PSYC 341 Ch. 2
erosion measures
wear and tear Museum curators may know a particular painting is really popular due to the number of smudges on the case, or how often they have to replace the carpet from wear and tear
spatial contiguity
(space) burgers + fries >EX: I only smoke when I am at the club
temporal contiguity
(time) thunder + lightening >EX: I only smoke when I am commuting in the car
A stable baseline serves two purposes:
1.Descriptive - gives a "before" to compare to "after" 2.Predictive - creates a trend of "non-treatment" to (hopefully) see altered by treatment Look for the trend Trend = systematic variability from baseline. Should indicate a distinctive direction in the DV. Can be ascending or descending trend
The effect of dietary fat intake (low or high) and exercise (0, 30, 60 minutes per day) on weight gain through middle age. Describe the factorial design.
2 X 3 design
The effect of sleep (0, 4 or 8hrs) and caffeine use (1 or 2 cups coffee) on a test of reaction time. Describe the factorial design
3 X 2 design
Rosenhan (1973): Can mental health professionals tell the difference between those who are mentally healthy and those who are "mentally ill"?
8 sane individuals (5 men, 3 women) admitted to a mental hospital after complaining of hearing voices saying "empty", "hollow", and "thud" Pseudo patients gave a false name and job, but all other details they gave were true including general ups and downs of life, relationships, events of life history, etc. After admission to the psychiatric ward, pseudo patients stopped simulating any symptoms of abnormality. All but one were admitted with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and eventually discharged with a diagnosis of 'schizophrenia in remission' "Patients" kept detailed notes about their observations The pseudo-patients remained in hospital for 7 to 52 days (average 19 days) None of the pseudo patients was detected by the staff, but many of the other patients suspected their sanity (35 out of the 118 patients voiced their suspicions). Found that staff members avoided interacting with their patients (average of 6.8 minutes of daily contact) The pseudo patients' normal behaviors were often seen as aspects of their supposed illness. For example, nursing records for three of the pseudo patients showed that their writing was seen as an aspect of their pathological behavior. 'Patient engages in writing behavior'.
comparative designs
A control group study in which "species" (of animal) is one of the independent variables. You are comparing one species to another on some skill, trait, or behavior - frequently to test evolutionary hypotheses. >EX: You hypothesize that rats are better adapted for small complex spaces, and dogs for large open spaces. You test dogs vs. rats (species is independent variable #1; 2 levels) in either a small maze or large open yard (environment is independent variable #2; also with 2 levels) to see how long it takes them to find a target object (dependent variable = time to find object) Note that in this kind of control design, control does not mean that some group doesn't get the treatment. Both groups get the treatment! Instead, the control in these cases is "giving both species the exact same treatment" so that we can compare one's performance to the other. Because they were treated the same, any differences between the groups must be due to species differences.
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
A self-regulating entity that, according to U.S. federal law, must be established by institutions that use laboratory animals for research or instructional purposes. Train in animal care Reduce or replace animal use (prevent duplication) Improve methods to minimize pain and distress to animals, (such as anesthetic and analgesic procedures)
ABA Design (Reversal)
ABA Design Baseline --> Treatment --> Remove Treatment (back to baseline) The argument that the treatment is the cause of the change is strengthened if the behavior shows a return toward the baseline when treatment is withdrawn.
advantages vs. disadvantages of case studies
Advantages •Important in studying rare characteristics or events •Can provide a counter instance of an otherwise well-supported theory Disadvantages •Time consuming •Potentially inaccurate conclusions •Generalizability? Does not tell us about cause and effect
variable
An aspect of a testing condition that can vary - taking on different characteristics under different conditions Variables are tangible, measurable things: # times subject bit their nails, activity levels over a week, heart rate (using heart rate to measure anxiety because heart rate is a tangible construct) They stand in for intangible, theoretical constructs: hunger, depression, anxiety
Simple-Comparison (AB) Design
Baseline (A) à Treatment (B) Note: This does not conclusively prove a cause and effect relationship, because it doesn't control for the possibility that another event (history) coincidentally occurred during the treatment phase.
