Introduction to Experimental

Psychology
Introduction

2008 / 2009

This session
1.

What is Experimental Psychology? An overview

2.

Aims of the unit

3.

Overview of scheduled lectures

4.

Teaching strategy and web support

5.

Assessment strategy

6.

The experimental method an introduction

What is Experimental Psychology?

An umbrella term for certain areas of psychology

Cognitive Psychology

Thinking & Reasoning

Language & Psycholinguistics

Perception

Memory

Neuropsychology, Psychophysiology & Biological Psychology

Learning, Motivation & Behaviour

What is Experimental Psychology?

A methodological approach: Use of the Experimental Method

To find out how people tick (how they think, feel and behave) in
general disregarding individual differences

(similar to a medical researcher who is interested in how the

bloodstream works in general, irrespective of the individual body size
and amount of blood etc.)

The experimental method is about establishing causality

By manipulating X and observing its effect on Y, while controlling

for other influences on Y

This approach can be used in other fields of psychology as well

E.g., experimental social psychology, experimental child psychology

Aims of the unit

Two interrelated goals:

1) To give an overview of the field of experimental psychology
2) To introduce the experimental method through examples from (1)

A typical lecture will introduce a certain field of experimental psychology

(e.g. memory), focusing on experimental research on a specific
phenomenon of interest (e.g. the suggestibility of eyewitness memory)

In doing this, special features of the experimental method will be

highlighted in connection with the experiments (e.g. randomisation,
counterbalancing, control conditions/groups, experiments with crossed
IVs, field experiments, quasi-experiments, manipulations within and
between subjects etc.)

In addition, (some of) the lectures will also feature more specific
experimental methods and techniques used in certain research areas

Aims of the unit

To support 2nd semester and 2nd year units (e.g. Cognitive, Biological,
Social and Developmental Psychology) by providing the necessary
methodological background

These units obviously provide a much better and in-depth overview

but cannot focus so much on methodological background

To support the Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology unit by

providing a wider range of illustrations of experimental methods

That unit focuses on the relation between the experimental method

(as well as other methods) and statistics

Our unit focuses on the relation between experimental methods and

content (i.e. different applications of the method within the field of
experimental psychology)

Aims of the unit

Our unit fills in the gap between methods (Marks unit) and content
(Cognitive/Social/Developmental etc.)

It puts the experimental method in a broader context

It also has an appetizer function, as it provides (hopefully tasty)

examples of research areas that are treated more systematically and in
much more detail in later, specialised unit

Overview of scheduled lectures

7 Oct

Introduction (HB)

14 Oct

Mood and memory (LS)

21 Oct

The suggestibility of eyewitness memory (HB)

28 Oct

Psychophysics (AH)

4 Nov

Consciousness and free will (LS)

11 Nov

Speech (MDR)

18 Nov

Social facilitation (HB)

25 Nov

Child development (VR)

2 Dec

Emotion (MDR)

9 Dec

The psychobiology of addiction (LS)

6 Jan

The experimental method problems, limitations & criticism (HB)

13 Jan

Review lecture (HB)

Teaching strategy and web support

No handouts!

Handouts can create a feeling of learning without actual learning!

They can also disrupt attention to the lecture and give away
experimental results too early

Instead, you should take notes!

You can download the slides from the units Victory website after each
lecture though

Teaching strategy and web support

Each lecture will contain references to chapters of the units core

textbook:
Maclin & Solso (2008). Experimental Psychology: A case approach.
[10 copies in library]

The book is a mix between a methods book and examples of

experimental research from different areas

Important methodological chapters: 1, 3-6

[~ 100 pages altogether]

Recommended learning strategy:

Revisit the lecture slides after each lecture and read the associated
chapters (or sub-chapters) in Maclin & Solso (2008)

Maclin & Solso (2008)

Essential Chapters:
1.

An introduction to scientific inquiry

3.

Basic experimental design in

psychology

4.

Advanced design techniques

5.

Experimental design and control

6.

Control of subject variables

... plus a large number of interesting

case studies, on e.g. Cola tasting,
Karate techniques, prosocial
behaviour, alcohol and condoms
etc.

