Welcome to

Psychology!
-Why did you choose psychology?
 Four major goals of psychology

O To describe human thought and behaviour

O To explain why these behaviours occur
O To predict how, why and when these behaviours
will occur again in the future
O To modify and improve behaviours to better the
lives of individuals and society as a whole
Specification
Specification
Specification
-Punctuality- 100% attendance and on time to lesson, every minute counts

-Equipment - Bring laptop, charger, paper (lined and blank a4), pens, pencil, ruler,
rubber, highlighters. Can we all access Teams and OneNote?

-Organisation- In class – type notes or write notes. Set up a page for the lesson in
your One Note and type your notes in this page so we can monitor your note taking.

I will be setting you regular exam questions in class, sometimes you will be instructed
to type and sometimes you will hand write and then upload photograph of this.

After the lesson – access the slides and tidy/review/amend your notes. Make sure all
activities were/are attempted to best of your ability.

-Homework/Independent study/Commitment- deadlines to be met. Revision to

be done. A minute in the classroom = a minute of independent work. What you
put in now will affect Y13 pressure.

-Assessment- 1 or 2 formal assessments per half term. We will set exam practice
questions/essays regularly which will be self/peer/teacher marked.

-Respect- Positive working environment. Sensitive content will be covered

 True or False?
1. In making decisions, groups tend to be more conservative than individuals
2. Flashbulb memories (i.e vivid memories of a dramatic event like 9/11) are
exceptionally accurate and long-lived
3. You must be totally relaxed and free from stress if you want to do well on an exam
4. A schizophrenic is someone with a split personality
5. Most people, if put to the test, would harm others if asked to do so my an authority
figure
6. Couples with similar attractiveness tend to match quite well for relationships
7. There are many different types of intelligence, and someone who is below average
on one type of intelligence can be above average on another type
8. You can improve your mood by changing the way you think about daily events
9. Peoples behaviour in most situations depends much more on their personality than
on the situation itself
 Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental
processes such as "attention, language use, memory, perception,
problem solving, creativity, and thinking"
 RM is a priority
O A third of your A Level psychology marks are
related to research methods (some maths)

O You need knowledge of this to access and

evaluate the psychological content

O Each topic in AS (Paper 1) has a research

methods section which overlaps the ‘Topic 9
Psychological Skills’ section for Paper 3
 Research methods:
1. Variables and hypothesis
Learning Objectives

1. Identify features of science

2. Participate in a psychological investigation
3. Write operationalised independent and dependent variables
4. Write alternative/null directional/non-directional hypotheses that
are operationalised
5. To be able to identify confounding/extraneous variables in a
given study and understand the importance of controlling them.
 4 Features of science?

1. Empiricism: information gained through direct

observation or experiment.
2. Objectivity: Observations and experiments should be
unaffected by bias (such as researcher expectations).
3. Replicability: It is important that research can be
repeated and similar results obtained, this adds to the
reliability of the study.
4. Falsification: A theory is a collection of principles that
explain observations and facts, which can be falsifiable
(proved to be false).
 What is an experiment?
O An experiment involves the manipulation
(changing) of an independent variable to see
what effect it has on the dependent variable,
while at the same time trying to control other
variables which might affect the results.
 Variables
A variable is something which can vary of change

In psychological experiments we use two types of

variables when creating experimental hypothesis:

Independent Variables – is the variable that you

manipulate

Dependent Variables – is the variable you measure

 The Stroop Experiment
With the person sitting next to you number yourselves 1 and
2.

Number 2’s arm yourself with something you can use to tell
the time, e.g. watch or clock (as you will be timing your
partner)

Number 1’s make sure you are sitting facing the interactive
whiteboard. You will be shown a list of ten words, which
you must read out loud to your partner. You will be timed
for how quickly you read the list from top to bottom.
 The Stroop Experiment
Practice Run: Say the words you see

Purple
Orange
Brown
 The Stroop Experiment
Easy!
Number 1’s will read the word list first and number 2’s you will
time them!

After number 1’s have finished, you will swap over and number
two’s will read the word list.
No. 1’s get ready to look at the screen and read the list of words
to your partner as soon as they appear on the screen...
The Stroop Experiment
Word List 1 Word List 2
Green Green
Black Black
Red Red
Blue Blue
Purple Purple
Orange Orange
Pink Pink
Yellow Yellow
Brown Brown
Grey Grey
 Independent & Dependent Variables
In the Stroop Test you just took part in - where you
had words written in non-conflicting colours or words
written in conflicting colours - what would the IV
and DV be?

