PSYCHOLOGY 9990 SAKINA

Research Methods
Experiments
an investigation that allows researchers to look for a
cause and effect relationship; an independent variable
is manipulated and is expected to be responsible for
changes in the dependent variable
IV: an investigation that allows researchers to look for a
causal relationship; an independent variable is
manipulated and is expected to be responsible for
changes in the dependent variable
DV: an investigation that allows researchers to look for a causal relationship; an
independent variable is manipulated and is expected to be responsible for changes
in the dependent variable
Self report: a research method, such as a questionnaire or interview, which obtains
data by asking participants to provide information about themselves
The two technique - paper and pencil exercise or online. question formats are
closed questions, which have a fixed set of possible responses,
open questions, which ask for descriptive answers in the participant's own
words.
Inter-rater reliability: The two techniques for doing this are as a 'paper and pencil'
exercise or online. There are several different types of question. The two most
important question formats are closed questions, which have a fixed set of possible
responses, and open questions, which ask for descriptive answers in the
participant's own words.

Questionaire
Generalisability - This would mean all the people who filled out the questionnaire
would have shared characteristics making applying the findings to other people less
appropriate, i.e. could result in poor generalisability.
Social desirability bias - This would mean all the people who filled out the
questionnaire would have shared characteristics making applying the findings to
other people less appropriate, i.e. could result in poor generalisability.
Demad charactheristics –
Filler questions-
items put into a questionnaire, interview or test to disguise the aim of the study by hiding
the important questions among irrelevant ones so that participants are less likely to work
out the aims and then alter their behaviour They are not analysed in the research study

Interveiws – An interview is a research method in which the researcher can use two
alternative techniques. Typically they are face-to-face with the participant but the
interview can also happen via the telephone. Interviews can,

Structured interview – same questions for every participant and same order
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Elements that are standarised ti mnake the results more reliable

Unstructures – each quest6ion depends on particippants responses a;though data is
flexible this makes comparing data difficult
Semi-structures - an interview format using a fixed list of open and closed questions.
The interviewer can add more questions if necessary

Questionaire Interveiws
They may lie (social desiribity) They may lie (social desirability)
Demand characteristics Demand charateristics
- Interviewer bias (questions could be
subjective : tone, vocab, structure)
Interviewer may ask other researchers
about the study without telling them the
aim.
Closed questions (easy to analyse) Structured inteviews follow a pattern
Simple to summarize findings and usually use open ended question
however there is consistensy
Semi structured
Qualitative data produces detailed in
depth information but can lead to lack of
reliability as need to be interpreted.

More effiecient Time consuming

As with questionnaires, interviewees may lie either because they want to seem more
acceptable (a social desirability bias) or because they think they know the aim of the
study and are either trying to help the researcher by giving the answers they need, or
to disrupt the research by doing the opposite. Interviewing is often time consuming
and this can be a problem if it restricts the types of participant who volunteer for the
research because it would give a narrow representation of feelings, beliefs or
experiences.
When interpreting participants' responses to questions in an interview, researchers
must be careful not to be subjective, that is, to produce findings which are based on
their personal perspective. Instead, they should aim for objectivity, i.e. taking a view
that is not led by their own feelings or beliefs. To achieve this, the interviewer may
ask other researchers, who are experienced but unaware of the aims of their
research, to interpret the findings

Questionnaires, which often use mainly closed questions, are fairly easy to analyse
as they produce a total of each category of answers making it simple to summarise
the findings. It is also possible to work out averages, which can help to describe the
patterns in the results. Where qualitative data is gathered from questionnaires, it
produces more detailed, in-depth information. This is an advantage, although it also
leads to a problem.
Answers to open questions have to be interpreted, and this can lead to a lack of
reliability as the researcher may not be consistent in their interpretation. If more than
one researcher is involved, there may also be differences between them. This would
be a lack of inter-rater reliability.
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Another problem with questionnaires is that it is easy for participants to ignore them,
which means the return rate may be very low. Importantly, the people who do reply
to a questionnaire may all be quite similar, for example have time to spend because
they are unemployed or retired. This would mean all the people who filled out the
questionnaire would have shared characteristics making applying the findings to
other people less appropriate, i.e. could result in poor generalisability.
Another problem with questionnaires is that participants may lie. They may do this
because they want to look more acceptable; this is called a social desirability bias
(Figure 1.8). Participants may also lie if they believe they have worked out the aim of
the study. To avoid this, researchers sometimes include filler questions among the
real questions. The answers to filler questions are not analysed in the research since
they serve only to hide the real purpose of the study.