Assessment strategy

Exam at the end of January 2009

Exact date tba

Consists of two parts:

1) Multiple choice questions based on the contents of the individual
lectures
2) Short essay focusing on a methodological issue

Details to follow

A good mark requires both knowledge about the lecture content and
additional reading (i.e. chapters from Maclin & Solso, 2008); this holds
most certainly for Part 2 of the exam

Example multiple choice questions will be available in time on the units

Victory website

The experimental method an introduction

What is it?

Its about establishing causality

More specifically, a causal relationship between (in the simplest case) two
variables: Is X a cause of Y?

The experimental method tries to test this by systematically manipulating X

and observing its effect on Y, while controlling for other influences on Y

Out of theoretical as well as practical interest:

Theoretical: I want to find out what causes Y

Practical: What do I need to do to influence Y?

What is it NOT?

Its not identical to what is sometimes colloquially called an experiment

(Lets throw these two chemicals together and see what happens )

The real experimental method is more systematic (see above)

The experimental method an introduction

What is it?

In order to establish that X is a cause of Y one must show that

Variations in X result in variations in Y

While making sure that Y is influenced by no other factor

Example:

The contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954; Pettigrew, 1998): Intergroup

contact (X) leads to reduced intergroup prejudice (Y) hence,

With contact (as e.g. opposed to no contact), there should be less

prejudice (as compared to no contact)

While keeping everything else constant (e.g. age, gender, socioeconomic status of the groups)

The experimental method an introduction

Some useful distinctions
1.

The experimental method vs. experimental methods

2.

The experimental method vs. an experiment

3.

The experimental method vs. correlational research

4.

The experimental method vs. observational research

5.

The experimental method vs. qualitative research

Further important issues

6.

The experimental method and theory

7.

The experimental setting: laboratory vs. field

The experimental method an introduction

1. The experimental method vs. experimental methods

Is there THE ONE experimental methoD? Or should we better speak of

(different) experimental methoDS?

Answer: both is true

At a general level, there is something that all experimentation has in

common, and to that degree we can speak of The experimental methoD
(or even more generally as The experimental APPROACH)

At more specific levels, there are different experimental designs,

techniques, paradigms etc., which may be collectively referred to as
experimental methoDS (see next slides for examples)

In this sense, specific experimental methoDS can be regarded as different

instances of the experimental methoD

The experimental method an introduction

Examples of experimental DESIGNS:

Between-subjects designs (e.g. an experimental group and a control

group)

Within-subjects (or repeated-measures) designs (here, THE SAME

participants are tested under different conditions)

More complicated designs involving more than one manipulation/IV

Examples of experimental TECHNIQUES and PARADIGMS:

(= standard, often-used experimental tools or procedures, sometimes limited to
certain research areas)

Priming

Minimal group paradigm

The experimental method an introduction

2. The experimental method vs. an experiment

The experimental method describes the general approach to a research

question

Trying to answer the research question may involve one or more

experiments

3. The experimental method vs. correlational research

The experimental method is usually aimed at discovering general laws of

psychological functioning (hence the focus on learning, memory,
behaviour, language, thinking etc. described earlier)

Correlational research usually aims at classification and individual

differences, by looking at correlations between behaviours and traits

(a correlation is a measure for the degree to which two variables are

related to each other)

The experimental method an introduction

3. The experimental method vs. correlational research

E.g. people who talk a lot will probably also go out a lot (i.e. there is a
positive correlation between these behaviours), and both of this together
with additional information may justify putting them into an extravert
category

The correlational methods looks at systematic covariation between

variables/behaviours across people, and tries to identify stable patterns
(e.g. due to personality) behind such regulaties

Experimental and correlational research are fundamentally different

correlation cannot establish causality!

E.g. the height and weight of people are strongly correlated but neither
is the cause of the other (you cant grow by putting on weight!)

In principle, if two variables are correlated, one CAN be the cause of the
other, but that has to be EXPERIMENTALLY established!

