Psychology 7

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Psychology 7 Experimental Psychology
Observational Research
Dirk brings his family tree to class.
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Mean 76
Approx. Curve 88-100 A 78-87 B 64-77 C 50-63 D lt
50 F
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Observational Research

• Naturalistic Observations
• Systematic Observations
• Case Studies
• Archival Research

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Naturalistic Observations

• Goal to provide a complete and accurate picture
  of behaviors, events, setting, etc. rather than
  to test hypotheses formed prior to the study
• Analyze observations and form hypotheses post hoc
• Participation vs. Non-participation/Concealment
  vs. Non-concealment (problem of reactivity)
• Important issue of how to categorize events
  without operational definitions, how do you
  ensure observations are objective?

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Naturalistic Observations
 Robert Cialdinis studies of persuasion
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Low Ball Technique
Customer given price much lower than salesman
intends to sell car in order to induce customer
to agree to purchase
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Low Ball Lab Study(Cialdini, Cacioppo, Bassett,
Miller, 1978)
Subjects were undergrads called to participate in
Psych Study  IV Full disclosure (7AM study)
vs. Commit then disclose  DV Behavioral
Compliance Results 24 full disclosure vs. 53
commit first
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Systematic Observations
Goal careful observation of one or more
behaviors in a particular setting.
3 things make it systematic
1) interested in only specific behaviors
2) quantifiable
3) hypothesis-driven
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Systematic Observations
Nature
quantitative
Methods, components, issues
Coding system - how to measure behaviors?
Need recording equipment
Reliability inter-rater reliability of coding
Sampling what segment of time to record
Limitations
Reactivity all these careful methods used to
record and code the behavior can also affect
the behavior
Results may depend on the coding system and how
the behavior is operationalized.
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Diddling in Baboons

• The fondling of the genitalia is a particularly
  intimate and risky interaction considering that
  male baboons have a high potential for aggression
  and that hitting or biting a males genitalia
  could effectively end his future mating success.
  (Whitham Maestripieri, 2003)

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Costly Signaling Theory

• Signals can be regarded as more reliable and
  honest if they are more costly, expensive, and
  hard to fake

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Systematic Observational Study in Baboons

• Hypothesis Intense greetings such as genital
  diddling are costly signals of close alliances
• Prediction Positive correlation between amount
  of time spent together/amount of grooming and the
  frequency of intense greetings
• Coding system E.g., time spent together amount
  of time within 1.5 meters of each other grooming
  defined as one animal manipulated the fur or
  skin of another etc.
• Sampling 15 males were observed in 30-min
  sessions and their behavior was recorded using
  the focal sampling technique. Each male was
  observed for 13 hr, resulting in 195 hr of
  observation. The order in which subjects were
  observed on a given day was randomized.
• Recording Equipment Observer 3.0 software using
  a palmtop computer
• Reliability Not reported
• Reactivity Animals are on display at Brookfield
  Zoo near Chicago and are very much habituated to
  human observation

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Results
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Case Studies

• Goal to provide detailed descriptions of the
  behavior of an individual, usually in rare
  circumstances
• Most cases studies are qualitative vs.
  quantitative
• Limitations Conclusions drawn are often
  post-hoc difficult to determine causality
• Examples Psychobiography, Patients

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Patient Studies
Goal To link brain activity to behavior
Modularity of Function
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Archival Research
Nature
quantitative
Methods, components, issues
Mining data 3 types
Statistical records, survey archives, written
records
Content analysis devise coding systems that
raters can use to quantify the data.
Limitations
The records can be difficult to obtain.
Researcher cannot always be sure of the accuracy
of the data.
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Archival Research Example Homicide Data

• Martin Daly and Margo Wilson set out to test
  hypotheses regarding patterns of homicide
• Used archival data from police departments and
  other government records
• Reasoned that homicides are objective and serious
  enough that accurate records are very likely to
  be kept
• Official records can be obtained, at least with
  cooperation of police departments

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• Example Hypothesis People will be less likely to
  kill their genetic kin than other classes of
  individuals
• It is a criminological cliché that a person is
  safer in Central Park at three oclock in the
  morning than in his or her own bedroom. This
  chestnut is based on a large body of research.
  Zimring et al. (1983)
• The chestnut confuses absolute number of crimes
  with rate of crime

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