EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

• It is an introduction to the basic

principles of research in psychology. It
explains the key principles of research
particularly experimental research
 METHODOLOGY
• The scientific techniques used to
collect or evaluate psychological
data
• Difference Between Scientific and Non-Scientific Research
• The key difference between scientific and non-scientific research
is that scientific research can be repeated several times using
the same methods and data, whereas non-scientific research
cannot be repeated since it uses intuition, personal experience,
and personal beliefs.

• Both scientific and non-scientific research studies vary from one

another in their methods. Basically, scientific research uses a
logical process in conducting the research, whereas non-scientific
research uses techniques and strategies that do not contain a
scientific base in acquiring knowledge.
 • Scientific Research

• Scientific research refers to research that collects data using

systemic methods and strategies.
• There is a scientific and systemic basis in the collection of data,
interpretation, and evaluation of data. When conducting
scientific research, the researcher should plan the research and
specify the methodology. According to the techniques used in
data collection, scientific research can be classified into different
categories as observational and experimental.
 • Scientific Research

• Scientific research operates at two levels.

• theoretical level-concepts are developed, especially concepts
related to social and natural phenomena.
• empirical level-theoretical concepts and relationships are
tested.
• There are two forms of scientific research.
• inductive research, the researcher gathers theoretical concepts
from observed data (specific to general)
• deductive research, the researcher tests concepts and patterns
of the theory using new empirical data. (general to specific)
 • Non-Scientific Research
• Non-scientific research is research conducted without any
systematic methods and scientific basis. In non-scientific research,
intuition, personal experience, and personal beliefs are used as
techniques to reach a conclusion. Thus, conclusions in non-
scientific research are basically based on personal thinking and
presumption.

• In non-scientific research, logical and systematics methods are not

used in analyzing data. Non-scientific research simply gives a
solution for a certain problem. It does not focus on other activities
or recommendations for that particular problem. Moreover, it
does not use a logical or organized procedure to form the
conclusion.
 SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC METHOD

•SCIENCE is the systematic gathering of data to

provide descriptions of events taking place
under specific conditions
 • Psychology is the science of behavior.
• The American Psychological Association (APA) defines Psychology
is the study of the mind and behavior. The discipline embraces all
aspects of the human experience — from the functions of the
brain to the actions of nations, from child development to care
for the aged.
• In every conceivable setting from scientific research centers to
mental healthcare services, "the understanding of behavior" is
the enterprise of psychologists.
 Experimental Method

• -the relationship of interest is between a set of

circumstances and a behavior
• • Independent variables
• • Dependent Variables
• • Experimental group
• • Control Group
 What is the goal of scientific psychology?
•• To understand why people think and act as
they do.

• Follows the five major goals in Psychology

 • To describe
• The first goal is to observe behavior and describe, often in
minute detail, what was observed as objectively as possible
 • To explain

• While descriptions come from observable data, psychologists must

go beyond what is obvious and explain their observations. In other
words, why did the subject do what he or she did?
• To predict
• Once we know what happens, and why it happens, we can
begin to speculate what will happen in the future. There’s an
old saying, which very often holds true: "the best predictor
of future behavior is past behavior."
• To control
• Once we know what happens, why it happens and what is
likely to happen in the future, we can excerpt control over it.
In other words, if we know you choose abusive partners
because your father was abusive, we can assume you will
choose another abusive partner, and can therefore intervene
to change this negative behavior.
 • To influence/ To improve