Independent Variables – is the variable that you manipulate

10 non-conflicting colours or 10 conflicting colours

Dependent Variables – is the variable you measure

time taken to read the 10 word list out loud (seconds)
 Identify the IV & DV for each of
the studies listed

O Do students recall more words (from a list of 20) in the morning or evening?
IV = morning or evening
DV = number of words (out of 20) recalled
 
ODo students have better memories for 10 actors faces when asked to watch a film
and identify the faces immediately or after a 30 minute delay?
IV = immediately identify after watching film or identify after 30 min of watching
the film
DV = number of 10 faces from the film correctly identified
 
ODoes listening to music whilst revising affect A Level exam performance?
IV = music or no music
DV = A level exam result score (%)
 
OAre reaction times slower for drivers who have had 4 hours sleep or 8 hours
sleep?
IV = 4 hours sleep or 8 hours sleep
DV = reaction time in seconds in a driving simulation
 Identify the IV & DV for each of
the studies listed

O Will football fans be able to remember a list of 10 football scores better than
a group on non-football fans?
O IV = football fans vs non-football fans
O DV =  number of 10 football scores remembered correctly

O Do women read other peoples facial expressions (5 photos) better than men?
O IV = men and women
O DV = number of correctly identified emotions displayed on the faces of 5
photos

O Will participants complete more press-ups in 2 minutes when in competition

with other participants?
O IV = doing a press competitions with others vs doing press-ups alone

O DV = the number of press-ups completed in 2 minutes

 Aggression Study
O Who’s more aggressive… cats or mice?
O https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_P-EDvs
P0E
 Operationalisation
Being specific or precise with your variables. Making them quantifiable/objective and measurable.

Aggression example
We are interested in whether cats or mice are more aggressive in a fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_P-EDvsP0E

O Psychologists are scientists and we too need to clearly define variables in terms of how they can be
measured.
O Without transparent and specific operational definitions, researchers may measure irrelevant
concepts or inconsistently apply methods. Operationalization reduces subjectivity and increases
the reliability of your study.
O Your choice of operational definition can sometimes affect your results. For example, an 
experimental intervention for social anxiety may reduce self-rating anxiety scores but not
behavioral avoidance of crowded places. This means that your results are context-specific, and may
not generalise to different real-life settings.
O Generally, abstract concepts can be operationalized in many different ways. These differences
mean that you may actually measure slightly different aspects of a concept, so it’s important to be
specific about what you are measuring.

Your variables in hypothesis and whenever mentioned in exam answers need to be operationalized.
 4 Features of science?

1. Empiricism: information gained through direct

observation or experiment.
2. Objectivity: Observations and experiments should be
unaffected by bias (such as researcher expectations).
3. Replicability: It is important that research can be
repeated and similar results obtained, this adds to the
reliability of the study.
4. Falsification - A theory is a collection of principles that
explain observations and facts, which can be falsifiable
(proved to be false).
 Physical Solo Talk
Operationalisation
Concept Examples of operationalization
Overconfidence •The difference between how well people think they did on a test and how
well they actually did (overestimation).
•The difference between where people rank themselves compared to
others and where they actually rank (overplacement).

Creativity

Perception of threat

Customer loyalty
 Physical Solo Talk
Operationalisation
Concept Examples of operationalization
Overconfidence •The difference between how well people think they did on a test and how
well they actually did (overestimation).
•The difference between where people rank themselves compared to
others and where they actually rank (overplacement).

Creativity •The number of uses for an object (e.g., a paperclip) that participants can

come up with in 3 minutes.
•Average ratings of the originality of uses of an object that participants come
up with in 3 minutes.

Perception of threat •Physiological responses of higher sweat gland activity and increased heart
rate when presented with threatening images.
•Participants’ reaction times after being presented with threatening images.

Customer loyalty •Customer ratings on a questionnaire assessing satisfaction and intention to

purchase again.
•Records of products purchased by repeat customers in a three-month period.
Physical Solo Talk
Operationalisation
 Research methods:
1. Variables and hypothesis
Learning Objectives

1. Identify features of science

2. Participate in a psychological investigation
3. Write operationalised independent and dependent variables
4. Write alternative/null directional/non-directional hypotheses that
are operationalised
5. To be able to identify confounding/extraneous variables in a
given study and understand the importance of controlling them.
 Hypothesis
A precise and testable statement (or prediction) about the
two variables.

For example – what results would you expect to find

from the Stroop Experiment you took part in?

“Participants will take longer (more seconds) to

state the colour of a word when it is written in a
conflicting colour than when the word and the
colour it is written in are the same.”
Hypothesis

There are two main types of hypothesis: an alternative

hypothesis and a null hypothesis.
Why?

Alternative hypothesis – a statement which predicts a

difference or relationship in results

Null hypothesis – a statement which predicts no

difference or relationship in results
 4 Features of science?

