Experimental Psychology

Module 1 and the Scientific Method

The Need for Scientific Methodology

The Characteristics of Modern Science
The Objectives of Psychological Science
The Tools of Psychological Science
Scientific Explanation in Psychological Science
 What is common-sense
psychology?

Fritz Heider called nonscientific data

gathering common-sense psychology.
This approach uses nonscientific
sources of data and nonscientific Example: Opposites Attract
inference.
Nonscientific inference is the nonscientific use of information to
explain or predict behavior.
• Gambler’s fallacy
• Barnum/ Aunt Fanny effect
• Overuse of trait explanations
• Stereotyping
• Overconfidence bias
What is the gambler’s fallacy?

In the gambler’s fallacy, people misuse data to estimate the probability of

an event, like when a slot machine will pay off.
• Do you believe in Horoscope?
• How about Zodiac Signs?
-This is what we call as
“Barnum Effect”/
“Forer Effect”
“Aunt Fanny Effect”
Barnum Effect

referred to as the "Aunt Fanny Effect" because

the same personality description might be applied
to anyone 's Aunt Fanny (Cohen, 2013).
Bertram Forer & the ‘Forer Effect’

In 1948, Bertram Forer administered a fake psychology

test called as “Diagnostic Interest Blank” to 39 of his
psychology students.

One week later, Forer gave each student a purportedly

individualized results sheet, and asked each of them to
rate it on how well it applied to them.

The students’ rating came up with an average of 4.26

points out of 5
Barnum Effect

general characterizations attributed to an

individual are perceived to be true of them,
even though the statements are such generalizations,
they could apply to almost anyone.
Why is the overuse of trait explanations a problem?

When we overuse trait

explanations to explain
others' behavior, we
often make unwarranted
dispositional attributions
and underuse
situational information.
This bias can reduce
the accuracy of our
explanations and
predictions.
The MBTI uses similar techniques, which explains why many people tend
to find the results comforting and accurate.
• MBTI was developed by Isabel
Briggs Myers and her mother,
Katharine Cook Briggs,
during World War II.
• The two women were
acquainted with Carl Jung's
theories
• MBTI has been found to have
significant validity issues, and
is not widely endorsed by
academic researchers in
psychology, often dismissed
as pseudoscience.
How can stereotyping mislead us?

In stereotyping, we falsely assume that

specific behaviors cluster together.

For example, since Imei is a Chinese-American

student, she must study 10 hours a day and
excel at math. In reality, she failed calculus.

Stereotypes ignore individual differences.

Why is overconfidence bias a problem?

Overconfidence bias
(illusory superiority):
We feel more confident about our conclusions
than is warranted by available data.
This form of nonscientific inference can result
in erroneous conclusions when we don’t
recognize the limitations of supporting data.
OVERCONFIDENCE BIAS: Dunning-Krugger Effect

In a study conducted by Justin Kruger

and David Dunning, the more poorly
High

people performed, the more they

actually overestimate their own
Mt. Stupid
performance.
Those in the bottom 12% (88 people performed better
than they did) judged their own performance to be in
the top third of scores.

On the contrary those who outperformed 86% of their

peers estimated themselves to be in the top quarter,
Slope of enlightenment underestimating their performance.
ignorance can cause people to overestimate their intelligence
Low

Pit of Pain
Novice Expert

Skills
What are pseudosciences?

A pseudoscience is any field of study that

gives the appearance of being scientific,
but has no true scientific basis and has not
been confirmed using the scientific method.
Modern pseudosciences include past life
regression, reparenting, and rebirthing.

In Psychology, we had phrenology,

physiogyny, mesmerism, spiritualism
Why is the scientific mentality important?

Whitehead’s scientific
mentality assumes that
behavior follows a natural order
and can be predicted.
This assumption is essential to science.
There is no point to using the scientific
method to gather and analyze data if there
is no implicit order.

“faith in an organized universe is essential to science”

- Alfred North Whitehead
Who is right?
What makes data empirical?
Data are empirical when observed or experienced.

• Galileo’s empirical approach was superior to Aristotle’s commonsense method.

• Galileo correctly concluded that light objects fall as rapidly as heavy ones in a
vacuum.
What makes data empirical?

Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (1832–1920)

“father of experimental psychology”
First establish experimental procedures in
psychological research in a laboratory.
How are science, methodology, and data interrelated?

Science connotes content and process.

Methodology consists of the scientific
techniques we use to collect and
evaluate data.
Data are the facts we gather using
scientific methods.
Theory & Law

Example: Freud’s
Psychoanalytic Example:
Theory Universal Law of
Gravitation
Good thinking is critical to the scientific method.
We engage in good thinking when data collection and
interpretation are systematic, objective, and rational.

The principle of parsimony is that we

prefer the simplest useful explanation.
For example, Crandall (1988) showed that
a social contagion model of bulimia
was more parsimonious than competing
explanations.
 How did Sir Karl Popper
believe that science
advances?

Sir Karl Popper proposed that science advances by revising theories

based on the “weight of evidence.”

Science is self-correcting as scientific explanations and theories are

challenged, and revised or replaced.
What role does the principle of modus tollens play in science?

The principle of modus tollens

allows us to disprove statements
using a single, contrary observation
(“denying the consequent by denying the antecedent”)

We can never prove a statement because a

contradictory observation might be found later.

“If P, then Q
Example: I gained weight because I ate a lot last
Not Q holiday season.
Thus, not P” If I did not eat a lot last holiday season, I will not gain
weight.
How does replication advance science?

Replication is an exact or systematic repetition of a study.

Replication increases our confidence in experimental results by adding to the
weight of supporting evidence.
 Description is a systematic and unbiased
account of observed characteristics of behaviors.
Four main
Prediction is the capability of knowing in
objectives advance when certain behaviors should occur.
of science Explanation is knowledge of the conditions that
reliably produce a behavior.

Control is the use of scientific knowledge to

influence behavior.
How does applied research differ
from basic research?

Applied research addresses real-world

problems like how to improve student
graduation rates.

Basic research tests theories and explains

psychological phenomena like helping
behavior.
 Main Tools of Psychological Science

Observation Measurement Experimentation

Main Tools of Psychological Science

OBSERVATION

Observation is the systematic noting and

recording of events.
Systematic means that the procedures are
consistently applied.

The events or their signs must be observable.

Observations must be objective so that there

can be strong agreement among raters.
 Main Tools of Psychological Science

MEASUREMENT
Measurement assigns numbers to
objects, events, or their
characteristics. This is an inherent
feature of quantitative research.
Baron and colleagues (1985)
measured anger and depression using
numerical scales.
 Main Tools of Psychological Science

EXPERIMENTATION
Experimentation is the process we use to test the predictions we call
hypotheses and establish cause-and-effect relationships.
Experimentation is not always possible because our predictions must be
testable.
What are the requirements for an experiment?

We must be able to manipulate the independent variable and measure its effect on
the dependent variable.
Ethical concerns or technological limitations may prevent experimentation.
What are the requirements for an experiment?

An experiment requires that we

create at
least two treatment conditions
and randomly assign subjects to
these conditions.

“Control and treatment or

experimental group/variables”
What are the requirements for an experiment?

In psychology experiments, we control extraneous variables or confounding

variables so we that we can measure “what we intend to measure.”
How does an experiment establish cause and effect?

An experiment attempts to
establish a cause- and-effect
relationship between the
antecedent conditions (IV) and
subject behavior (DV).
Experiments establish a
temporal relationship, because
causes must precede effects.
However, not all prior events are
causes.