Social Approach
Main assumptions of social approach
All of our behaviors, cognition and emotions can be
influenced by actual, implied or imagined presence of
others, social context, groups and environments.

Milgram Study - Behavioral study of

obedience
Experiment type: Laboratory
Research method: Controlled observation
Date: 1963
Experimental design: Independent measures design
Aim: To investigate the effect of oxytocin on preferred
interpersonal distance for those scoring high or low in
empathy traits.
Background: 11 millioln people were gruesomely killed
by nazis. Milgram being Jewish sought to find if anyone
under a similar situation would harm or murder under
an authoritive figures commands. He suggested a
sitiational explaination for obedience. His psychology
students predicted that 0 to 3% of participants would
deliver maximum voltage

Procedure:
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Dependent variable: Maximum shock the participant is

willing to administer
before he refuses to continue further.
a) It required the participants to administer
increasingly severe punishment to the victim
(stooge or confederate)
b) 26 participants obeyed the experimental
commands fully.
c) 14 participants broke off the experiment at some
point after victim expressed distress.

Perry Study – Oxytocin promotes

interpersonal distance
Date: 2015
Aim: To investigate the effect of oxytocin on preferred
interpersonal distance for those scoring high or low in
empathy traits.

Prediction: OT will differentially affect preferred inter

personal distance depending on individual differences
in empathy.

Research method: 2 laboratory experiments

Research design: Repeated measures design +
Randomisation
Hypotheses:
1. Administering oxytocin will affect interpersonal
distance depending on persons’ level of empathy.
2. People with high empathy would prefer closer
distance than those with low empathy.

Sampling technique: Volunteer (Self-selecting)

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Sample: 56 males ages 19 to 32 years They received

payment for their participation

Amygdala:
[Link] amygdala: don’t feel usual need for
personal space (okay with people being much
closer to them than normal)
[Link] brain + high amygdala activity: feel
uncomfortable when someone is too close to them
Oxytocin affects parts of the amygdala so it might
change how one feels about personal space making it a
factor in our preferred interpersonal distance
Background:
Dr. Anat Perry was a professor at Hebrew university of
Jerusalem.
He studies empathy and social processes from a social
cognitive neuroscience perspective. They wanted to
test the social salience hypothesis (SSH) to see if
oxytocin would cause people to process social
situations deeply, hence affecting their subsequent
behavior.

Psychology being investigated:

a) Interpersonal distance which is the distance
between 2 people which varies depending on the
relationship with other person, cultural norms, or
personal factors.
b) Personal space which every person has is an
invisible boundary around them. If another enters
this personal space the person may feel
uncomfortable or threatened.
c) Empathy which is a person’s ability to understand
the thoughts, feelings and experiences of another.
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The level of empathy a person has affects the way

they process social cues. It has 2 dimensions
1. Cognitive: Ability to determine another’s
emotional state.
2. Affective: The ability to “feel” another’s
emotional state.
d) Oxytocin which is a social hormone which helps in
bonding and promotes prosocial behaviour.
e) Amygdala which is a part of the brain involving
processing emotions, like social behaviour and fear.
It helps us decide our preferred interpersonal
distance.
Independent variables:
a) Participants levels of empathy – low or high
b) Whether the participants received the nasal drops
of oxytocin or placebo - saline solution
(Participants took part in both conditions
alternatively over the 2 weeks of the experiment
unaware of which they were given)

Dependent variable: Whether oxytocin affected

participants preferred interpersonal distance depending
on their level of empathy
This part of the design was
Procedure: independent measures
Divided in 2 groups – low empathy / high empathy
since their classification
was dependent on their
High or low empathy was operationalized usinglevel
a 28 of empathy.