1. Empiricism: information gained through direct

observation or experiment.
2. Objectivity: Observations and experiments should be
unaffected by bias (such as researcher expectations).
3. Replicability: It is important that research can be
repeated and similar results obtained, this adds to the
reliability of the study.
4. Falsification - A theory is a collection of principles that
explain observations and facts, which can be falsifiable
(proved to be false).
 What are Levels of Measurement?

Level of measurement is a classification that describes

the nature of the information within the values assigned
to variables

Nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio

 Nominal Data
Data which is a count of frequency in which data occurs in a
category.

Girls Boys

9 to 14
seconds
15 to 20
seconds

Were the girls or the boys the fastest team?

 Ordinal Data
A level of measurement where data are ordered/ranked in some
way. (Interval & Ratio data can be converted to ordinal)

Times in seconds for 100m dash

G1 19 B1 18
G2 17 B2 10.5 (2nd)
G3 16 B3 13
G4 15 B4 13
G5 12 B5 13
G6 11.4B6 14
G7 11.1(3rd) B7 13
G8 19 B8 12
G9 15 B9 10 (1st)
G10 11.3 (4th) B10 17
Interval data/Ratio data: a level of measurement where units of equal
measurements (a scale with equal intervals) are used e.g., minutes,
kilograms, number of words recalled in a memory test or percentage score in
an exam. Ratio data has a true zero, interval data does not

Ratio / Interval data

Ratio Data
 Difference or relationship?
A hypothesis with a difference is where the DV is numerical (data
is ratio or interval) and the IV is categories (nominal data)

Gender (IV) Times

laughed
Males 7
Females 5
O A hypothesis with a relationship is where both the DV and the
IV are both ratio numerical (data is ratio or interval)
 Alternate Hypothesis
The alternative hypothesis always predicts some kind of pattern or trend
in the results.
Null Hypothesis
The null hypothesis is a statement which predicts no difference or
relationship in results

Aim: To research whether there are cultural differences

(Americans vs Japanese) in their phone use

There is a difference in average amount of minutes

Japanese and American people use their phones

There is no difference in average amount of minutes

Japanese and American people use their phones
 Alternate Hypothesis
The alternative hypothesis always predicts some kind of pattern or trend
in the results.
Null Hypothesis
The null hypothesis is a statement which predicts no difference or
relationship in results

O Aim: To see if there if criminality runs in the family

O There is a relationship between the number of crimes

a parent commits and the number of crimes their
child commit

O There is no relationship between the number of

crimes a parent commits and the number of crimes
their child commit
O Do students recall more words (from a list of 20) in the morning or
evening?

There is a difference in recall of 20 word list between the morning recall and
evening recall

There is no difference in recall of 20 word list between the morning recall and
evening recall

O Do students have better memories for 10 actors faces when asked to watch a
film and recall the faces immediately or after a 30 minute delay?

There is a difference in recall of 10 actor faces in a film when you recall 30

minutes after watching a film compared to immediately recalling

There is no difference in recall of 10 actor faces in a film when you recall 30

minutes after watching a film compared to immediately recalling
 
O Does listening to music whilst revising affect A Level exam performance?

There is a relationship in the number of minutes of listening to music when

revising and the percentage score on your a Level result

There is no relationship in the number of minutes of listening to music when

revising and the percentage score on your a Level result
 
O Are reaction times different for drivers who have had different amounts of
sleep?

There is a relationship in the number of hours of sleep a driver gets and the
reaction time in a driving simulation in seconds

There is no relationship in the number of hours of sleep a driver gets and the
reaction time in a driving simulation in seconds
Alternative hypothesis
O Could be directional (one-tailed) or non-directional (two-
tailed)

O Directional (one-tailed) – states the way they predict the

results will go e.g. ‘boys will score higher on the maths test
than girls’

O Non-directional (two tailed)– states there will be a

difference or relation but not what that
difference/relationship will be e.g. ‘there will be a difference
in maths test scores between boys and girls’
Do students recall more words (from a list of 20) in the morning or evening?

There is a difference in recall of 20 word list between the morning recall and evening
recall

Those which recalled the list in the morning managed to recall more of the words
form a list of 20 words compared to those which recalled the word list in the
evening

Do students have better memories for 10 actors faces when asked to watch a film
and recall the faces immediately or after a 30 minute delay?

There is a difference in recall of 10 actor faces in a film when you recall 30 minutes
after watching a film compared to immediately

Participants could recall less of the 10 actors’ faces when they recalled them
immediately after the film compared to the participants who recalled the 10 actors
faces after a 30 minute delay  
Does listening to music whilst revising affect A Level exam performance?

