This study examined whether experimenter expectations affect participants' memory accuracy and confidence. Participants viewed shapes and later completed a memory test with a research assistant. Without the assistant's knowledge, half or one-third of the answers on their answer sheet were incorrectly keyed. Results showed experimenter expectations did not impact accuracy but did significantly influence participants' confidence in their correct answers. When participants were correct but the experimenter expected the wrong answer, participants had lower confidence than when the experimenter also expected the correct answer. This suggests experimenter expectations can subtly impact witness confidence without affecting accuracy.
This document discusses research methods and ethics in psychology. It begins by defining key concepts like research questions and hypotheses. It then discusses experimental research methodology and factors to consider like independent and dependent variables. The document outlines important ethical considerations for experimental research, such as informed consent and protecting participants from harm. It emphasizes the importance of internal validity and unbiased measurement for drawing valid scientific conclusions from experimental research. The document concludes by discussing how the author would use a case study approach to investigate why serial killers commit their crimes.
Introduction To Psychological Science Canadian 2nd Edition Krause Test BankStaceyDays
Full download : http://alibabadownload.com/product/introduction-to-psychological-science-canadian-2nd-edition-krause-test-bank/ Introduction To Psychological Science Canadian 2nd Edition Krause Test Bank
This study examined the relationship between narcissism and performance under pressure using a slider game task. Participants completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory to be categorized as low or high narcissists. They then played the slider game under no pressure and pressure conditions. It was hypothesized that narcissists would aim higher and overshoot more due to their risk-taking tendencies. However, results found narcissists did not significantly overshoot more than low narcissists. Further research is needed to understand how narcissism impacts performance under pressure.
Luis Hernandez Gender Stereotype Research PaperLuis Hernandez
The study examined whether gender stereotypes affect psychology undergraduate students' reaction times to male and female names. Students completed a reaction time task where male and female names were primed with gender-neutral, same-sex, or opposite-sex stereotypes. Results found that male names primed with female stereotypes had the slowest reaction times, followed by male names primed with neutral, female names primed with neutral or male stereotypes, and female names primed with female stereotypes. This contrasts previous research but suggests psychology knowledge may mediate stereotype effects. The study hoped to not replicate these findings with non-psychology students to provide insight into addressing gender stereotypes.
This document is a thesis presented by Sarah Kenehan to fulfill requirements for a BA Honours degree in psychology from Maynooth University. The thesis explores the effect of rule order manipulation on implicit self-esteem as measured by the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). Forty-one undergraduate students participated in the study and were split into two groups where the order of rules presented in the IRAP was varied. Preliminary results showed some differences between groups, especially for self-positive and other-positive trial types, but these differences were not statistically significant. The findings suggest that implicit responding on the IRAP may be influenced by rule order effects.
This study examined the effect of modality (words vs images) and relatedness of stimuli (related vs unrelated items) on false recall. 131 university students completed an online test with 2 study lists, one containing related words/images and the other containing unrelated words/images. The study found a main effect of both modality and relatedness, with higher false recall for related items and words compared to images. This suggests memory tasks like eyewitness testimony may be susceptible to errors from false recall.
Women exhibited more cooperative behavior than men in the first round of a prisoner's dilemma experiment, cooperating 62% of the time compared to men's 41%. However, as the experiment continued over multiple rounds, cooperation rates decreased for both sexes and the gender difference diminished. In mixed-gender sessions, women cooperated more (65%) than in same-gender female sessions (50%), while men cooperated less (27%) compared to same-gender male sessions (38%). The authors concluded that while initial gender differences exist, decisions become more similar over time as experiences converge.
This document discusses research methods and ethics in psychology. It begins by defining key concepts like research questions and hypotheses. It then discusses experimental research methodology and factors to consider like independent and dependent variables. The document outlines important ethical considerations for experimental research, such as informed consent and protecting participants from harm. It emphasizes the importance of internal validity and unbiased measurement for drawing valid scientific conclusions from experimental research. The document concludes by discussing how the author would use a case study approach to investigate why serial killers commit their crimes.