Item questionnaire called Interpersonal Reactivity

Index. (IRI)
IRI has 4 sub sections 7 items each
High empathy – 40 or more - 20 participants
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Low empathy – 33 or less - 20 participants

Participants were given oxytocin or placebo in
randomized order to avoid order effects.
Week 1 half waws given nasal drops and the other
placebo and in week 2 vice-versa
Double blind technique was used so neither the
participant nor the experimenter knew which solution
was administered.

4 Zones of spatial
1. Intimate distance: lovers, close family members,
distance
where all senses are involved but vision is limited
2. Personal distance: everyday social interactions
with familiar or unfamiliar individuals. Where an
individual can see touch and hear but can’t smell
the other person.
3. Social distance: formal interactions, eye contact
loud voice body movements are visible.
4. Public distance: public figures, loud voice and body
movements are present.
Experiment 1 : Stop a computer visualized
protagonist when feeling most comfortable.
Experiment 2 : Choose the room in which they
would discuss intimate topics with another
individual

Piliavin study
Experiment type/Research methods: Field experiment
Experiment design: Independent measures
Sample: Harlem to Bronx
On weekdays 11 am to 3 pm
4450 – 55% white, 45% black
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43 passengers in each cabin – 8.5 in critical area

Sampling technique: opportunity sampling
This is opportunity sampling because:
 Participants were selected based on their

availability and presence during the experiment.

 The researchers took advantage of a naturally

occurring group of people (subway riders).

 There was no randomization or pre-screening;

the sample depended on who was on the train at

that time.
This method made the study more practical and
efficient, though it may have limited
generalizability due to sample bias (e.g., mostly
urban, likely working-class commuters).

Background:

Psychology being investigated:

1)Bystanders are people who are physically present
at the scene of an event or incident but do not take
active par5t in helping others in need. The term
bystander apathy suggests that one may not offer
help in such situations. Although it is suggested
that they may act so due to their behavioral factors
rather than the victim himself.
2)Diffusion of responsibility is when an incident is
observed by more than one person, more people
being present may make an individual’s feel less
responsible. The victim may be less likely to
receive help from others as less responsibility
means less guilt for people who choose not to help.
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Learning Approach
Main assumptions of learning
approach
1. Each life begins as a “blank slate”: observable
changes to our behaviour can result from
interactions with our environment
2. The processes if social learning: operant
conditioning and classical conditioning are ways in
which humans and animals learn. These processes
involve stimulus-response: experiences within our
environment (stimuli) shape our behaviour
(response)
Bandura
Aim: To investigate whether a child would learn
aggression by observing a model and would reproduce
this behaviour in the absence of the model, and
whether the sex of the role model was important.
Hypotheses:
1. Observed aggressive behaviour will be imitated.
2. Observed non-aggressive behaviour will be
imitated.
3. Children are more likely to copy a same-sex model.
4. Boys will be more likely to copy aggression than
girls.
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Prediction:
Subjects who observed aggressive models would
display significantly more aggression when
subsequently frustrated than subjects who were equally
frustrated but who had no prior exposure to models
exhibiting

Background: A real-life incident reported by the San

Francisco Chronicle in 1961 involved a boy being
seriously injured during a re-enactment of a violent
knife fight from the film Rebel Without a Cause, which
he had watched the night before. This highlighted
concerns about the imitative effects of media violence.
Such cases suggested that media portrayals of
aggression might influence not how aggressive
someone is, but how they express aggression when
provoked. Bandura used this as a basis to explore
whether aggression can be learned through observation
of role models.
Research method: Lab experiment
The study took place in a controlled environment ( lab
setting at SU), allowing researchers to manipulate
variables and observe their effects precisely. There
were a distinct set of IVs and DV
Controlled situations:
All children experienced the same structures procedure
1. Being taken to a room where they watched model
behave aggressively or non-aggressively toward a
bobo doll or no model.
2. They were subject to mild aggression arousal
where they were taken to a room full of attractive
toys but were told they couldn’t play with them for
long this ensured they were motivated (to be
aggressive equally)
3. Observed while they were in a room alone with
both the aggressive and non-aggressive toys.
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Controls used to minimise extraneous variables;

