PSYCH1101
Professor Pizarro
Fall 2016
Week 2: Lecture 1 of 3
Monday, August 29th, 2016
Lecture Keywords: psychology, scientific method, experimentation, causality, control group, experimental group, random assignment, manipulate, independent variable, measure, dependent variable, prediction/theory, experiment, ethical considerations, confounds, tentative, artificial environment, plausible conclusions, general principle, specific prediction, operational definition, observation, self-report, peer-report, research-blind, levels of analysis, evolutionary, biological, cultural,
individual development, individual differences, situational/social context
Lecture Notes: Find any course material needed at www.cornellpsych.net
Lecture Title: How To Do Psychology: Methods Pt. 2
1. So Far…
a. Introduced psychology and broad topics (Day 1)
b. Established the scientific method to acquire knowledge about how the mind works
(Day 2 and today)
c. Observation
d. Self-Report
e. Experimentation
2. Experimentation
a. Gold standard of science
b. Can determine causality
c. Control group (placebo) vs. experimental group (variable)
d. Random assignment (individuals have equal likelihoods of being assigned to either
group)
e. Manipulate something (independent variable)
f. Measure the outcome (dependent variable)
3. The Experiment: Lavatory Experiment
a. Prediction/Theory mere presence of others causes physiological arousal/stress, which
inhibits relaxation of the muscles involved in urination, therefore delaying the onset
when others are present
b. Experiment participants visiting 3-urinal bathrooms
c. Three different groups include standing alone, standing in adjacent urinal to someone
else, or standing with one urinal between you and another person
d. Shown below is the set-up of the experiment (Picture shown below from 8/29 lecture on slide
4 at www.cornellpsych.net)
4. Results of Experiment
a. Shortest time of onset when alone
b. Slightly longer onset when there was a one urinal “buffer”
c. Longest onset when someone was directly adjacent to the participant
d. Graph of the results shown below ((Picture shown below from 8/29 lecture on slide 7 at
www.cornellpsych.net)
5. Limits to Experimentation
a. Not everything can be manipulated through random assignment
i. Ethical considerations
ii. Ex: can’t randomly assign adults to have childhood PTSD
b. Experiments can contain confounds
i. Other independent variables than the one being studied
ii. Results are always tentative
c. Requires a controlled and often artificial environment
i. Made so only one variable can be manipulated
ii. Allows for plausible conclusions
iii. Limits prediction because the world is much more complex than the laboratory setting
6. Video Example (https://youtu.be/E43-CfukEgs?t=2m45s)
a. Tests whether feathers or a heavy ball will hit the ground first
b. In the real world, this is not a hard question to answer on your own
c. Lab in video tested this question in an artificial setting that resembles a giant vacuum
d. Results were that the two hit the ground at the same time
7. Applying the Scientific Method
a. Asks if watching violent media makes kids violent
b. General principle: humans learn behavior through observation and mimicry
c. Specific prediction: watching violent TV will make people more violent
d. Observe/measure/manipulate the world to see if there is evidence for this claim
8. Operational definitions of violence
a. A specific, quantifiable description of what you’re studying
b. Definition in media
i. Type (murders, shootings, stabbings, punching, etc.)
ii. Context (real vs. animated)
iii. Verbal (threats vs. verbal aggression)
c. Definitions in kids
i. Number of fights in school
ii. Rating of the violence
iii. Length of shocks delivered to another person in an experimental lab
9. Many Possible Methods
a. Observation
i. Record shows kids watch
ii. Observe their playground behavior
iii. More naturalistic and takes away the possibility of dishonesty or bias
b. Self-Report/Peer-Report
i. Ask kids what they like to watch on TV
ii. Ask kids how many fights they have been in
iii. Ask their friends, teachers or parents the same thing
iv. Possibility of bias
c. Experiment
i. Show one group of kids a violent show and another group a non-violent “control”
show
ii. Have them play with kids right after and observe their behavior
iii. OR have them write a story and have research-blind researchers (do not know the
condition) code them for violent words
iv. Draw correlational conclusions and determine relationships
v. Can continue the study over a span of time
10. Which Level of Analysis/Explanation
a. Evolutionary
i. Ex: The ball hit the ground because the process of natural selection led me to have
the ability to release it
b. Biological
i. Ex: The ball hit the ground because I let it go via muscle relaxation
c. Cultural
i. Ex: The ball hit the ground because my culture taught me that in the sport I am
playing I must release the ball at this time
d. Individual Development
i. Ex: The ball hit the ground because I have deep-seeded issues with holding a ball
due to childhood experiences
e. Individual Differences
i. Ex: The ball hit the ground because I am not good at grasping large objects
f. Situational/Social Context
i. Ex: The ball hit the ground because it is raining and the ball was wet
g. Apply to the experiment of human violence for more practice