Introduction To Psychological Science Canadian 2nd Edition Krause Test BankStaceyDays
Full download : http://alibabadownload.com/product/introduction-to-psychological-science-canadian-2nd-edition-krause-test-bank/ Introduction To Psychological Science Canadian 2nd Edition Krause Test Bank
This study examined the relationship between narcissism and performance under pressure using a slider game task. Participants completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory to be categorized as low or high narcissists. They then played the slider game under no pressure and pressure conditions. It was hypothesized that narcissists would aim higher and overshoot more due to their risk-taking tendencies. However, results found narcissists did not significantly overshoot more than low narcissists. Further research is needed to understand how narcissism impacts performance under pressure.
Luis Hernandez Gender Stereotype Research PaperLuis Hernandez
The study examined whether gender stereotypes affect psychology undergraduate students' reaction times to male and female names. Students completed a reaction time task where male and female names were primed with gender-neutral, same-sex, or opposite-sex stereotypes. Results found that male names primed with female stereotypes had the slowest reaction times, followed by male names primed with neutral, female names primed with neutral or male stereotypes, and female names primed with female stereotypes. This contrasts previous research but suggests psychology knowledge may mediate stereotype effects. The study hoped to not replicate these findings with non-psychology students to provide insight into addressing gender stereotypes.
This document is a thesis presented by Sarah Kenehan to fulfill requirements for a BA Honours degree in psychology from Maynooth University. The thesis explores the effect of rule order manipulation on implicit self-esteem as measured by the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). Forty-one undergraduate students participated in the study and were split into two groups where the order of rules presented in the IRAP was varied. Preliminary results showed some differences between groups, especially for self-positive and other-positive trial types, but these differences were not statistically significant. The findings suggest that implicit responding on the IRAP may be influenced by rule order effects.
This study examined the effect of modality (words vs images) and relatedness of stimuli (related vs unrelated items) on false recall. 131 university students completed an online test with 2 study lists, one containing related words/images and the other containing unrelated words/images. The study found a main effect of both modality and relatedness, with higher false recall for related items and words compared to images. This suggests memory tasks like eyewitness testimony may be susceptible to errors from false recall.
Women exhibited more cooperative behavior than men in the first round of a prisoner's dilemma experiment, cooperating 62% of the time compared to men's 41%. However, as the experiment continued over multiple rounds, cooperation rates decreased for both sexes and the gender difference diminished. In mixed-gender sessions, women cooperated more (65%) than in same-gender female sessions (50%), while men cooperated less (27%) compared to same-gender male sessions (38%). The authors concluded that while initial gender differences exist, decisions become more similar over time as experiences converge.
Topic 11 Research methods - How do you carry out psychological research?NHS England
This document provides information about how to conduct psychological research, including defining key terms and concepts. It discusses:
- Independent and dependent variables - the variable manipulated by the researcher (independent) and the outcome measured (dependent).
- Extraneous variables that could interfere with the study if not controlled, such as situational factors or participant characteristics. Ways to control these include standardizing procedures, counterbalancing, and random assignment.
- Hypotheses for a study, including the null hypothesis which predicts no effect or relationship between variables, versus the alternative hypothesis which predicts an effect or relationship.
The document discusses the reliability of diagnoses made using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders (SCID-I). It reports that reliability is measured using kappa values and provides a table summarizing reliability statistics from several studies using the SCID-I. The table shows a wide range of kappa values for different diagnoses. The document notes several factors that can influence reliability scores, such as the study design, interviewer training, characteristics of the subject population, and base rates of diagnoses.
1. The document discusses research types and methods. It provides examples of descriptive, associational, and intervention research and asks questions to test understanding of research concepts.
2. Part A asks multiple choice questions about research types, variables, sampling methods, and research ethics. Part B provides research study descriptions and asks to identify the study type. Part C defines characteristics of scientific research methods or compares quantitative and qualitative research.
3. The assistant provides answers to all questions identifying research concepts, variables, study types, and the differences between quantitative and qualitative research methods.
This document discusses experimental research design. It begins by outlining the scientific approach to research and some key assumptions of experimental design, including controlling variables and manipulating independent variables.