1. Same script for models’ behaviour
2. Same toys and layout of toys for each child
3. Same duration of exposure to the model
Research design:
The study used an independent measures design,
meaning that each child took part in only one of
the experimental conditions. They did not
experience more than one model type (aggressive,
non-aggressive, or no model).
- This helps prevent order effects, such as learning
or fatigue, from influencing results.

Although it wasn’t a matched pairs design,

participants were matched across conditions to
ensure similar baseline aggression levels.

- Before the experiment, children were rated for

their existing levels of aggression by an
experimenter and a nursery teacher.
- Then, they were distributed evenly across the
three main groups so that each group had similar
levels of aggression to begin with.

Levels of IV

- Each child was placed in only one of these

subgroups—hence, an independent measures
design.
- Within each group, children also experienced
variations by model gender (male/female) and
child gender, allowing analysis of gender effects
on imitation.
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Sample:
72 children

36 boys 36 girls

6 aggressive boys 6 no model boys 6 no model girls 6 aggressive girls

6 non-aggressive boys 6 non-aggressive girls

Male Female Male Female

Stanford university nursery

Sampling technique: Opportunity sampling

Independent variable:
1. Model type – whether child saw aggressive, non-
aggressive or no model
2. Model sex – same sex or different sex (GG BB GB
BG)
3. Learner sex – whether the child was a girl or a boy

Dependant variable: Behaviour of the child observed or

displayed
Operationalised through a controlled
observation of children and
measures of aggression behaviour were
recorded

Psychology being investigated:

1)Social Learning Theory
This theory suggests that individuals, especially
children, learn behaviours by observing and
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imitating role models. Learning occurs through

attention to the model’s behaviour, retention of
what was seen, reproduction of the behaviour, and
motivation to imitate. In this study, Bandura
explored whether children would imitate
aggression after observing an aggressive model.
2)Modelling and Imitative Learning
Modelling is the process where a person
demonstrates behaviour that is then observed by
another. If the observer imitates this behaviour, it
is referred to as imitative learning. Bandura
examined whether aggressive behaviour could be
learned and reproduced simply through
observation, without direct reinforcement,
indicating that aggression could be acquired
through imitation alone.

Procedure:
Experimenter and teacher observed the child at the
nursery
Rated on four different measures each on a five-point
scale:
1. physical aggression
2. verbal aggression
3. aggression to inanimate objects
4. aggression inhibition (anxiety)

Strength and weakness:

It was not conducted in an ethical manner, breaking
several ethical guidelines while performing the social
learning theory on aggression. The sample contained
ages 3 to 6 and no parental consent was taken so they
were unaware that their children were part of the study
and there was a possibility that their children would be
harmed
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As they could have been physically injured by the toys

they were given, after seeing the aggressive model if
not they were deliberately annoyed in the process. The
aspects of the study were against the guidelines of
protecting participants from harm. Moreover any
distress experienced would be difficult to minimize as it
would be impossible to debrief them. These children
would not leave in the same psychological and physical
condition they entered in. This could have had long
term consequences on their personality.

