PSY BEH 11A Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Quasi, Demand Characteristics, Standard Deviation

• School: UC-Irvine
• Department: Psychology and Social Behavior
• Course: PSY BEH 11A
• Professor: Bruce Berg

Document Summary

For examining how boys and girls differ in their aggression, than sex is the independent variable. If we want our study to effect the broader world, then we need to ensure its external validity. External validity is the degree to which a study"s participants, stimuli, and procedures reflect the world as it actually is. In order to ensure external validity, we need to make sure he study represents a broad population. Sometimes when people are being observed, they act differently because they are being self-conscious. Demand characteristics alter people"s behavior; any cues in a situation that make participants think one response is more desireable than another. For example: if you ask someone so how often do you run red lights they might lie because it"s an illegal activity. Investigators always try to minimize demand characteristics by making sure all participants are treated alike and by telling them that everything they say will remain confidential.