There is a relationship in the number of minutes of listening to music when

revising and the percentage score on your a Level result

The more minutes of music someone listens to when revising the higher their A
Level Exam performance (% score in test)
 
Are reaction times different for drivers who have had different amounts of
sleep?

There is a relationship in the number of hours of sleep a driver gets and the
reaction time in a driving simulation in seconds

The more hours of sleep a driver gets the slower their reaction time will be in
seconds
 Q1. Write a non-directional experimental hypothesis [2 marks].
There will be a difference (1) in the amount of verbal and physical aggressive
acts shown by boys and girls (1).
 Q2. Write a directional experimental hypothesis [2 marks].

‘The more fearful a ride is perceived as (1-10 rating) (1) the

higher the heart rate will be (1).
Q3. Previous research suggests that when we are stressed we don’t perform as
well on cognitive tasks. A study was conducted to investigate the effects of
anxiety on performance. Participants were given a puzzle to complete in a set
time and told that the study was investigating problem-solving behaviour. One set
of participants was mildly stressed during the task. This was achieved by
arranging for the experimenter to watch their performance closely. The other set
of participants was not stressed – they were watched but in a friendly manner.

Write a directional alternative hypothesis [2 marks].

Participants, who are more stressed because of being watched in an unfriendly

manner will take more seconds to complete the puzzle (cognitive task) than
participants who were less stressed, from being watched in a friendly manner.
 Research methods:
1. Variables and hypothesis
Learning Objectives

1. Identify features of science

2. Participate in a psychological investigation
3. Write operationalised independent and dependent variables
4. Write alternative/null directional/non-directional hypotheses that
are operationalised
5. To be able to identify confounding/extraneous variables in a
given study and understand the importance of controlling them.
Class of psychology students conducted the study with the aim of
finding out whether participants could do their homework
effectively while in front of the TV.
The independent variable (IV) was whether the TV was on or
not. The dependent variable (DV) was the participants’ score on
the memory test. If TV is a distraction, the 'TV off ' group should
do better on the test.

But consider this: suppose it happened that all the participants in

the 'TV off ' condition did the memory test in the morning and all
the participants in the ‘TV on’ condition did the memory test in
the afternoon.
O People (generally) are more alert in the
morning and this might mean that it was the
time of day rather than the lack of noise that
caused the change in the IV. Time of day may
then be regarded as a confounding
variables/extraneous variables
O Extraneous variables are any variable (other than the IV)
that may have an affect of the DV if it is not controlled.
They are nuisance variables and don’t vary systematically
with the IV.

Extraneous
variables

Situational Participant
Variables Variables
 Example
O H1: There is a relationship between A-level
grades and attendance.
O IV – attendance % Thes
facto e are extr
affec rs that co a
O DV – A Level score % t
don’t my result ld
u
s if I
take
th
accou em into
nt

Any extraneous variables?

O Intelligence/attention/revision

If I don’t take them into account my

results have been CONFOUNDED and
my results will be invalid
 Situational variables
Situational variable - An extraneous variable
present in environment of the study which
effects participant performance

E.g. Noise, light, distractions, smells etc..

KEY WORD
 Participant variable
Participant variable - Extraneous variables
specific to the participants of an investigation
that effects their performance

E.g. mood, ability, personality, intelligence, life

experiences, upbringing,
KEY WORD
 Confounding variable
Extraneous variable – a variable (which is not the independent variable) but could
affect the dependent variable if not controlled

Confounding variable – an extraneous variable that affected the results of the study so
KEY
that the effect of the IV is not truly being seen WORD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe7wN8qT8ic

If an extraneous variable is not controlled then it becomes a confounding variable.

That is because it confounds (damages/affects) the results.
 Control/Standardisation
O A control/standardisation is something that is kept the same for
each participant doing the experiment.
KEY WORD

O Researchers try and keep all variables (which are not IV’s and
DV’s) the same for all participants, so they do not affect the
results?

O The variables that need to be controlled in research are called

Extraneous variables.

O For example, they may use standardised instructions or keep

timings the same.
On the examples below, create a possible standardisation for the
extraneous variable you have identified. In order that it doesn’t
become a confounding variable.
Suggest one way in which the psychologist might have improved this study by
controlling for the effects of extraneous variables. Justify your answer. (2 marks)

One way to improve this study is to ensure that

all participants are tested by the same
researcher (1) this will prevent the situational
variable of a different researcher affecting the
number of ideas generated because one
researcher may be more enthusiastic than
another which inspired idea generation (1)
 Research methods:
Introduction to the basics
Learning Objectives

1. Identify features of science

2. Participate in a psychological investigation
3. Write operationalised independent and dependent variables
4. Write alternative and null hypotheses that are operationalised
5. To be able to identify confounding/extraneous variables in a
given study and understand the importance of controlling them.