It then defines experimental design and discusses the importance of controlling extraneous variables. It identifies the key steps in conducting an experiment, including selecting variables, specifying treatment levels, controlling the environment, choosing a design, selecting subjects, pilot testing, and analyzing data.
The document also discusses the differences between internal and external validity in experiments. It outlines three main types of experimental designs - true experiments, quasi-experiments, and pre-experiments - and provides examples of designs within each type. It concludes by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of true experiments and quasi
Observational Method of Behavior AnalysisTanvi Diwan
The document discusses observation method, which is a technique in research where subjects are watched and recorded without direct contact. It is a main method in psychology that forms the basis for scientific inquiry. Key points include that primary materials are collected through observation, it involves planned watching and recording to analyze behavior, and requires careful preparation and training for observers.
This study evaluated the validity of a rat model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) induced by neonatal exposure to neoclomipramine. Rats exposed to neoclomipramine as neonates were tested in a marble arena and hole board behavioral assay after administration of serotonin drugs. The study found that neonatally-exposed rats buried significantly more marbles than controls, supporting the face validity of the neoclomipramine model. There was also a significant interaction effect for marble checking behavior. This study provided further evidence for the validity of the neoclomipramine rat model of OCD.
This document is a thesis submitted by Elizabeth Jenkins to Howard University examining the effect of confidence in past performance on future performance. It provides background on underrepresentation of minorities in STEM fields and research showing stereotype threat and validation can negatively impact performance. The study hypothesized that high confidence in strong past performance would predict better future performance, while high confidence in poor past performance would predict worse future performance. 147 Black undergraduate students completed 2 math tests, evaluating their first performance and confidence. Results found high confidence in strong performance predicted better second test scores, while high confidence in poor performance predicted worse scores, supporting the hypothesis.
Lab experiments are rarely used in sociology due to various limitations. While they can establish cause-and-effect relationships and be highly reliable, societal variables are too complex to control and natural human behaviors may not be observed. Ethical issues can also arise from manipulating human subjects without their full consent.
Development of a sociopathy scale (psychometrics paper)sedunham
The document describes the development and testing of a sociopathy scale. A class created 115 potential scale items to measure sociopathy based on research. After analysis, including exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, 11 items remained in the final scale. The scale showed some evidence of validity but also areas for improvement. Continued development of the scale was recommended.
This document provides an overview of psychometrics, which is concerned with psychological measurement and testing. It discusses the origins and development of psychometrics from the 19th century work of Darwin, Galton, and Wundt through its establishment as a formal field in the 20th century. Key concepts in psychometrics include reliability, validity, and different types of each. Common instruments and procedures are described, such as IQ tests, educational assessments, and personality inventories. Standards of quality emphasize high reliability and validity. Item response theory is presented as an advancement over classical test theory.
This document is a resume for Zachary Laferriere. It outlines his objective of pursuing a career in marketing, advertising, or sales in various industries. It summarizes his education at California Polytechnic State University where he is obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing and minor in Economics. It also lists his work experience including roles as a Sales Assistant, Busser, and Marketing and Advertisement Assistant where he gained experience in sales, customer service, and marketing.
Este documento define y proporciona ejemplos de diferentes tipos de errores lingüísticos como la anfibología u obscuridad, extranjerismos, cacofonía, pleonasmo, solecismo y barbarismo. La anfibología u obscuridad causa falta de claridad, los extranjerismos son palabras extranjeras usadas en un idioma, la cacofonía produce una disonancia entre elementos de palabras, el pleonasmo repite lo ya dicho, el solecismo presenta anomalías en la sintaxis, y los barbarismos son palabras
Data Visualization & Storytelling Top TipsRyan Withop
Make your charts pop and your data tell a story with these top tips from data expert, Ryan Withop. Originally presented at the SF Analytics Summit 2016, Ryan describes the C's of great data visualization: Chart type, Clean, Color, and Sizing and provides examples of how to make your charts and dashboards easy to understand from a distance.