• Not only do psychologists attempt to control behavior, they

want to do so in a positive manner, they want to improve a
person’s life, not make it worse. This is not always the case,
but it should always be the intention.
• Psychologists take a scientific approach to understanding
behavior, and our knowledge about psychological processes
is based on scientific evidence accumulated through
research.
• Commonsense Psychology- the kind of everyday, nonscientific
data gathering that shapes our expectations and beliefs and
directs our behavior towards others.
• Commonsense psychologists derive their beliefs about
behavior from data collected from their own experience and
what they have learned from others.
• It is not always reliable because the data collected in our daily
lives have been generated from a very small sample of
behaviors and the conclusions we draw from them are subject
to a number of inherent, or biases, that limit their accuracy
and usefulness.
• Confirmation Bias- once we believe we know
something, we tend to overlook instances that might
disconfirm our beliefs, and we seek, instead
confirmatory instances of behavior.
•SCIENTIFIC METHOD
• - is a problem-solving approach that uses a series of
steps to test hypotheses and increase understanding of
the world.
•Principles of Scientific Method
• Scientific Mentality
• -It is a way of thinking that is curious, methodical, and evidence-
based. It involves observing the world, asking questions, and testing
hypotheses to gain knowledge

• Whitehead- a philosopher of science who traced the development of

science in his now classic book Science and the Modern World (1925)

• He postulated that faith in an organized universe is essential to science.

If no inherent order existed, there would be no point in looking for one
and no need to develop methods for doing so.
•Principles of Scientific
Method
• Determinism- Research psychologists share the belief that there
are specifiable causes for the way people behave and that these
causes can be discovered through research.
• Gathering Empirical Data
• Order exists in the universe as proven by empirical data.- Aristotle.
• Empirical data can be verified or disproved through investigation
•Principles of Scientific Method
• Good Thinking
• The approach to collection and interpretation of data should be systematic,
objective and rational.
• Principle of Parsimony- The principle that the most acceptable explanation of an
occurrence, phenomenon, or event is the simplest.
• The concept of parsimony is used to help people identify the most reasonable
explanation for a phenomenon or the best solution to a problem, based on the
complexity of the available options. Specifically, according to the principle of
parsimony, when looking for the best explanation or solution, you should select the
simplest one, as long as no other criterion can be used in order to choose between
the available options.
•Principles of Scientific Method
• Self-Correction
• the process of updating and correcting scientific knowledge through
replication and other methods.

• Publicizing Results
• The number of scientific papers published each year in scientific journals
is growing and new journals are constantly being added in specified
disciplines.
•The Scientific Method: Tools of
Psychological Science
• Observation- is a systematic noting and recording of events. Only events that
are observable can be studied scientifically. Within the scientific framework,
observation also must be made systematically.

• Measurement- is the assignment of numerical values to objects or events or

their characteristics according to conventional rules.

• -Tools used to measure the variable like standardized intelligence tests and a
variety of standardized personality measures but standards are often
determined by the context of a particular study.
• The Scientific Method: Tools of Psychological Science

• Experimentation-a process undertaken to test a hypothesis

that particular behavioral events will occur reliably in certain,
specifiable situations. When we experiment, we systematically
manipulate aspects of a setting to verify our predictions about
observable behavior under specific conditions.
• Experimentation is not always possible.
• Three requirements for experimentation:
• 1.We must have procedures for manipulating the setting.
• 2.The predicted outcome must be observable.
• 3.We must be able to measure the outcome.

• Experimentation must also be objective. Ideally, we do not

bias our results by setting up situations in which our
predictions will automatically be confirmed.
• Establishing Cause and Effect in Experiments

• A central goal of most research is the identification of causal

relationships, or demonstrating that a particular
independent variable (the cause) has an effect on the
dependent variable of interest (the effect).
 The APA Style
of Writing

Back to Agenda 03
 IMRAD
(Introduction, Methods,
Research [and] Discussion)
 What is it?
•It is a mnemonic for a common format used
for academic [‘scientific’] research papers.
 What is it?
•It is used primarily in the hard sciences.
•It is also widely used in the social and
behavioral sciences.
 What is it?
•It is also known as the APA format, as the
American Psychological Association
employs the IMRAD headings in its APA
stylesheet.
 What is it?
•It is simply a more ‘defined’ version of the
“IBC” [Introduction, Body, Conclusion]
format used for all academic writing.
 What is the IMRaD Format?
•It is a scientific writing structure that
includes four or five major sections:
What is the IMRaD Format?
•Introduction (I)
•Research methods (M)
•Results (R)
•and /**Analysis (a)
•Discussion (D)
 What goes
into each
section?

