Observing Behavior

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Observing Behavior

• Psych 7
• August 17th

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Outline

• Qualitative vs. Quantitative Approaches
• Observational Research Design
• Issues Related to Observation
• Case Study Design
• Physical Traces
• Archival Research

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Qualitative vs. Quantitative Approaches

• Qualitative Methods
• e.g., recorded conversation, videotaped behavior,
  and written communication
• Quantitative Methods
• e.g., questionnaires, demographic information,
  etc.

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Observational Research Design

• Types of Observational Research
• Naturalistic Observation
• Participant Observation
• Contrived Observation

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Observational Research Design Naturalistic

• Pros
• Useful for providing insight into real-world
  behavior
• Can examine behaviors that cannot be manipulated
  by researcher
• Cons
• Time-consuming
• Potential for subjective interpretation

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Observational Research Design Naturalistic, cont.

• Example 1
• Jane Goodalls research with chimps
• Observed and recorded behavior of chimps in
  Africa for many years
• One of first to record tool use in non-humans

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Observational Research Design Naturalistic, cont.

• Example 2
• Stop sign study by McKelvie Schamer (1988)
• Observed whether males and females made complete
  stops while driving at night

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McKelvie Schamer (1988)
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Observational Research Design Participant

• Researcher interacts with people being observed
  in order to observe and record their behavior
• e.g., Ethnographic field research
• Pros
• Observe behaviors that are not usually accessible
• Participation gives unique perspective
• Cons

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Observational Research Design Participant, cont.

• Example 1
• Cult Study (Festinger, Schachter, Riecken,
  1956)
• Researchers became members of a cult for 3
  months
• Leader apparently received communications from
  extra-terrestrials about when the world would end
• Leader assured members that they would be
  evacuated by flying saucer
• Provided interesting information about how people
  make justifications and cling to beliefs

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Observational Research Design Participant, cont.

• Example 2
• Insane Asylum Study (Rosenhan, 1973)
• Wondered how mentally ill were stigmatized and
  treated
• Rosenhan and coworkers were admitted to a mental
  hospitals
• Kept detailed notes about their observations
• Found that staff members avoided interacting with
  their patients

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Observational Research Design Contrived

• Pros
• Dont have to wait for a behavior to occur on its
  own
• Cons
• Less natural than other forms of observation

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Observational Research Design Contrived, cont.

• Example 1
• Ainsworth et al.s (1978) research on
  infant-attachment styles
• Differences in the quality of attachment
  relationships were the result of differences in
  the smoothness of the caregiver-infant
  interaction during the infants first year
• The Strange Situation was designed to assess the
  degree of security between infant and caregiver
• Divided children up into different attachment
  styles

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Observational Research Design Contrived, cont.

• Example 2
• Rosenthal Jacobsens (1968) research on
  self-fulfilling prophesies
• Do teachers expectations influence student
  performance?
• Teachers were told that some students were about
  to intellectually bloom
• Despite random assignment, these students
  performed better than their peers
• Speculated that teachers paid more attention to
  bloomers

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Issues Related to Observation

• Reactive Non-Reactive Observation
• Reactive
• Non-Reactive
• Which is better?

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Case Studies

• Often utilized by clinical psychologists and
  neuroscientists
• Typically examine people with very rare
  conditions

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Case Studies Examples

• Phineas Gage
• Sustained brain damage when a metal rod shot
  through his skull
• Damage to prefrontal cortex thought to cause
  social and emotional problems
• K.C.
• Examines memory and self-concept of amnesiacs
• Peoples self-concept is separate from other
  forms of memory

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Case Studies What makes them scientific?

• Great for developing and refining theories
• Try to explain unusual events/behavior in terms
  of established scientific principles
• Limitations

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Physical Traces

• Examples
• Measuring the wear and tear of library books
  provides info about what people are reading
• Popularity of childrens museum exhibits was
  assessed by dusting glass for noseprints
• Car dealer had mechanics record radio settings
  and then advertised on certain stations

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Archival Research

• Research in which investigators examine naturally
  existing public records
• When?
• Limitations
• Records can be difficult to obtain
• Can never be certain of causal claims
• Data analysis may be complex

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Archival Research Example

• Pelham, Mirenberg, Jones (2002)
• Examined the relation between implicit egotism
  and important life decisions
• Peoples positive automatic associations about
  the self influence their feelings about things
  associated with the self
• Used the Social Security Death Index to look up
  the records for 66 million deceased Americans

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Pelham, Mirenberg, Jones (2002) Results for
Females
First Name Female
Likelihood of living in a city as a function of
ones first name.
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Pelham, Mirenberg, Jones (2002) Results for
Males
First Name Male
Likelihood of living in a city as a function of
ones first name.
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Archival Research, cont.

• A type of secondary observation
• Content Analysis

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Content Analysis Example

• Kim Markus (1999)
• Examined themes of uniqueness and conformity in
  U.S. vs. Korean magazine ads
• Coders made yes/no ratings of each ad using a
  coding scheme

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Coding Scheme Conformity
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Coding Scheme Uniqueness
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Kim Markus (1999) Results
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Monday

• Tonights Reading
• Cozby Chapter 7
• Topic for Monday
• Survey Research
• Tuesday
• Nisbett Wilson reading
• Go to library website to download reading (see
  link on Psych 7 website)