God created various creatures but was not satisfied because they could not appreciate His work. So God created humans with knowledge so they could recognize God's talents and appreciate Him. The document infers that even God craves appreciation. As humans are the only ones who can appreciate themselves and each other, people should learn to appreciate their Creator through worship and appreciate each other wholeheartedly during their lifetime.
Testing for conscientiousness. Programming Personality Factors Jacob Stotler
The document describes a study that developed and tested a 23-item inventory to measure the personality trait of conscientiousness. 62 college students completed the inventory, which assessed conscientiousness using four facets: achievement, deliberation, order, and self-discipline. Cronbach's alpha reliability was .77 and test-retest reliability over one week was .966, indicating good reliability. Validity analyses found moderate correlations between conscientiousness scores and GPA/life satisfaction but no correlation with extroversion. While reliability was good, validity analyses suggested the measure may not be suitable for clinical use. The study provided statistical information that could help improve measures of conscientiousness.
Literature ReviewIn an article written by Eakin et al. in 2003 f.docxSHIVA101531
Through five studies, Eakin et al. found that exposure to misleading post-event information significantly impaired participants' ability to recall accurate information. They used modified opposition tests and found that participants who received misleading information were more likely to recall the misinformation than accurate details, even with warnings. Loftus confirmed these findings, noting some groups are more susceptible to misinformation effects. Rivardo et al. also found misinformation effects occurred whether the inaccurate information was received individually or collaboratively. Valentine and Maras demonstrated that cross-examination techniques like leading questions can cause witnesses to change their answers and testimony.
The document provides a critique of the use of qualitative methods in health psychology research. It discusses some of the key advantages of qualitative research, such as gaining an in-depth understanding of individual experiences of health issues. However, it also notes criticisms of qualitative research from quantitative psychologists, such as concerns about reliability and generalizability. Overall, the document argues that while qualitative research has limitations, when conducted properly it can provide useful insights into areas not easily studied through quantitative methods alone. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches have strengths, and an integrated use of both may be most beneficial for research.
Experimental design aims to describe or explain how variables change under hypothesized conditions. However, it has some weaknesses and issues. It can only examine the direct impact of one or two factors rather than complex relationships. Randomization removes the effects of other variables but also removes important contextual information. There are also threats to internal validity like history effects, maturation, testing, and selection bias. External validity can be undermined if samples are not representative or conditions are artificial. Practical challenges include how much to disclose to participants, sample sizes, recruitment methods, and ensuring interventions are applied consistently. Ethical issues involve voluntary and informed consent, avoiding harm, and maintaining anonymity and confidentiality.
Topic 11 Research methods - How do you carry out psychological research?NHS England
This document provides information about how to conduct psychological research, including defining key terms and concepts. It discusses:
- Independent and dependent variables - the variable manipulated by the researcher (independent) and the outcome measured (dependent).
- Extraneous variables that could interfere with the study if not controlled, such as situational factors or participant characteristics. Ways to control these include standardizing procedures, counterbalancing, and random assignment.
- Hypotheses for a study, including the null hypothesis which predicts no effect or relationship between variables, versus the alternative hypothesis which predicts an effect or relationship.
The document discusses the reliability of diagnoses made using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders (SCID-I). It reports that reliability is measured using kappa values and provides a table summarizing reliability statistics from several studies using the SCID-I. The table shows a wide range of kappa values for different diagnoses. The document notes several factors that can influence reliability scores, such as the study design, interviewer training, characteristics of the subject population, and base rates of diagnoses.
1. The document discusses research types and methods. It provides examples of descriptive, associational, and intervention research and asks questions to test understanding of research concepts.
2. Part A asks multiple choice questions about research types, variables, sampling methods, and research ethics. Part B provides research study descriptions and asks to identify the study type. Part C defines characteristics of scientific research methods or compares quantitative and qualitative research.
3. The assistant provides answers to all questions identifying research concepts, variables, study types, and the differences between quantitative and qualitative research methods.
This document discusses experimental research design. It begins by outlining the scientific approach to research and some key assumptions of experimental design, including controlling variables and manipulating independent variables.
It then defines experimental design and discusses the importance of controlling extraneous variables. It identifies the key steps in conducting an experiment, including selecting variables, specifying treatment levels, controlling the environment, choosing a design, selecting subjects, pilot testing, and analyzing data.