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)
psychology tends to use
Descriptive Methods - Goal: Description Correlational Method - Goal: Prediction Experimental Method - Goal: Explanation
problems with ABA Design
Effect of manipulation may not be fully reversible (e.g., lesion of brain, change due to learning, etc) It may be unethical to return participants to their original state (e.g., anorexia, phobias, OCD)
The effect of social support for change (low or high) and dose of nicotine gum (0 or 2mg) on number of days without smoking. Describe the factorial design.
Factor A (social support for change) has 2 variables and Factor B (nicotine gum dose) has 2 variables therefor it would be a 2 X 2 design
Naturalistic Observation - Example 1 (Hall 1966)
Found the acceptable distance for conversation between adults is greatly affected by the cultural background... • Arab and Latin American individuals tend to stand closer to one another than Americans and Northern Europeans and the gender of those individuals. • within the American culture: male-female stand closest, followed by female-female, and male-male pairs stand the furthest away.
Ethics of Animals in Research
Genetic similarity - rats can be bred to be virtually identical, eliminating genetic variation as a confounding variable for learning. Control of learning history - rats bred for research all share pretty much the same common experiences since birth, and a similarly limited learning history (tabula rasa?) Control of environment - we can control the living environment for our rat subjects almost completely - food, water, sleep schedules, work schedules. Ethical issues - conditioning habits such as drug addictions and other maladaptive behavioral patterns would be unethical in humans.
Rats are either fed or not fed before placing them in an experimental chamber where they will be timed to see how long it takes to train them to press a lever for food. what is the IV, DV, hypothesis
Independent Variable: Pre-feeding (Experimental) vs. No pre-feeding (Control) Dependent Variable: Time it takes for rat to learn to press the lever. Hypothesis: Rats who are pre-fed will take longer to learn to press the lever than those who are not pre-fed.
laboratory observation happens ...
in the lab instead of the field
multiple baseline design
Introduces treatment within different people, settings, or behaviors, at different times to see if behavior change corresponds to onset of treatment only within the affected people, places, and times. >Ex: Fades in treatment in multiple locations, at different times (class -> dining -> bath --> dayroom) Note: Not always ABAB >Example: •Mike does the laundry 25% of the time and washes the dishes about 50% of the time. •His wife decides to start praising him for doing the laundry. •After the praise begins, Mike gradually increases the proportion of time that he does the laundry to 75%. •Since that change was so successful - his wife decides to try praising him for dish washing too. Soon, he is washing the dishes 100% of the time.
defining your behavior
It is important to clearly define the behavior you wish to measure. This definition should be: • Objective - physically observable. • Clear - unambiguous. Example, 1 incident of "road rage" = swearing at other driver + at least one finger gesture!
Changing Criteria Design - Example
Jack decides to use self-punishment to gradually reduce his smoking behavior. Following a baseline period. He sets a certain criterion for an allowable number of cigarettes that is only slightly less than the average number of cigarettes he smoked during the baseline. If he successfully meets this criterion for 3 consecutive days, he reduces the allowable limit by 2 cigarettes. He repeats this with the goal of no smoking.
APA Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in the Care and Use of Animals
Minimize discomfort (94% studies = no pain) Sanitary and comfortable conditions (better than most humans) Adequate food and water (taking into account experimental protocol) Care by a licensed veterinarian (better than humans) Reduction, Refinement, Replacement in protocols Experiments approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC)
Descriptive Methods - Goal: Description
Naturalistic Observation Case Study (studies of small groups and watching not manipulating) Variables are not manipulated - just described
naturalistic observation
unobtrusive or nonreactive research. Sometimes referred to as field work or field observation >Examples: watching children at a playground observing gorillas in their natural habitat.
participant-observer research
Observer joins a group in order to record behavior. Most useful when studied group is small and remote. Ethically controversial: -Experiment objectivity? Does insider view bias results? -Invasion of participants' privacy? Have to lie to get in? -Becoming member of the group = changes group?
