PSYC 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Confounding, Null Hypothesis, Blind Experiment
10 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Unethical Researches
● A closer look: origins of the Code of Ethics
○ First version was published in 1953
○ Psychologists were taking on more professional and public roles post-World War
II
○ 9 revisions with the most recent published in 2002 (amended in 2010)
Experiments must be valid and reliable
● Valid — it is accurate
○ The extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed
to do
● Reliable — it can be replicated
○ Repeating the essence of a research study
Conducting psychological research
● Theory
○ An explanation that is acquired through the scientific method, and repeatedly
confirmed through observation and experimentation
● Hypothesis
○ A testable prediction that lets us accept, reject, or revise a theory
■ Null hypothesis: implies no effect or no relationship between phenomena
or populations
● Independent variables:
○ The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being
studied
● Dependent variables
○ The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of
the independent variable
● Control conditions
○ Condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and
serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment
Beware of confounding variables
● The goal of an experiment is to prove the A causes B
● A confounding variable is anything that could cause change in B, that is not A
Double blind vs. Single blind
● Single-blind experiment — only the participant does not know whether they are part of
the treatment or control group
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
A closer look: origins of the code of ethics. Psychologists were taking on more professional and public roles post-world war. 9 revisions with the most recent published in 2002 (amended in 2010) The extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to do. Repeating the essence of a research study. An explanation that is acquired through the scientific method, and repeatedly confirmed through observation and experimentation. A testable prediction that lets us accept, reject, or revise a theory. Null hypothesis: implies no effect or no relationship between phenomena or populations. The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied. The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable. Condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment. The goal of an experiment is to prove the a causes b.