Back to Agenda 03
 Introduction
(Why did you
start?)
•The introduction states the research problem
or the question(s) you intend to address
through research.
 Introduction
(includes…)
Statement of the topic you are about to
address
Introduction
(includes…)
Current state of the field of understanding
(often, called as a literature review and it
may even merit having its own section)
 Introduction
(includes…)
Problem or gap in knowledge (what don’t
we know yet or need to know? what does the
field still need to understand? what’s been
left out of previous research? is this a new
issue that needs some direction?)
Introduction
(includes…)
Forecast statement that explains, very
briefly, what the rest of the paper will entail,
including a possible quick explanation of the
type of research that needs to be conducted
Introduction
(needs to be…)
Brief, clear, to the point
Written mostly in present tense
Introduction
(common problems)
 Historical details
 Too long
 Too general and vague
 Imitative
 Contains discussion material
 Research Methods
(What did you do?)

 Research design
 Respondents
 Study Locale *Section and subsections help
 Research Instruments
 Data analysis
 Ethical considerations
 Research Methods
(What did you actually do?)
Measurements
• By whom?
• Was it objective and accurate?
• Who administered the questionnaire?
• Where?
 Research Methods
(What did you actually do?)
Sample size calculation
Statistical analysis
• Hypothesis testing: How? Are assumptions OK?

• Multiple testing. Software used.

 Research Methods
(other considerations…)
Separate each type of research you
conducted (interviews, focus groups,
experiments, etc.) into sub-sections and only
discuss one research method in each sub-
section (for clarity and organization, it’s
important to not talk about multiple methods
at once)
Research Methods
(other
Be very considerations…)
detailed about your process.
• - how many people you interviewed
• - what you asked them
• - what you hoped to learn by interviewing
them
• - why chose to interview over other methods
• - why you interviewed those people
specifically
Results
(What did you find?)
Results of all experiments/tests
• in natural order
• in subsections similar to methods
Results
(What did you find?)
Text, tables, and figures
• do not duplicate
Key findings
• primary outcome measures
 Results
(What did you find?)
Secondary findings
• secondary outcome measures
• subgroup analyses
Cite all tables/figures in text
Discussion
(What does it mean?)
Recapitulation of major findings
Discussion of findings
• why the difference, why more reliable,etc
 Discussion
(What does it mean?)
Discussion of important minor findings
Alternative explanations
Strengths and pitfalls
Implications of the find
 Discussion
(What does it mean?)
Unanswered questions and future research
Final summary/conclusion
• suggesting what new knowledge it provides to the
field
• note the limitations of your study
• what further research still needs to be done
 Discussion
(common pitfalls)
First study in the world
Megalomania
Emphasizing strengths, not weaknesses
Reiterating selected results
Discussion
(common pitfalls)
Inflating the importance and generalizability of
findings
Going beyond the evidence and drawing
unjustified conclusions
How to Avoid Plagiarism: 5 Easy Methods

• 1 Cite your source.

• 2 Include quotations.
• 3 Paraphrase.
• 4 Present your own idea.
• 5 Use a plagiarism checker.
 APA Style
• Paraphrasing
• A paraphrase restates another’s idea (or your own previously
published idea) in your own words. Paraphrasing allows you to
summarize and synthesize information from one or more sources, focus
on significant information, and compare and contrast relevant detail.
 APA Style
• When you paraphrase, you use your own words. This is usually
preferable to direct quotes because the information is written in your
own style, but you must be careful not to change the meaning. When
paraphrasing, you must still acknowledge where you got the idea
from by including a parenthetical citation.

• When citing paraphrased information, APA requires you to include the

author and date. It is also recommended (but not required) that you
include the page number. The format of the page number depends
on if the information is on a single page or range of pages.
 APA Style
• When you paraphrase, you use your own words. This is usually
preferable to direct quotes because the information is written in your
own style, but you must be careful not to change the meaning. When
paraphrasing, you must still acknowledge where you got the idea
from by including a parenthetical citation.