changing-criterion design
Often used in shaping behavior - gradually bringing about a desired behavior. At each session, the researcher introduces a more stringent set of requirements to see if behavior changes coincide with the new reinforcement "rules". Appropriate to use when the behavior change is irreversible (e.g. a learning task)
topography
used when the exact physical form of the behavior matters (e.g. form of golf swing or tooth brushing technique) other recording methods
Single Participant Designs - Advantages
People act as their own controls. This avoids the possibility that the average is a distortion of the behavior of individual participants. Focuses on big effects - A study with a large number of participants will likely find an effect reaches significance, even if it's a minor effect. With one subject, an effect large enough to be detected will probably also be clinically significant. Ethical: it ethical to stick some participants in a control group where they receive no treatment? One solution is to treat all participants but to evaluate them from a single-participant standpoint. Flexible- A researcher can change aspects of the study "on the fly" if they are not working, which you could never do for one person in a group design.
On the Importance of Observation in Gathering Background Information for Studies: Harlow (1958, 1966)
Prior to his work on mother love in infants, Harlow needed to know what behaviors infant monkeys exhibited. He also needed to know some of the things infant monkeys seemed to like (their soft blankets) and disliked (the wire floor of the cage). With this info he could attempt to explain the behavior via experimentation...
Reversal (ABAB) Design
Reversal (ABAB) Design Repeated alternations between baseline and treatment. Can produce strong evidence for the validity of the IV's effect: It is unlikely that some other event coincided precisely with each treatment to produce such systematic changes in behavior. Some say statistical tests are not needed. The behavioral relevance can be seen, simply by looking at the graphs!
Effect of music on running...
Say you wanted to find out if music (present or not) affects running behavior in subject X There are many ways to measure this! Frequency - # strides taken per run Rate - Average speed of their runs (mph) Duration - how long they ran (mins) Latency - how long they waited before running (mins) Topography - shape of behavior, such as stride length Force - pulling strength as they ran Locus - location of runs (gym, park, track, etc) Are the above independent or dependent variables? dependent variables
unobtrusive
watch behavior, but don't try to change it
case studies
Study of a situation which presents itself for investigation A highly detailed description of an individual person, organization, or treatment - typically with a rare characteristic. • Often uses a variety of sources such as interviews, documents, test results, and archival records. • • Tries to explain unusual events/behavior in terms of established scientific principles • • Great for developing and refining theories
Why Study Two Factors at Once?
Studying 2 factors at once efficiently gives us: All the information about the effect of each factor alone (main effects) PLUS the effect of combining the two factors together (interaction effect) This is very common. Most behaviors are complicated, and influenced by more than one factor... - Depression: genetics, social support network, life stressors, socio-economic status, drug use, etc...
experimental research: control group designs
Subjects are randomly assigned to groups Each subject is in only one group Two groups : Experimental Control
Deprivation & Satiation
The appetitive or aversive nature of a stimulus can change, depending on the subject's current state. >Example: Food only works as an appetitive stimulus when you're hungry. (Ever been so full that it even becomes aversive? Can I offer you desert? Bleh!) Common background states in learning research: Deprivation - prolonged absence of something. This usually increases its appetitiveness, it is more reinforcing, and the subject will work harder for it. Satiation - prolonged exposure to (or consumption of) something. This usually decreases its appetitiveness , and the subject works less for it (or may work to avoid!)