High internal validity as it was a lab experiment which

means it was possible to control extraneous variable
which would have had an effect on the DV regardless of
the IV. So by controlling these variables we could
establish a valid cause and effect relationship. It had
high internal validity as the children were ,matched on
levels of aggression which means that it is easy to tell
that the DV the behaviour of the children is only
affected by the IV which was the models behaviour and
not individually= aggressive behavioural differences.
Moreover the observers were behind a one way mirror
the children were unaware that they were being
watched. This increases validity as they were likely to
behave naturally rather than responding to demand
characteristics as they might have done had they
known they were being observed.
Observers recorded both quantitative and qualitative
data. Quantitative data like mean aggression scores for
the different behaviours of the children gives
compatible results and allows inter observer reliability
to be established. It can help compare which gender is
more aggressive. Whether same gender imitation is
seen w=etc so that cause and effect can be
established. This increases consistency and makes it
easier to analyse and make conclusions about the data.
Qualitative data that is reward gives a more subjective
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viewpoint but provides a deeper explanation of the

reasons behind the tendency of the children to copy
some behaviours and not others.

Low generalisability as the sample is quite narrow.

There were 72, 36 girls and 36 boys and each were split
into groups of 6 for every level of IV: aggressive non-
aggressive no model diluting the sample. The effect
this has on the findings is that its not representative.
Furthermore all participants were from Stanford
university nursery school hence they come from similar
socioeconomic backgrounds and grew up in similar
environments so the findings cannot necessarily be
applied to people of other backgrounds.

Saavedra and Silverman

Year: 2002
Background of the Study:
Pavlov investigated classical conditioning which is a
theory stating behaviours that are new are learnt
through the associating of 2 stimuli. Some
psychologists believe that phobias can be learned and
unlearned just like other behaviours. Phobias may be
caused by evaluative learning i.e. a type of classical
conditioning where individuals form an association
between previously neutral event or object and
negative emotion(s)

Aim: Examine the role of classical conditioning in

relation to fear and avoidance of particular stimulus. In
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context of the case study participants’ specific phobia

of buttons, researchers wanted to see if using a type of
exposure therapy could reduce disgust and distress
associated with buttons.

Psychology Being Investigated

Classical conditioning: a form of learning in which an
unconditioned response becomes linked to a previously
neutral stimulus to create a learned association.
Phobia: The irrational persistent fear of an object or
event that poses little real danger but creates anxiety
and avoidance in the sufferer
Fear is out of proportion to actual danger.
Strong fear/anxiety about a specific object or
situation. Lasts 6 months or more.

Causes significant distress or impairment and

Trigger almost always causes immediate
not explained by another disorder.
Evaluative learning: A form of classical conditioning
fear and is avoided or endured with distress

wherein attitudes towards stimuli are considered to be

the product of complex thought processes and
emotions, which lead an individual to perceive or
evaluate a previously neutral stimulus negatively.

Sample & Sampling Technique

9 year old Hispanic-American boy
Approached the Child Anxiety and Phobia Program at
Florida International University, Miami
He had an avoidance of buttons
Opportunity sampling (selecting participants who happen to be there at the
right time and meet the criteria)
The boy was already attending the Child Anxiety and
Phobia Program for his button phobia.
The researchers used him as their participant simply
because he presented himself at the clinic and fit
their study’s aim.

Research method and design

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Procedure
1. They conducted a child and parent interview
(Anxiety disorders interview) and the boy met all
diagnostic criteria for specific phobias
2. During an art project in kindergarten he ran out of
buttons to paste on his posterboard and was asked
to come to the front of the class to re fill his bowl.
3. When he reached out for the bowl his hands
slipped and all the buttons in the bowl fell on him
4. He found this distressful and his avoidance of
buttons has increased since then
5. He could not dress himself and had issues w
concentrating in class due to excessive
preoccupation with not touching his school uniform
or anything that buttoned his shirt. He also avoided
people who wore clothes with buttons
6. This instance took place when he was 5. It was
reported 4 years later when he was 9.
7. They ruled out multiple possibilities including DSM-
IV’s criteria for obsessive compulsive disorder.
Rather his significant and persistent avoidance of
buttons was cued by the presence and anticipation
of buttons meeting the criteria for specific phobia.
8. Behav
Results / Findings
Variables IV:
Operationalised as:
DV:
Operationalised as:
Extraneous Variables:
Controlled Variables:

Ethical Issues

Individual or Situational Explanation

Nature vs Nurture
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■ Quick Takeaway (2–3 sentences)