Comment on Midterm

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Comment on Midterm

• Date October 20
• Format Multiple Choice, Short Answer
• Difficulty Moderate/Moderate-High
• Coverage Only material covered in class.
  If not in lectures, not tested.
• How to Study
• PowerPoint Slides
• Readings

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Challenges of Behavioral Science Research
Class 11 (conclusion)
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Perceived Similarity and Friendliness
TIME CHATTING W' NEW ACQUAINTANCE
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Impact and Control
Control Reduce the effect of anything that can
obscure the true effect of IV on
DV. Impact Create strong enough empirical
realizations of IV and DV to demonstrate how
conceptual IV effects conceptual DV. Goals of
Control and Impact Often Conflict
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Helping in a Hurry (A shameless Cribbing of
Darley Batson)
Hypothesis The amount of time people spend
helping strangers is determined by time
pressure Design Ss arrive at study, told that
"kindness expt." has been moved to another
location, and they have either little time (hurry
cond.) or much time (no hurry cond.) to get to
lab. On way to lab, Ss stopped by harried
stranger who asks for directions to UMDNJ. The
stranger is confused, and repeatedly requests
clarifications on directions. Outcome measure
How much time does S spend giving directions to
stranger? Predictions Ss in hurry cond. will
spend less time giving directions than will Ss
in no hurry cond.
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Time Giving Help Due to Hurry/No Hurry
No Hurry
Hurry
Time (seconds) Talking to Stranger
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Time Giving Help Due to Hurry/No Hurry
Time (seconds) Talking to Stranger
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Time Giving Help Due Hurry/No Hurry
Time (seconds) Talking to Stranger
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Time Giving Help Due Hurry/No Hurry
Time (seconds) Talking to Stranger
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Trade-Offs Between Impact and Control
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Super-High Impact   "An Experimental Examination
of the Scapegoat Theory of Prejudice"   Lindzey,
G (1950) Journal of Abnormal and Social
Psychology, 45, 296-309
The frustration experience involved subjecting
the subjects to some ten to twelve hours of food
deprivation, inducing them to drink from a pint
to a quart of water and preventing urination for
approximately three hours, taking a blood sample
with a sterilized spring lancet in such a way as
to cause considerable pain, and finally forcing
them to fail in a group situation. The latter
aspect of the situation was the most crucial, the
earlier, physiological assault begin designed
mainly to lower the subject's threshold of
annoyance or frustration.
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Content Vs. Mechanics If Done as Between-Group
Factor
Within subjects SD
Between subjects SD
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What's the Meaning of "Meaningful"? The
Multiple Meanings Problem
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  Examples of Multiple Meanings     1. Terror
Management a. Conceptual IV mortality
fears b. Empirical realization Write about
last 15 minutes prior to own death.
Alternative Explanation?
Bad Mood
2. Happiness a. Conceptual IV Positive
mood state b. Empirical realization Succeed
on a task
Alternative Explanation?
Self-Esteem Self-efficacy
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• Definition Problem
•  
• 1. Aggression Harmful act?
• Willingness act harmfully?
• Intent to cause harm?
• Empathy Perspective taking?
• Compassion?
• Simulating?

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Systematic Replications of Stimulus in Biased
Feedback Research   Conceptual Variable
Performance on a task that can be evaluated in
terms of content and mechanics.  
Empirical Realizations of Independent Variable
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Systematic Replications in Dependent Variable
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Successful and Unsuccessful Replications   Success
ful Replication   Increases confidence that
effects are reliable and generalizable. Greater
confidence original study was conducted
correctly Greater confidence that conceptual
variable is valid.  
Unsuccessful Replication
Efficacy of replication Implications
for Implications for Original Findings
Conceptual Variable
Replication correctly done
Orig. study did not account for all vars.
None
Replication incorrectly done
None
None
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U.S. IMMIGRATION IQ TEST (circa
1900-1920) TYPES OF QUESTIONS 1. Who was
Benedict Arnold? 2. What is the name of
Paul Bunyon's OX? 3. Where was the Maine sunk?
MIXED (DIRECT AND SYSTEMATIC) REPLICATION
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Experimental Realism and Mundane
Realism Experimental Realism The experiment
appears immediate and potent to the
subject. It might or might not occur in real
world. Boosts internal validity (more
on this soon) Example Schachter
Singer Arousal Appraisal Studies Mundane
realism The experiment resembles real world
situations. It might or might not be
attention grabbing and compelling.
Boosts external validity (more on this soon)
Example Alice Isen "Dime in pay-phone
study" Experimental realism and mundane realism
are not polar opposites. Studies can be high on
both, low on both, or mixed.
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Rate the Studies for Experimental and Mundane
Realism Feedback Confederate Study
Adler Police Vignettes Study Milgram Obedience
Study Asch Conformity
Study Kahneman Tversky framing study
Cohen culture of honor
(chicken
game)
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Rate the Studies for Experimental and Mundane
Realism Feedback Confederate Study
Adler Police Vignettes Study Milgram Obedience
Study Asch Conformity
Study Kahneman Tversky framing study
Cohen culture of honor
(chicken
game)
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Internal Validity and External Validity Internal
Validity The degree that the IV has a
significant effect on the DV. AND, this effect
is due ONLY to IV and not some extraneous
variable. IV DV should have impact
on Ss Ss take IV and DV seriously
attend to them, engage w them Appear to
Ss as examples of conceptual IV DV Do
not appear to represent other kinds of IV or DV
Boosted by experimental realism External
Validity The effects of study are
generalizable. The empirical realization is a
good representation of underlying conceptual
variable. Systematic replication
Increase exptl realism study works w all
subs, not just cooperators Heterogeneous
populations Boosted by mundane
realism Which is more important, Internal
Validity or External Validity?
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Experimental Bias
Class 12
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Getting Subjects to Follow Instructions
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Modes of Subject Defections Willful or negligent
undermining Try to sabotage experiment Try to
figure out the experiment Get bored Get
distracted Over-cooperativeness Self-presentati
on motives Desire to help experimenter Positive
response to neutral conditions
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Self Image Motives Lead to     Positivity bias
I am better than others   Normative bias What
I do is normal, sane, correct.   Distinctiveness
bias But I am also unique and exceptional   "Will
this experiment make me appear stupid, weird,
yet boringly common?"
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Evidence of Subject Self-Presentation
Motives     Will do meaningless tasks for long
time, willingly.   Will do noxious tasks
poisonous snakes, hand in acid   Will do
ethically unsound acts shock others to death
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• Placebo Effects
•  
•  
• 30-40 of drug effect is due to placebo
•  
• Placebos reduce tumors, diabetic blood sugar,
  pain
•  
• Neurological effect among depressants
• Relevance Subjects can be very suggestible.
  Can unconciously comply with deduced purpose of
  research.