The experimental method an introduction

4. The experimental method vs. observational research

In experiments, in order to test a causal relationship between X and Y, one

must often interfere with peoples spontaneous behaviour (e.g., ask them
to make certain judgements or perform certain actions)

Observational research is interested in peoples (or animals) normal,

uninfluenced behaviour

E.g. emergence of dual leadership in small groups (Bales & Slater,

1955):

Small groups formed of previously unacquainted people

Regular discussions of problems over some weeks

Observed using a coding system (task-oriented, socio-emotional,

negative and positive interactions)

Often, two different leaders emerged: one task-oriented, one socioemotional

The experimental method an introduction

5. The experimental method vs. qualitative research

Qualitative research often involves interviews and extensive analysis of

interview transcripts

The focus is on how people themselves see and construct their world

Qualitative research usually rejects using predefined variables (and the

manipulation of these) as in experimental research

It is more open to the participants own views, but as with correlational

research it cannot establish causality (other than peoples beliefs about
causal relations)

The experimental method an introduction

6. The experimental method and theory

The experimental method is usually guided by theory and/or previous

research

A theory is a set of assumptions from which predictions can be derived

which can then be tested in an experiment (or in a set of experiments)

If the predictions turn out to be true, the theory is supported

If the predictions are wrong, the theory has to be modified or (e.g. after
repeated disconfirmations) abandoned

Why do we need theory?

Theories make sense of a world of empirical observations by subsuming

them under a relatively small number of principles

There is nothing as practical as a good theory (attributed to Kurt Lewin)

The experimental method an introduction

7. The experimental setting: laboratory vs. field

Most experiments in psychology take place in some form of laboratory

E.g. experimental cubicles or seminar rooms

Using computers, questionnaires, brain wave measurement etc.

Some experiments take place in the field (i.e., in everyday settings

outside the laboratory)

An important difference between laboratory and field experiments is that

participants in laboratory experiments normally know that they are in an
experiment, whereas people in field experiments often do not

Such knowledge can have important consequences for peoples behaviour

E.g. demand characteristics the social psychology of the

psychological experiment (Orne, 1962)

Supporting literature
Maclin & Solso (2008), Chap. 1, in particular:
What is it?

pp. 9-13, 17-19

1.

The experimental method vs. experimental methods

2.

The experimental method vs. an experiment

3.

The experimental method vs. correlational research

pp. 27-29

4.

The experimental method vs. observational research

pp. 21-23

5.

The experimental method vs. qualitative research

6.

The experimental method and theory

7.

The experimental setting: laboratory vs. Field

pp. 24-25

Supporting literature
Literature mentioned in lecture:
Allport, G. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Reading, MA: AddisonWesley.
Bales, R. F. & Slater, P. (1955). Role differentiation in small decision-making
groups. In T. Parsons & R. F. Bales (Eds.), Family, socialization, and
interaction process. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Orne, M. (1962). On the social psychology of the psychological experiment.
American Psychologist, 17, 776-783.
Pettigrew, T. F. (1998). Intergroup contact theory. Annual Review of
Psychology, 49, 65-85.

The experimental method an introduction

A field experiment on prejudiced behaviour towards homosexuals

Setting: a car park, somebody requesting 10 p for the ticket machine

Three independent variables: (1) requestor wearing a gay pride T-shirt or

not, (2) gender of requestor, (3) gender of participant

REQUESTOR
Participant

male /
homo

male /
hetero

female /
homo

female /
hetero

male

n = 30

n = 30

n = 30

n = 30

female

n = 30

n = 30

n = 30

n = 30

The experimental method an introduction

A field experiment on prejudiced behaviour towards homosexuals

Setting: a car park, somebody requesting 10 p for the ticket machine

Three independent variables: (1) requestor wearing a gay pride T-shirt or

not, (2) gender of requestor, (3) gender of participant

REQUESTOR
male /
homo

female /
homo

male /
hetero

female /
hetero

male

16

19

27

female

20

20

24

24

Participant

Outcome: less help toward homosexuals, especially by men

Priming a demonstration

2 words in short succession

Your task: ignore the first word, react to the second word

If the word is negative, press your left index finger

If the word is positive, press your right index finger

4 trials

cockroach

cancer

rabbit

sunshine

butterfly

sad

spider

happy

positive attitude

reactio n tim e (m s)

1100

negative attitude

towards primes

1000
900
800
700
600
500

positive words

negative words

targets

The minimal group paradigm

A social psychological paradigm to investigate in-group favouritism

People are divided in two groups

On the basis of a trivial or random criterion (e.g. Klee vs. Kandinsky)

They dont know the other members of their group though

Afterwards, on a separate task, they have the opportunity to divide money

or points between e.g. Member No. 4 of the Klee group and Member No.
7 of the Kandinsky group

Typical finding: people give more money/points to members of their own

group