Experimental Psychology
Exam I Review - Chapters 1-3, 6-8
Chapter 1: Introduction
Ways of acquiring knowledge (tenacity, authority, experience, reason and logic, and
science or empirical studies)
The research process; Components of scientific method
Research design (definition and components)
IVs, DVs, and extraneous variables (be able to identify)
Experiments vs. nonexperiments
Replication of studies (replication with extension)
Chapter 2: Research Ideas and Hypotheses
Characteristics of good research ideas
Types of statements (synthetic, analytic, and contradictory)
Deductive vs. inductive reasoning
Programmatic research
Principle of falsifiability
Hypotheses (identify and/or construct)
Directional vs. nondirectional hypotheses (identify the direction as +, -, or 0)
Chapter 3: Ethics Issues
Ethical rights of human participants
The role of deception
APA guidelines for the use of animals
Debriefing
IRB (Institutional Review Board – role and purpose)
Chapter 6: Experimental Methods I
Types of IVs (physiological, experience, stimulus, & participant)
Control techniques (randomization, elimination, constancy, balancing, counterbalancing)
Counterbalancing & its requirements (within-subjects, within-groups, complete, incomplete)
Sequencing effects; Carryover effects
Chapter 7: Experimental Methods II
Factors contributing to choosing participants
Programmatic research
Single-blind and double-blind experiments
Rosenthal effect (experimenter expectations)
Good participant effect (participant perceptions)-corrections for yea-saying
Best designs for culturally competent research; ethnocentrism
Response set
Chapter 8: Internal & External Validity
Threats to internal validity (maturation, statistical regression, diffusion of treatment; interaction of testing &
treatment; instrumentation)
Types of internal validity (face, content, criterion)
Generalization (temporal, environmental)
Reliability
External validity