The document also discusses the differences between internal and external validity in experiments. It outlines three main types of experimental designs - true experiments, quasi-experiments, and pre-experiments - and provides examples of designs within each type. It concludes by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of true experiments and quasi
Observational Method of Behavior AnalysisTanvi Diwan
The document discusses observation method, which is a technique in research where subjects are watched and recorded without direct contact. It is a main method in psychology that forms the basis for scientific inquiry. Key points include that primary materials are collected through observation, it involves planned watching and recording to analyze behavior, and requires careful preparation and training for observers.
This study evaluated the validity of a rat model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) induced by neonatal exposure to neoclomipramine. Rats exposed to neoclomipramine as neonates were tested in a marble arena and hole board behavioral assay after administration of serotonin drugs. The study found that neonatally-exposed rats buried significantly more marbles than controls, supporting the face validity of the neoclomipramine model. There was also a significant interaction effect for marble checking behavior. This study provided further evidence for the validity of the neoclomipramine rat model of OCD.
This document is a thesis submitted by Elizabeth Jenkins to Howard University examining the effect of confidence in past performance on future performance. It provides background on underrepresentation of minorities in STEM fields and research showing stereotype threat and validation can negatively impact performance. The study hypothesized that high confidence in strong past performance would predict better future performance, while high confidence in poor past performance would predict worse future performance. 147 Black undergraduate students completed 2 math tests, evaluating their first performance and confidence. Results found high confidence in strong performance predicted better second test scores, while high confidence in poor performance predicted worse scores, supporting the hypothesis.
Lab experiments are rarely used in sociology due to various limitations. While they can establish cause-and-effect relationships and be highly reliable, societal variables are too complex to control and natural human behaviors may not be observed. Ethical issues can also arise from manipulating human subjects without their full consent.
Development of a sociopathy scale (psychometrics paper)sedunham
The document describes the development and testing of a sociopathy scale. A class created 115 potential scale items to measure sociopathy based on research. After analysis, including exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, 11 items remained in the final scale. The scale showed some evidence of validity but also areas for improvement. Continued development of the scale was recommended.
This document provides an overview of psychometrics, which is concerned with psychological measurement and testing. It discusses the origins and development of psychometrics from the 19th century work of Darwin, Galton, and Wundt through its establishment as a formal field in the 20th century. Key concepts in psychometrics include reliability, validity, and different types of each. Common instruments and procedures are described, such as IQ tests, educational assessments, and personality inventories. Standards of quality emphasize high reliability and validity. Item response theory is presented as an advancement over classical test theory.
This document is a resume for Zachary Laferriere. It outlines his objective of pursuing a career in marketing, advertising, or sales in various industries. It summarizes his education at California Polytechnic State University where he is obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing and minor in Economics. It also lists his work experience including roles as a Sales Assistant, Busser, and Marketing and Advertisement Assistant where he gained experience in sales, customer service, and marketing.
Este documento define y proporciona ejemplos de diferentes tipos de errores lingüísticos como la anfibología u obscuridad, extranjerismos, cacofonía, pleonasmo, solecismo y barbarismo. La anfibología u obscuridad causa falta de claridad, los extranjerismos son palabras extranjeras usadas en un idioma, la cacofonía produce una disonancia entre elementos de palabras, el pleonasmo repite lo ya dicho, el solecismo presenta anomalías en la sintaxis, y los barbarismos son palabras
Data Visualization & Storytelling Top TipsRyan Withop
Make your charts pop and your data tell a story with these top tips from data expert, Ryan Withop. Originally presented at the SF Analytics Summit 2016, Ryan describes the C's of great data visualization: Chart type, Clean, Color, and Sizing and provides examples of how to make your charts and dashboards easy to understand from a distance.
God created various creatures but was not satisfied because they could not appreciate His work. So God created humans with knowledge so they could recognize God's talents and appreciate Him. The document infers that even God craves appreciation. As humans are the only ones who can appreciate themselves and each other, people should learn to appreciate their Creator through worship and appreciate each other wholeheartedly during their lifetime.
