PS102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Jane Goodall, Observer-Expectancy Effect, Hawthorne Effect
The Science of Psychology
Methods of Study: Descriptive
● Observation
○ 1. Naturalistic (eg. Jane Goodall, watching what they do, real environment,
problems like weather)
○ 2. Laboratory (watching from other side of glass in lab, at your convenience,
more control but can still be natural)
○ 3. Case Study (H.M had memory part of brain removed, not a good result so only
done once, watched him and learned about memory, could have 1 person, or 4
or 5 people, any unique or particular community, only a few people who fit
criteria, describe and look for commonalities)
● Limitations of Descriptive Methods
○ Naturalistic Observations → have to wait for event to happen, observer bias
○ Laboratory Observations → loss of spontaneity, same as above
○ Case Studies → limited sample size, low generalizability, observer bias
○ Hawthorne Effect → change the way you act if you are in a study and are being
watched
○ In correlations and descriptions, we cannot confirm cause and effect
Research Question
● Experiment
● Cause and Effect
● Hypothesis
○ Does multitasking with technology in class reduce grades?
○ Do mothers and fathers engage equally in gender stereotyped play with their
preschoolers?
○ Does answering why questions while studying from text improve grades?
The Experiment: Variables
● Independent (variable that experimenter controls, changes amongst groups)
● Dependent (variable that is measured)
● Extraneous (variables that were not planned, happens to one group but not other)
Design Concerns
● Selection bias (cure: random sampling/random assignment)
● Experimenter bias (cure: double blind)
● Placebo (cure: exposure control group)
Analyzing Data → two kinds of statistics
● Descriptive (observations)
○ Used to give basic information about what we find
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Naturalistic (eg. jane goodall, watching what they do, real environment, problems like weather) Laboratory (watching from other side of glass in lab, at your convenience, more control but can still be natural) Naturalistic observations have to wait for event to happen, observer bias. Laboratory observations loss of spontaneity, same as above. Case studies limited sample size, low generalizability, observer bias. Hawthorne effect change the way you act if you are in a study and are being watched. In correlations and descriptions, we cannot confirm cause and effect. Independent (variable that experimenter controls, changes amongst groups) Extraneous (variables that were not planned, happens to one group but not other) Used to give basic information about what we find. Uses statistics such as the mean, the standard deviation, the range (known as measures of central tendency) Describe outcomes, don"t give cause and effect. Variability - tells how spread out scores are from the mean.
