Psyc 270 Lab #2

1. January 17th, 2007 Psyc 270 Lab #2

2. Teaching Staff Lab Instructor: Ned Norland Email: nnorland@unc.edu Office: Davie 364B Office Hours: M 1:30-3:30pm, by appointment Lecturer: Gordon Pitz Email: gpitz@email.unc.edu Office: Davie 304A Office Hours: M/W/Th 3-4:30pm, by appointment

3. Rationalism & Empiricism • Rationalism – Acquiring knowledge through reasoning.

4. Rationalism & Empiricism • Rationalism – Acquiring knowledge through reasoning. • All dogs can swim.

5. Rationalism & Empiricism • Rationalism – Acquiring knowledge through reasoning. • All dogs can swim. • I have a dog.

6. Rationalism & Empiricism • Rationalism – Acquiring knowledge through reasoning. • All dogs can swim. • I have a dog. • Therefore, my dog can swim.

7. Rationalism & Empiricism • Rationalism – Acquiring knowledge through reasoning. • All dogs can swim. • I have a dog. • Therefore, my dog can swim. • Empiricism – Gaining knowledge through observation.

8. Rationalism & Empiricism • Rationalism – Acquiring knowledge through reasoning. • All dogs can swim. • I have a dog. • Therefore, my dog can swim. • Empiricism – Gaining knowledge through observation. • How do I know my dog can swim?

9. Rationalism & Empiricism • Rationalism – Acquiring knowledge through reasoning. • All dogs can swim. • I have a dog. • Therefore, my dog can swim. • Empiricism – Gaining knowledge through observation. • How do I know my dog can swim? • I have to see him swim.

10. Rationalism & Empiricism • How do you decide on the kinds of clothes you wear?

11. Rationalism & Empiricism • How do you decide on the kinds of clothes you wear? • Rationalist • I determine what clothes I wear based on my innate preferences for certain styles over others. • Empiricist • I model my clothing decisions on what I see others wearing.

12. How Do We Judge A Theory?

13. How Do We Judge A Theory? • A theory must not be taken too seriously (Skepticism) • It must be supported by data (Empiricism) • It should be consistent with other accepted theories – but beware of orthodoxy. (Rationalism)

14. Do Dogs Resemble Their Owners?

15. Do Dogs Resemble Their Owners? • Why would psychologists want to answer this question?

16. Do Dogs Resemble Their Owners? • Why would psychologists want to answer this question? • How would you find out if dogs resemble their owners?

17. Do Dogs Resemble Their Owners? • Why would psychologists want to answer this question? • How would you find out if dogs resemble their owners? • Now let’s “go to the library” and read the (short) article: Roy, M. M. & Christenfeld, N. J.S. (2004). Do dogs resemble their owners? Psychological Science, 15, 361-363. Login name - section_3 Password - mccormike3

18. Do Dogs Resemble Their Owners? • Is there any theory or model that forms the foundation for this research?

19. Do Dogs Resemble Their Owners? • Is there any theory or model that forms the foundation for this research? • What task did the authors use in order to answer the question they asked?

20. Do Dogs Resemble Their Owners? • Is there any theory or model that forms the foundation for this research? • What task did the authors use in order to answer the question they asked? • The authors conclude, “The results suggest that when people pick a pet, they seek one that, at some level, resembles them, and when they get a purebred, they get what they want.” Do you think their conclusion is justified?

21. Do Dogs Resemble Their Owners? • Is there any theory or model that forms the foundation for this research? • What task did the authors use in order to answer the question they asked? • The authors conclude, “The results suggest that when people pick a pet, they seek one that, at some level, resembles them, and when they get a purebred, they get what they want.” Do you think their conclusion is justified? • Suppose the subjects in the experiment used something other than “resemblence” of dog and owner to make judgements. Perhaps they used some kind of “dog stereotype” that relates dogs to people (e.g., a little old lady would not own a Rottweiler). How could you separate the se two different explanations for the results.

22. BCR • Allows for creation of computer-based experiments without extensive programming experience • Free to download from course website, install it at home if you’d like. • It’s already on our P: drive, so let’s have a look.

23. BCR – About the Study • Automatic Encoding of Perceived Gaze • Baron-Cohen (1994) suggested that babies possess an innate perceptual module for recognizing the direction in which other people are looking. • Experiment tested using a choice reaction time procedure • If Baron-Cohen’s hypothesis is correct?

24. BCR – About the Study • Automatic Encoding of Perceived Gaze • Baron-Cohen (1994) suggested that babies possess an innate perceptual module for recognizing the direction in which other people are looking. • Experiment tested using a choice reaction time procedure • If Baron-Cohen’s hypothesis is correct, color consistent trials should be faster than mismatch. • “Simon effect” – reponse times are affected by information that is irrelevant to the task being performed

25. BCR – About the Study • Automatic Encoding of Perceived Gaze • Baron-Cohen (1994) suggested that babies possess an innate perceptual module for recognizing the direction in which other people are looking. • Experiment tested using a choice reaction time procedure • If Baron-Cohen’s hypothesis is correct, color consistent trials should be faster than mismatch. • “Simon effect” – reponse times are affected by information that is irrelevant to the task being performed

26. BCR – Looking At Our Data • Did your data support the Baron-Cohen theory? Did you expect this result?

27. BCR – Looking At Our Data • Did your data support the Baron-Cohen theory? Did you expect this result? • Was one response systematically faster than the other? Why would this happen?

28. BCR – Looking At Our Data • Did your data support the Baron-Cohen theory? Did you expect this result? • Was one response systematically faster than the other? Why would this happen? • Can you think of other explanations for the results, other than Baron-Cohen’s theory of an innate gaze direction mechanism? Could this be the result of learning?

29. BCR – Looking At Our Data • What controls would you build into the experiment? Does it matter that every participant use the same responses to the colors?

30. BCR – Looking At Our Data • What controls would you build into the experiment? Does it matter that every participant use the same responses to the colors? • How might you test the hypothesis that it is the eye-like form that produces the Simon effect?

31. BCR – Looking At Our Data • What controls would you build into the experiment? Does it matter that every participant use the same responses to the colors? • How might you test the hypothesis that it is the eye-like form that produces the Simon effect? • Why were the data from the first 16 trials ignored?

32. Statistics Diagnostic • The statistic diagnostic test is under sample tests on the course website. • Bad performance will not effect your final grade- it is a diagnostic test so we know what areas of 30 we need to review. • Please complete it by next Monday, January 22nd.

33. Thanks! • Please log off computer and turn off the monitor.