Testing for conscientiousness. Programming Personality Factors Jacob Stotler
The document describes a study that developed and tested a 23-item inventory to measure the personality trait of conscientiousness. 62 college students completed the inventory, which assessed conscientiousness using four facets: achievement, deliberation, order, and self-discipline. Cronbach's alpha reliability was .77 and test-retest reliability over one week was .966, indicating good reliability. Validity analyses found moderate correlations between conscientiousness scores and GPA/life satisfaction but no correlation with extroversion. While reliability was good, validity analyses suggested the measure may not be suitable for clinical use. The study provided statistical information that could help improve measures of conscientiousness.
Literature ReviewIn an article written by Eakin et al. in 2003 f.docxSHIVA101531
Through five studies, Eakin et al. found that exposure to misleading post-event information significantly impaired participants' ability to recall accurate information. They used modified opposition tests and found that participants who received misleading information were more likely to recall the misinformation than accurate details, even with warnings. Loftus confirmed these findings, noting some groups are more susceptible to misinformation effects. Rivardo et al. also found misinformation effects occurred whether the inaccurate information was received individually or collaboratively. Valentine and Maras demonstrated that cross-examination techniques like leading questions can cause witnesses to change their answers and testimony.
The document provides a critique of the use of qualitative methods in health psychology research. It discusses some of the key advantages of qualitative research, such as gaining an in-depth understanding of individual experiences of health issues. However, it also notes criticisms of qualitative research from quantitative psychologists, such as concerns about reliability and generalizability. Overall, the document argues that while qualitative research has limitations, when conducted properly it can provide useful insights into areas not easily studied through quantitative methods alone. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches have strengths, and an integrated use of both may be most beneficial for research.
Experimental design aims to describe or explain how variables change under hypothesized conditions. However, it has some weaknesses and issues. It can only examine the direct impact of one or two factors rather than complex relationships. Randomization removes the effects of other variables but also removes important contextual information. There are also threats to internal validity like history effects, maturation, testing, and selection bias. External validity can be undermined if samples are not representative or conditions are artificial. Practical challenges include how much to disclose to participants, sample sizes, recruitment methods, and ensuring interventions are applied consistently. Ethical issues involve voluntary and informed consent, avoiding harm, and maintaining anonymity and confidentiality.
This paper explores attribution theory and the importance of individual attribution styles. It discusses how attribution styles can influence one's interpretation of positive and negative events and shape responses to environmental cues. The paper reviews literature showing links between negative attribution styles and poorer academic performance, health outcomes, immune functioning, and mental health. Cultural factors like individualism/collectivism and religious beliefs may help determine one's attribution style. The actor-observer asymmetry also provides insight into positive attribution styles.
Qualitative research methods - marking practiceLauraSw
The document describes a study that investigated a befriending program in Scotland from the perspective of the volunteer befrienders. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 befrienders, 5 males and 5 females aged 25-36. The researchers analyzed the interview transcripts using inductive content analysis. The findings showed that the befrienders believed they received personal benefits from participating in the program, such as appreciating other cultures and gaining insight into challenges faced by minority groups.
This document introduces a special issue of NeuroImage focused on social cognitive neuroscience. It summarizes several principles, processes, and puzzles of social cognition that have been examined by social psychologists for decades. These include: (1) the power of the situation over behavior, (2) blindness to situational influences, and (3) the constructive nature of social and self-perception. It discusses how social cognitive neuroscience can build on this research by identifying the neural correlates of various social cognitive processes. The goal is to provide context for cognitive neuroscience researchers on the complexities of social cognition.
Two experiments examined whether attitudes based on affect or cognition were more susceptible to persuasive appeals that matched or mismatched the basis of the attitudes. In Experiment 1, results provided evidence that persuasive appeals were more effective when the basis of the appeal matched the basis of the initial attitude (affective or cognitive). Experiment 2 controlled for additional factors and found similar results, demonstrating the affective/cognitive matching effect was robust. However, the methods used to manipulate the affective vs cognitive bases of attitudes and appeals had limitations that prevent definitive conclusions about the matching effect.