functional relationships and S -> R
The heart of behavioral research Functional relationship is the relationship between changes in an independent variable and changes in a dependent variable is another example IV --> DV ... Cause --> Effect ... Stimulus --> Response A stimulus is an event that can potentially stimulate behavior (plural=stimuli) A response is the occurrence of a particular behavior
independent variable
The variable you manipulate because you want to see what happens as a result The IV causes --> ____ What happens when we give someone Drug X? the variable that goes in is the independent variable
physical trace measures
Unobtrusive measures of physical evidence: erosion measures and accretion measures
dependent variable
Variable affected by the manipulation Participants' response --->Effect The dependent variable depends on the IV... What is the result of getting Drug X? The effect of IV on DV
Correlational Method - Goal: Prediction
Variables are not manipulated - just measured to learn the strength and direction (+ or -) of the relationship between the variables
Problems with control designs (overall)
You need a good number of subjects in each group in order to do statistical comparisons. If you're doing a 2x3 multi-factorial design, that can mean a LOT of subjects! To see if the groups are different from each other, we usually average each group and compare those averages. But averages, by nature, squish all of the natural variability of a group down to one point. Is this an accurate representation of reality? Ethics. With an experimental vs. control design, you don't know if your experimental group is doing better (or worse) than the controls until the end. In the meantime, you may have just made someone worse, or stopped their improvement just because the experiment ended... With comparative control designs, species can differ in ways other than their learning abilities. These differences can interfere with the results. >Example: Dogs vs. Rats on escape from impending electric shock. Rats are "wired" to freeze when afraid. That may make them look like they're not learning to escape as well as dogs!
cumulative recorder
a device used to measure (and graph) the number of responses over time (used in Sniffy) recording methods that involve counting a paper that moves left while a pen jerks up to record each targeted response. when the pen reaches the top of the paper it is automatically reset to the bottom
contingency
a predictive relationship between two events (the occurrence of one is dependent on the occurrence of another) After training in button pressing for food, rat has learned that the arrival of food is contingent on pressing the button.
number of errors
a simple count of how many incorrect responses occur (how many errors a student makes on a math test) Rota-rod test of motor coordination & control Recording Methods that Involve Counting
A teacher designs a study to test the hypothesis that praise as a positive reinforcement will improve the behavior of a hyperactive boy in her third-grade class. a.Identify the design b.What is the IV? c.What is the DV? d.What is the effect of the IV on the DV? (eyeball it)
a) ABAB b) praise c) # of disruptions d) baseline: disruptive treatment: not disruptive
This is a test of a new drug that is supposed to reduce the frequency of hallucinations among schizophrenic patients. a.What is the IV? b.What is the DV? c.What is the effect of the IV on the DV? d.What type of design is this? e.What major threat to internal validity is evident in this design? f.How might you modify this experiment to strengthen its conclusions? Pros? Cons?
a) the drug b) the hallucinations c) d) e) f) you could do ABAB but you would give their hallucinations back to them
subject variable
an IV that the experimenter can't manipulate (e.g., sex, age), only select; the variable is inherent in the subject itself; can't draw a stark conclusion from this
appetitive stimulus
an event that an organism will work (perform behaviors) seek out (pleasant) Food (when we're hungry) Water (when we're thirsty)
aversive stimulus
an event that an organism will work to avoid (unpleasant) Shock Heat
stimulus
an event that can potentially stimulate behavior (plural=stimuli)
name the IV and the DV An automobile manufacturer wants to know how bright brake lights should be to minimize the time required for the driver of a following car to realize that the car in front is stopping.
brightness of brake lights = IV time required for the driver of a following car to realize that the car in front is stopping = DV
covert behavior
can be perceived only by the person performing it (thoughts, feelings, sensory experiences like seeing and hearing, etc) defined by Skinner Some covert behaviors have components that can be visible overtly (ex. tapping your foot when you're impatient). Covert behavior can also become a triggering event for an overt behavior (ex. planning your next move, and then making it).
contiguity
closeness or nearness (ie. contiguous United States means only the connected states, no AK or HI)
problem with ABAB design
ethics of reversal
accretion measures
evidence that is left behind (stuff left behind) Are students following the no eating and drinking in the classroom policy? Look at trash left behind. Marketing research: A car dealership had their auto mechanics record the radio settings of the cars they repairs and then advertised on those stations
Physical Trace Measurement: Sawyer (1961)
examined drinking habits in a town that was supposedly dry. He went around counting empty whiskey bottles in people's trash cans. His approach was a very smart way of studying a topic that had a social bias to preconceived answers. In a town that is dry, it is unlikely that many people will admit to consuming alcohol. On the other hand, few people will bother to deposit their empty liquor bottles in a neighboring city that is not dry - that is simply too much hassle.