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(No Transcript)
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Demand Characteristics
Cause Cues from the experimenter, the
experimental situation, confederates, other
subjects, or other sources that inadvertently
direct subjects' responses. Clever Hans
Facilitated Communication
Solution Make experiment identical for all
subjects, in all conditions, with the exception
of the IV.
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Techniques for Counteracting Demand
Deception Experiments   Good cover
story Piloting and debriefing IV and DV in
separate settings Keep subjects unaware of being
in an experiment
Behavior Measures Advantages over verbal, self
report measures Non-obvious measures
Bias-reducing Designs   Post-test
only Factorial designs Bogus Pipeline
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BOGUS PIPELINE
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Sources of Experimenter Bias
Men friendlier than women, all experimenters
nicer to women   Experimenter reaction to
Subject attributes   Subject reaction to
Experimenter attributes   Experimenter's
research goals, knowledge of hyp.
-- "smart" vs. "dumb" rats -- "smart" vs.
"dumb" worms -- Neutral faces
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Experimenter Bias
Is Bias Random or Systematic?
Source of Bias Experimenter is unintended
stimulus to subject Subject is unintended
stimulus to experimenter Experimenters goals,
knowledge of hypothesis
Random
Random
Systematic
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Caveats to Rosenthal's Expectancy Effects
Studies   Uses 1 factor, 2 condition
designs   Assigns Exptrs. to only one
condition   Exptrs. have repeated interactions
with same Ss   These conditions not true in most
social psych studies.
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Techniques for Minimizing Experimenter Bias

• Naïve experimenters (NOT!)
• Experimenters blind to subject condition, not to
  hypothesis
• Two experimenters, each half-blind
• Automated instructions
• Run all conditions at once
• Experimenter blind to one variable in factorial
  design
• Separate experimenter for each subject
• Experimenter blind to incoming data
• 9. Combine techniques, above.

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Experimenter Blind to One Factor in Factorial
Design
Exptr had to know confederate race Could be
blind to confederate temperament
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Time Perspective Types  
Future Oriented   Decisions about how to act are
influenced by considerations of future
consequences. Long-term concerns are real and
compelling to future oriented people. They see
further out into the future.
Present Oriented   Focus more on concrete
reality of the immediate present. More likely to
get sucked into the moment, and think less about
long-term consequences. The see less far into
the future, but may see the present in greater
detail.
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Time Perspective and Subject Sign-ups Harber,
Zimbardo, Boyd, 2003
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Odds ratios Likelihood of sampling time
orientation/ gender groupings during the 1st,
2nd, or 3rd of term.
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Time Perspective DifferencesSo What?
1. Studies done early in term will have
disproportionate numbers of future oriented
women, studies done toward the end of the term
will be disproportionately represented by
present-oriented men.
2. Longitudinal studies may systematically lose
data (due to tardiness, etc.) from present
oriented subjects.
Why Care   Time orientation might interact with
research question, and bias results in unexpected
ways.   Study originally done at one time in the
term may not replicate if second study done later
in term.
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How Do Cows Get Milk?
A Critique of Eves H2O,M Study What is the
research question? Is it clearly stated? What is
the hypothesis?
Cows extract milk from air
What is conceptual IV
Fluid deprivation
What is empirical realization of IV?
Milk cow dry, prevent drinking
Amount of milk produced at retest
What is dependent variable?
Milk IS produced despite absence of of drinking!!!
Results
Hypothesis confirmed?
Yes
No
Evidence of bias (demand?)
Alternative explanations?
??????