1) The document discusses a study that investigated whether subliminally priming the color of a suspect's shirt can influence eyewitness identification. Participants watched a crime video and later identified a suspect from a lineup. The shirt color of each suspect was primed subliminally with a color word that either matched or didn't match the shirt.
2) Contrary to expectations, participants did not choose suspects more frequently when primed with a matching color. However, over 90% of participants falsely identified a suspect, despite the actual culprit not being in the lineup.
3) This study explored how implicit or subliminal priming could influence eyewitness identification, which has received little attention compared to research on explicit memory
The document provides an overview of the scientific method and key research methods used in psychology. It discusses the five steps of the scientific method: 1) perceiving the question, 2) forming a hypothesis, 3) testing the hypothesis, 4) drawing conclusions, and 5) reporting results. It also describes descriptive methods like naturalistic observation, laboratory observation, and case studies. Additionally, it covers surveys, correlations for finding relationships between variables, and experiments for determining causation. Finally, it discusses some important ethics of psychological research involving human subjects.
The Contributions of Teaching Type and Perceived Task Difficulty on CompetencySasha Albrecht
This study examined the effects of operant conditioning type (positive reinforcement vs positive punishment) and perceived task difficulty (difficult vs easy vs control) on participant competence in a treasure hunting game. A main effect was found for conditioning type, with positive reinforcement resulting in higher competence ratings than positive punishment. However, no main effect was found for perceived difficulty. Contrary to predictions, there was also no significant interaction between conditioning type and perceived difficulty. The competency questionnaire demonstrated good reliability. In summary, how participants were taught affected competence more than perceived difficulty level.
Research Critique of a Published Quantitative Research.docxwrite22
The study aimed to evaluate women's experiences of postnatal distress during the first year after childbirth. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 women who had experienced psychological issues after giving birth. The interviews were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The results indicated that women experience various emotional difficulties following childbirth, associated with adjusting to their new role as mothers. The study provides insights that could help improve support for women after childbirth.
Complete Akron Childrens Hospital Case. Answer the fo.docxfathwaitewalter
Complete Akron Children's Hospital Case.
Answer the following questions:
1. Develop a focus group discussion guide for the research described in Part A
a. What topics should be discussed in what order?
b. What pre-tasking exercises might be relevant?
c. What exercises might you use during the focus group?
2. Evaluate the use of the telephone as the method for the survey.
3. Evaluate the questionnaire used for the telephone survey. Make sure to discuss scale type, question working, question number topic order, transitions, and interviewer directions.
4. Interviewers screened potential participants for whether they were the health care decision maker in the household and whether children were in the household. Identify other criteria that might have been used for screening and offer reasons for its inclusion or exclusion.
5. Evaluate the sampling decisions:
a. Was this an appropriate sample size?
b. What parameters might have been used in structuring this sample?
Akron Children's Hospital Case Study A
Q1: What is the management-research questions hierarchy for Akron Children's Hospital?
Management question: A way for Akron Children to differentiate itself with the powerhouse health care institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic that ventured into the care segment of children.
Research question: How parents decide on where to take their children when acute care is necessary?
Investigative questions: The consumer’s hospital-choice decision process and the index perceptions that is associated with a hospital in the market
Q2: What are the advantages/disadvantages of an observation study for this research?
Besides collecting data visually, observation involves listening, reading, smelling, and touching. Behavioral scientists define observation in terms of animal or human behavior, but this too is limiting (Cooper, D., & Schlindler, P. 2013, p. 172).
Directness: Observation in the study provides direct access to the social phenomenon that is considered. Instead of asking people questions, observation can be used to observe and record the behavior in every situation. In essence, it avoids the wide range of setbacks encountered with self-report. In the Akron study parents, physicians, and child patients were observed through the diagnosis, testing, and the treatment.
Diversity, Flexibility and Applicability: Observation takes diverse forms from unstructured and informal approaches through tightly structured procedures that are standardized to yield associated types of data both quantitative and qualitative.