multi-factorial designs
experiments which manipulate more than one IV (factor) at a time
name the IV and the DV A social psychologist does an experiment to discover whether men or women differ in their ratings of discomfort when six people are crowded into an elevator.
gender = IV rating of discomfort = DV
participant-observer research example: Festinger, Riecken, and Schacter
joined a group (doomsday cult) that believed that the world would come to an end by a certain time, but that group members would be rescued by a flying saucer. The psychologists carefully observed interactions among the group members and the effect the disconfirmation of their prediction had on their behavior No flying saucer = 2 choices: Quit cult or stay with cult? Only 2/11 abandoned their faith. Instead became less analytical about beliefs -Received a message from God -"Our devotion saved the world" -Publicity seeking, more devoted
time sample recording
measuring whether or not a behavior occurs within a series of discontinuous intervals (spaced apart) >Example: Pop into classrooms for several random 10 minute blocks of time and note whether or not you see acts of aggression efficient recording method
Single Subject Designs
need only one (or a few) subjects to do the whole experiment unlike control group designs
overt behaviors
observable by someone on the outside defined by Skinner
response
occurrence of a particular behavior
multifactorial design (2-way design for example)
one independent variable is called Factor A and the other is called Factor B. Each of the two factors can contain any number of levels. We describe the design by the number of levels in each factor: -If Factor A has 2 levels and Factor B has 2 levels, it would be a 2 x 2 design. -If Factor A has 2 levels and Factor B has 4 levels, it would be a 2 x 4 design.
deprivation
prolonged absence of something. This usually increases its appetitiveness, it is more reinforcing, and the subject will work harder for it.
satiation
prolonged exposure to (or consumption of) something. This usually decreases its appetitiveness , and the subject works less for it (or may work to avoid!)
Naturalistic Observation - Example 2 (Collett & Marsh 1974)
recorded videotape from 7th floor of a building overlooking a busy pedestrian intersection. • Recorded instances when two people met in such a way that both had to move to avoid collision. They noticed a striking difference in the way men and women maneuvered in passing. • Men tended to turn and face the other person whereas women tended to turn away. Of the men, 75% passed in the facing orientation compared with only 17% of the women. • They hypothesized that the women turned away to avoid brushing the other person with their breasts. • This hypothesis was confirmed by examining the frequency with which men and women held an arm across their bodies as they passed. Women used the arm cross more than men, particularly in those instances when they turned toward the other person as they passed.
functional relationship
relationship between changes in an independent variable and changes in a dependent variable is another example
participant-observer research example: Marquart
researcher became a prison guard in order to observe the informal control system in one of the prisons in the Texas Department of Corrections. He observed the prisoner's interactions and behaviors while searching for weapons, breaking up fights, and patrolling the prison.
latency
time delay before the behavior begins (e.g. procrastination before studying or getting out of bed in the morning after the alarm goes off) Recording Methods that Involve Time
nonreactive
subjects should be unaware that they're being studied
speed
the amount of time required to perform a complete episode of a behavior from start to finish (e.g. getting ready for work in the morning) Recording Methods that Involve Time
levels
the different values of an IV >EX: Give Drug X (IV) at 100mg, 200mg, 400mg (levels)
intensity
the force or magnitude of the behavior (e.g. how hard a person hits a tennis ball, or how much Pavlov's dogs salivated when they heard the bell. Would a louder bell = more salivation?) other recording methods
rate of response
the frequency with which a response occurs in a certain period of time Example: How many times you swear each day, or the number of times Sniffy presses a bar during one study) recording methods that involve counting
duration
the length of time that an individual repeatedly or continuously performs a certain behavior (e.g. minutes rats spent "chewing" during opiate withdrawal) Recording Methods that Involve Time
Interval Recording
the measurement of whether or not a behavior occurs within a series of continuous intervals >Example: aggressive behaviors in a classroom - videotape for 3 hours, look at each successive 10 minute block and see what percentage of the blocks have at least one aggressive act) efficient recording method
