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Chapter 2

Chapter 2. Research Methods. Basic Research Designs. Psychology tends to use:. Descriptive Methods – Goal: Description Naturalistic Observation Case Study Variables are not manipulated – just described Correlational Method – Goal: Prediction

thomas-phelps
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Chapter 2

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  1. Chapter 2 Research Methods

  2. Basic Research Designs

  3. Psychology tends to use: • Descriptive Methods – Goal: Description • Naturalistic Observation • Case Study • Variables are not manipulated – just described • Correlational Method – Goal: Prediction • Variables are not manipulated – just measured to learn the strength and direction (+ or -) of the relationship between the variables • Experimental Method – Goal: Explanation • Control Group designs • Variables are controlled and manipulated to find out if a change in the one variable (IV) CAUSES a change in the other (DV)

  4. Behavioral Research is different: it uses single-subject designs!

  5. Basic Terms and Definitions

  6. Variables • Variable – a characteristic of a person, place, or thing that can change (vary) over time or from one situation to another • Are these variable pairs correlated or causally related? • Teaching Method and Learning • Study Strategy and Test Score • Counseling and Marital Satisfaction • Fruit Cake and Christmas • Temperature and Crime Rate • Water Consumption and Reward System • Point System and Classroom Misbehavior

  7. Independent Variable • The aspect of an experiment that systematically varies across the different conditions of the experiment • The experimenter “manipulates” it • It should be the ONLY variable that is different between the control and the experimental group(s) • Otherwise, how do you know which variable CAUSES a change in the dependent variable?

  8. Dependent Variable • That aspect of an experiment that is allowed to vary freely to see if it is affected by changes in the independent variable • The experimenter observes what happens to the dependent variable but does NOT directly control it • If (big if!!) all of the other variables in the experiment are kept under control and a change in the independent variable is followed by a change in the dependent variable, you can infer causation

  9. Name the variables! • Imagine a study of child abuse in which one group of parents found guilty of abuse receive training in anger management while a second group does not. Following training, the parents are tracked and it is found that that those receiving anger management training are significantly less likely to engage in future child abuse than those who did not.

  10. Select the two variables • Independent? • The anger management training • Dependent? • The rate of future abuse

  11. What effect does ________ have on _________?

  12. What effect does (IV) have on (DV)?

  13. Functional Relationships • The heart and soul of behavioral definitions • Important aspects of behavioral concepts are defined functionally (ex., “reinforcer”) • A functional relationship is the relationship between changes in an independent variable and changes in a dependent variable is another example

  14. Stimulus and Response • A stimulus can potentially influence behavior • A response is a particular instance of a behavior • Overt Behavior is directly observable by someone other than the person performing it • Covert Behavior can be perceived only by the person performing it

  15. Types of Stimuli • Appetitive – an event that an organism will seek out (pleasant) • Aversive – an event that an organism will avoid (unpleasant)

  16. Establishing Operations • Deprivation – prolonged absence of an event increases its appetitiveness • Satiation – prolonged exposure or consumption that decreases the appetitiveness of an event

  17. Other important relationships • Contiguity – closeness or nearness • Temporal contiguity (time) • Spatial contiguity (space) • Contingency – a dependent relationship between two events (the occurrence of one is dependent on the occurrence of another)

  18. Behavioral Research: A special type of experimental design • Behavioral Definitions – It is important to clearly define the behavior you wish to measure • Recording Methods (* easiest to use): • *Rate of Response (Sniffy uses a cumulative recorder) • Intensity • *Duration • Speed • *Latency • Interval Recording • Time Sample Recording • Topography • *Number of errors

  19. Recording Methods that Involve Counting • Rate of Response – the frequency with which a response occurs in a certain period of time (how often a child say “please” and “thank you” each day or the number of times Sniffy presses a bar) • Cumulative Recorder – a device used to measure and graph the number of responses over time (used in Sniffy) • Number of Errors – a simple count of how many incorrect responses occur (how many errors a student makes on a math test)

  20. Recording Methods that Involve Measuring Time • Duration – the length of time that an individual repeatedly or continuously performs a certain behavior (minutes spent walking) • Latency – the length of time required for the behavior to begin (e.g. procrastination before studying or getting out of bed in the morning after the alarm goes off) • Speed – the amount of time required to perform a complete episode of a behavior from start to finish (e.g. getting ready for school in the morning)

  21. Other Recording Methods • Intensity – the force or magnitude of the behavior (e.g. how hard a person hits a tennis ball) • Topography – used when the exact physical form of the behavior matters (e.g. form of golf swing or tooth brushing technique)

  22. Efficient Recording Methods • Interval Recording – the measurement of whether or not a behavior occurs within a series of continuous intervals (e.g. aggressive behaviors in a classroom – videotape 3 hours, look at 10 minute blocks to see what percentage of the blocks have at least one aggressive incident) • Time Sample Recording – measuring whether or not a behavior occurs within a series of discontinous intervals (spaced apart) (e.g. percentage of 10 minute blocks of time - one per hour - for incidents of classroom aggression)

  23. YOUR ASSIGNMENT: Choose a behavior you wish to measure as well as a treatment you think will change it and define both objectively and carefully!

  24. Behavioral Research Designs • AB – Simple Comparison Design • ABAB – Reversal Design • Multiple Baseline Design • Changing-Criterion Design

  25. Basic Terms • Baseline – the normal frequency of the behavior prior to some intervention (for the project purposes, this will be a measurement of your dependent variable) • Treatment – the intervention (typically a punishment or reinforcer and for the purpose of your project this will be your independent variable)

  26. AB Simple Comparison Design • This method has one baseline and one treatment phase • It is a poor design because it doesn’t do a good job of establishing a functional relationship between the independent and dependent variables • Some other variable could have happened at the same time as the treatment that could have caused the change in behavior

  27. ABAB Reversal Design • A much better design and one that many of you will use • There is a Baseline phase, a Treatment phase, and then the cycle is repeated with a second Baseline phase and a second Treatment phase • If the behavior returns to something close to baseline and then changes again with the second treatment phase, you have established a functional relationship between your Independent and Dependent variables

  28. Drawbacks • To demonstrate the functional relationship, the behavior must return to baseline when the treatment is withdrawn. This doesn’t always happen, making it unclear whether or not it was your treatment that caused the change. • Sometimes it is unethical to use this design because it would do harm to withdraw the treatment

  29. A Variation: ABCAC • If you try one treatment (B) and it doesn’t work, you can try a second treatment (C) and then alternate that second treatment with baseline to finish your experiment. • This is a good method to use if you have two treatments or interventions you want to try or if you have a back-up if the first one doesn’t work.

  30. Multiple Baseline Design • This method is used when you have two or more subjects, settings, or behaviors in your study. • You might use this if you have several children in a family whose behaviors need to be measured, or if you want to measure the behavior at home AND at school (2 settings) • With this method, the treatment is implemented for each subject, setting, or behavior at different points in time.

  31. Changing Criterion Design • This treatment is used when it is desirable to make a gradual change in a behavior over time • A baseline is taken and then a criterion or goal is set that is slightly less (or higher) than the average of the baseline • If that criterion is met for a specified period of time (e.g. 3 days), the criterion is lowered (or raised) a little more and if that goal is met, it will be lowered again. • The “intervention” of a punisher would be used when the subject fails to meet the goal

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