• When citing paraphrased information, APA requires you to include the

author and date. It is also recommended (but not required) that you
include the page number. The format of the page number depends
on if the information is on a single page or range of pages.
 • Examples of Citing Paraphrased Information
• at the Beginning of a Sentence

• A review (Selby et al., 2017) identified several laws pertaining to cancer research in
the UK that might be affected because of Brexit.

• Patafio et al. (2016) investigated the relationship between cancer research funding
and cancer research output and found that research output is not well correlated
with the public health burden of individual cancers that was measure by mortality
rates.

• The authors (Lindqvist & Neumann) argue that security and privacy are crucial in the
Internet of Things (IoT) because if future attacks are successful they can cause
widespread destruction and even cost lives.

• Bernard (2011) argues that Henry VIII's Catholicism was more than just Catholicism
without the pope.
 • Examples of Citing Paraphrased Information in the
• Middle of a Sentence

• Surgery is considered a last resort in the treatment of plantar fasciitis

Owens (2017) argues.

• Strength training as treatment for plantar fasciitis, according to (Huffer

et al. 2017), does not contribute to the improved function and pain
relief.

• Many physical therapists use ultrasound therapy as treatment; however,

numerous studies highlighted in the review published by Sanke and
Radwan (2015) show that the therapy does not have any effect on the
condition.
 • Examples of Citing Paraphrased Information at
the End of a Sentence

• A significant amount of youths' social interaction takes place

through technology and children as young as 10 have access to
mobile devices (Williford & DePaolis, 2016).

• The authors found that undergraduate students are afraid to report

cyberbullying (Watts et al., 2017, p. 273).
 • Example of how the original quotation might be
paraphrased

• Original quotation:

• American commitment to self-government rested on the early

experience of colonization. English common law was introduced with the first
settlers, and each new colony soon had an elected assembly designed to
represent and protect the interests of the settler population, acting like a local
equivalent of the Westminster House of Commons. In theory, popular
participation in government was balanced by a strong executive, in the
person of the governor, supported by an advisory council. Bit in the first years
of settlement, when colonies were sponsored by private companies rather
than the Crown, governors and councils were often themselves elected,
reinforcing the tendency towards local control (Conway, 2013, p. 33).
 • Example of how the original quotation might be
paraphrased

• The essay incorporating the paraphrasing:

• The early settlers in Colonial American may have considered

themselves English and loyal to the Crown. However, the local
government structure supported a system of relative self-
governance (Conway, 2013, p. 33).
References
• American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

• Bernard, G. W. (2011). The dissolution of the monasteries. History, 96(324), 390-409.

• Conway, S. (2013). A short history of the American Revolutionary War. I.B.Tauris.

• El Asam, A., & Samara, M. (2016). Cyberbullying and the law: A review of psychological and legal challenges. Computers in human behavior, 65, 127-141.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.08.012

• Lindqvist, U., & Neumann, P. G. (2017). The future of the internet of things. Communications of the ACM, 60(2), 26-30. https://doi.org/10.1145/3029589

• Owens, J. M. (2017). Diagnosis and management of plantar fasciitis in primary care. Journal for nurse practitioners, 13(5), 354-359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2016.12.016

• Patafio, F. M., Brooks, S. C., Wei, X., Peng, Y., Biagi, J., & Booth, C. M. (2016). Research output and the public health burden of cancer: Is there any relationship? Current Oncology, 23(2), 75-
80. https://doi.org/10.3747/co.23.2935

• Sanke, P. L., & Radwan, T. S. (2015). Ultrasound as an effective treatment for chronic plantar fasciitis. Journal of foot & ankle surgery, 54(4) 481-487.

• Selby, P., Lawler, M., Baird, R., Banks, I., Johnston, P., & Nurse, P. (2017). The potential consequences for cancer care and cancer research of Brexit. Ecancermedicalscience, 11(752-769), 1-3.
https://doi.org/10.3332/ecancer.2017.ed63

• Watts, L. K., Wagner, J., Velasquez, B., & Behrens, P. I. (2017). Cyberbullying in higher education: A literature review. Computers in human behavior, 69, 268-274.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.038