific Method – Steps scientists take to gather and verify information, answer questions, explain
relationships, and communicate findings.

The Characteristics of Modern Science

 Determinism – the belief that there are specifiable causes or the way people behave and that these causes can
be discovered through research.

 Empirical Data – date that are observable or experienced; capable of being verified or disproved through
investigation

 Laws – General scientific principles that explain our universe and predict events.

 Theory – A set of general principles that attempts to explain and predict behavior or other phenomena.

 Good Thinking –organized and rational thought, characterized by open-mindedness, objectivity, and parsimony;
a principal tool of scientific method

 Parsimony (Occam’s razor) – avoiding unnecessary assumptions to support an argument or explanation.

 Replication – the process of repeating research procedures to verify that the outcome will be the same as before;
a principal tool of the scientific method.

 Hypothesis is a very specific testable statement that can be evaluated from observable data.

 For example, we might hypothesize that drivers older than sixty-fi ve years would have a higher frequency
of accidents involving left turns across oncoming traffic when driving at night than do younger drivers

 Generalization is a broader statement that cannot be tested directly.

 For example, we might generalize that older drivers are unsafe at any speed and should have restrictions,
such as not being able to drive at night, on their driver’s license. Since “unsafe at any speed” is not clearly
 defi ned, this is not a testable statement. Similarly, the generalization does not defi ne an age range for
older drivers. However, it can be used to derive several testable hypotheses.

The Objective of Psychological Science

1. Description – the initial step toward understanding any phenomenon, whether it is the path of the stars in the
heavens or the complexities of human and animal behaviors. It is referring to the unbiased account of the
observed characteristics of the behavior.

 One of the first goals of psychology is simply to describe behavior. Through describing the behavior of
humans and other animals, we are better able to understand it and gain a better perspective on what is
considered normal and abnormal.

 Researchers might start by observing human behavior and then describing a problem. By understanding
what is happening, psychologists can then work on learning more about why the behavior happens and
even how to change it.

 Imagine that researchers want to learn more about consumer behavior. They might use market research
surveys, direct observation, and other data collection methods to gather information on what people are
doing when they shop. This gives researchers greater insight into what is really happening in a particular
population.

2. Explanation – When we have explained the behavior, we also understand what caused it to occur, it includes
knowledge of the conditions that reliably reproduce the occurrence of a behavior.

 As you might imagine, in addition to merely describing it, psychologists are also interested in explaining
behavior. Why do people do the things they do? What factors contribute to development, personality,
social behavior, and mental health problems?

 Throughout psychology's history, many theories have emerged to help explain various aspects of human
behavior. A few examples of such approaches including classical conditioning and attachment theories.

 Some theories focus on just a small aspect of human behavior (known as mini-theories) while others
serve as all-encompassing theories designed to explain all of human psychology (known as grand
theories).

3. Prediction – refers to the capacity for knowing in advance when behaviors would be expected to occur, to be
able to predict them ahead of time, because we have identified other conditions with which the behavior are linked
or associated.

 Not surprisingly, another primary goal of psychology is to make predictions about how we think and act.
Once we understand more about what happens and why it happens, we can use that information to make
predictions about when, why, and how it might happen again in the future.

 Successfully predicting behavior is also one of the best ways to know if we understand the underlying
causes of our actions.

 Prediction also allows psychologists to make guesses about human behavior without necessarily
understanding the mechanisms underlying the phenomena.

4. Control – it refers to the application of what has been learned about the behavior.

 Finally, and perhaps most importantly, psychology strives to change, influence, or control behavior to
make constructive and lasting changes in people's lives.

 In our previous example, researchers might take what they know about the link between scores on an
aptitude test and dropout rates and use the information to develop programs designed to help students
stay in school.
  From treating mental illness to enhancing human well-being, changing human behavior is a huge focus of
psychology.

The Scientific Method” Tools of Psychological Science

1. Observation.
The systematic noting and recording of events. Only events that are observable can be studied scientifically.

2. Measurement
It is the assignment of numerical values to objects or events or their characteristics according to conventional
rules.

3. Experimentation
It is the process undertaken to test a hypothesis that particular behavioral events will occur reliably in certain,
specifiable situations.
 Testable – it means being capable of being tested; typically used in reference to a hypothesis.

Applied Research - research that is designed to solve real-world problem

Basic Research – research designed to test theories or to explain psychological phenomena

Scientific Explanation in Psychological Science

Antecedent conditions – All circumstances that occur or exist before the event or behavior to be explained; also called
antecedents.

Treatments – a specific set of antecedent conditions created by the experiementer and presented to subjects to test its
effect on behavior.

Psychology Experiment
It is a controlled procedure in which at least two different treatment conditions are applied to subjects.

 Random Assignment of subjects - refers to the use of chance procedures in psychology experiments to
ensure that each participant has the same opportunity to be assigned to any given group. Study
participants are randomly assigned to different groups, such as the experimental group or treatment
group.
 Random assignment might involve tactics such as flipping a coin, drawing names out of a hat, rolling dice,
or assigning random numbers to participants.

 Between-subject design - different people test each condition, so that each person is only exposed to a
single user interface

 Within-subject design - the same person tests all the conditions (i.e., all the user interfaces).

Establishing Cause and Effect – The relation between a particular behavior and a set of antecedent that always
precedes it-whereas other antecedents do not-so theat the set is inferred to cause the behavior.

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING (20 minutes)

You will answer and rationalize this by yourself. This will be recorded as your quiz. One (1) point will be given to correct
answer and another one (1) point for the correct rationalization. Superimpositions or erasures in you
answer/rationalization is not allowed. You are given 20 minutes for this activity.
 1. When you ask yourself the question, “What is going on here?” you are conducting research for which goal of
psychology?
a. Describe
b. Explain
c. Predict
d. Control

ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. When you ask yourself the question, “Where will this behavior or event be exhibited” you are conducting research
for which goal of psychology?
a. Describe
b. Explain
c. Predict
d. Control

ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. When researchers take what they know about the link between scores on an aptitude test and dropout rates and
use the information to develop programs designed to help students stay in school.
a. Describe
b. Explain
c. Predict
d. Control

ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. These are collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method.
a. Commonsense psychology
b. Pseudoscience
c. Good thinking
d. Parsimony
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. It is a practice of groups of people engage in the activity of describing, explaining and predicting human thought
and action in terms of attitudes like belief, desire and intention.
a. Commonsense psychology
b. Theories
c. Good thinking
d. Parsimony
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. An organized and rational thought, characterized by open-mindedness, objectivity, and parsimony; a principal tool
of scientific method.
a. Commonsense psychology
b. Theories
 c. Good thinking
d. Parsimony
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. The belief that there are specifiable causes or the way people behave and that these causes can be discovered
through research.
a. Empirical data
b. Determinism
c. Measurement
d. Experimentation
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. These data that are observable or experienced; capable of being verified or disproved through investigation.
a. Empirical data
b. Determinism
c. Measurement
d. Experimentation
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. It refers to how participants are randomly chosen to represent the larger population, random assignment refers to
how those chosen participants are then assigned to experimental groups.
a. Within-subject assignment
b. Random assignment of subjects
c. Between subject assignment
d. Antecedent conditions
ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. All circumstances that occur or exist before the event or behavior to be explained.
a. Within-subject assignment
b. Random assignment of subjects
c. Between subject assignment
d. Antecedent conditions

ANSWER: ________
RATIO:___________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________