Chapter 3: Psychological Science
Activities
Exercises: Read, Watch & Listen
- Feature: A Case Study in Distracted Driving: A case study of one man’s experience of texting while driving
(http://www.news1130.com/2016/09/08/feature-a-case-study-in-distracted-driving/) - The Truth About Sex, Lies and Surveys: an article highlighting some problems with survey research
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/10488703/The-truth-about-sex-lies-and-surveys.html) - Canada’s Volunatry Census is Worthless. Here’s Why: an article on the downside of non-random sampling:
(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/canadas-voluntary-census-is-worthless-heres-why/article14674558/) - How Much Are Readers Misled by Headlines that Imply Correlational Findings are Causal? Examples of people inferring causation from correlational research
(https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/04/21/how-much-are-readers-misled-by-headlines-that-imply-correlational-findings-are-causal/) - Study Delivers Bleak Verdict on Validity of Psychology Experiment Results: highlighting replication issues with psychological research
(http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/27/study-delivers-bleak-verdict-on-validity-of-psychology-experiment-results)
Exercises: Watch & Learn
Case Studies of Phinease Gage: This video shows an example of a famous case study – it will be useful for Chapter 4 too!
Video 3.1: Case Studies of Phinease Gage (https://youtu.be/X6ZvC3XzKsM) uploaded by Karen Avellaneda
Exercises: Watch & Learn
The video Practice with Independent & Dependent Variables provides a clear explanation of IV, DV and confounding variables.
Video 3.2: Practice with Independent & Dependent Variables (https://youtu.be/0sqmziVN6Os) uploaded by Lucas Lichtenw.
Exercises: Watch & Learn
The Danger of Mixing up Causality and Correlation: A memorable Ted talk on why correlation does not mean causation.
Video 3.3: The Danger of Mixing up Causality and Correlation (https://youtu.be/8B271L3NtAw) uploaded by Ionica Smeets.
Exercises: Do & Think
- Imagine that you are going to conduct an experiment looking at the effect of different kinds of tea on happiness. How many ways can you think of to measure happiness (yes, it’s the DV?)
- Imagine that you are going to conduct an experiment looking at the effect of boredom on test performance. How many ways can you think of to manipulate boredom (yes, it’s the IV?). Remember, you will need at least two conditions in each case (e.g. if you are thinking of asking half your participants to read a very difficult physics text, you need to think what you would do with the control/comparison participants to)
- Put together a short (4 or 5 question) survey on a topic related to education (tuition fees, online courses, technology etc) and ask some friends to complete it. Even with just a few participants, can you see any similarities in their answers?
- Psychology Experiment Ideas for Assignments: If you want/need to come up with an idea for a research project, this site will get you started:
(https://www.verywell.com/psychology-experiment-ideas-2795669)
References
Avellanedea, K. (February 9, 2014). Case study of phineas gage. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/X6ZvC3XzKsM
Cherry, K. (May 16, 2017) Very Well Mind: Psychology experiment ideas for assignments. Retrieved from https://www.verywell.com/psychology-experiment-ideas-2795669
Fadera, A. (April 21, 2017.) How much are readers misled by headlines that imply correlational findings are casual? The British Psychological Society: Research Digest. Retrieved from https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/04/21/how-much-are-readers-misled-by-headlines-that-imply-correlational-findings-are-causal/
Hanlon, M. (December 3, 2013). The truth about sex, lies and surveys. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/10488703/The-truth-about-sex-lies-and-surveys.html
Hulchanski, D., Murdie, R., Walks, A. & Bourne, L. (October 4, 2013). Canada’s voluntary census is worthless. Here’s why. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/canadas-voluntary-census-is-worthless-heres-why/article14674558/
Lichtenwaldt, L. (January 9, 2014). Research methods – practice with independent and dependent variables. [Video file]. Retrieve from https://youtu.be/0sqmziVN6Os
Sample, I. (August 27, 2015.) Study delivers bleak verdict on validity of psychology experiment results. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/27/study-delivers-bleak-verdict-on-validity-of-psychology-experiment-results
Smeets, I. (November 5, 2012.). The danger of mixing up causality and correlation: Ionica Smeets at TEDxDelft. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/8B271L3NtAw
Wood, T. (September 8, 2016). News 1130: A case study in distracted driving. Retrieved from http://www.news1130.com/2016/09/08/feature-a-case-study-in-distracted-driving/