First-hand information: The researchers watched listened and recorded first-hand information on emotional and first physical reactions and heart-wrenching conversations. For instance, Joanne Kim, creative director and Marcus Thomas partner shared the way they watched how doctors talk to children about the health-associated problems rather than talking to parents thus getting the first-h.
Floyd Jackson Fowler analyzed survey data where unclear terms in questions led to biased results. He found 7 health survey questions with poorly defined key terms that respondents inconsistently understood. When the questions were revised to clarify the unclear terms, the estimates from the surveys significantly changed, showing that ambiguous questions can produce inaccurate data. Systematically pretesting questions to identify unclear terms and refining question wording can reduce errors in survey measurement.
In this project, I researched through primary sources the effects of schizophrenia on working memory. I synthesized the data of multiple experiments to draw conclusions within this study.
The Subject-Experimenter Contract A Reexamination of Subjec.docxsarah98765
The Subject-Experimenter Contract: A Reexamination of
Subject Pool Contamination
Kitty Klein
Brian Cheuvront
North Carolina State University
W e conducted three experiments to investigate: ( a ) the extent to
which student research participants believe they will disclose de-
tuils of their experiences, ( b ) how much subjects uctually will
disclose immediately following a request not to reveal i n f o m -
tion, and ( c ) how much they will disclose after a 2-week interval.
Disclosure rates increused across the experiments. In the first
experiment, one fifth of the subjects indicated that they probably
would not preserve confidentiality, whether or not they believed it
was important to do so. In the second experiment, signing a pledge
not to discuss the experiment resulted in less disclosure, but over
one third o f the subjects revealed information to a confederate. In
the third experiment, promising students anonymity increased
disclosure; 85% of the subjects disclosed information, The results
indicate thut failure to heed requests for confidentiality may be ( 1
widespread problem in college subject pools.
In recent years, we have seen a renewed concern that
undergraduate students enjoy an ethical and educational
experience when they participate in psychological experi-
ments. Britton (1987) expressed concern that the direct
educational benefits of serving as a research participant are
sufficient t o justify the costs to the individuals involved.
Kimble (1987) and Korn (1988) outlined the educational
benefits students should expect. They emphasized that re-
search participants have a right to a discussion of the topic of
interest, a n explanation of the procedures followed, and a
summary of the results. Nonetheless, Coulter (1986) re-
ported that a substantial number of her undergraduates con-
sidered their research participation as "boring, irrelevant,
and a waste of time" (p. 3 17). She urged experimenters to
prepare debriefings that will educate, rather than simply
dismiss, student subjects.
Another side of this ethical coin has received little discus-
sion. With the exception of Korn's (1988) list of participant
responsibilities, the rights of the experimenter are rarely
addressed. O n e of these rights, the participant's responsihil-
~ t y to honor the researcher's request not to discuss the study
with anyone else who might be a participant, was the impe-
tus for our article. T h e problem is essentially one of subject
pool contamination. Revealing information about a n ex-
perimental procedure or outcome may affect the willingness
of other students to volunteer for a particular experiment
and may alter their behavior if they do participate. As Mar-
ans (1988) noted, leaked information has the potential to
threaten the internal validity of our results.
Subject pool contamination has received some empirical
attention, alheit very little. Evidence appears mixed on the
se.
The Subject-Experimenter Contract A Reexamination of Subjec.docx
Jennifer Afana's Honors Thesis
1. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 1
Abstract
This study examines experimenter expectancy effects on memory accuracy and
memory confidence. It is an extension of a classic study by Stanton and Baker (1942).
Each participant viewed a series of shapes, completed a filler task, and then engaged in a
one-on-one interview with a research assistant to test his or her memory for the shapes.
Without the research assistant’s knowledge, only half or one-third of the answers on their
answer sheets were correctly keyed. The results assess the extent to which the
expectations of the experimenter can affect a person’s memory decisions and confidence
in those memory decisions. In this study the experimenters’ expectations did not have an
effect on the accuracy of participants’ memory decisions, but they did have a significant
effect on the participants’ confidence in their correct answers. The results have real-world
implications for eyewitness identification lineups. In such circumstances the police
typically have expectations about the guilt of the suspect, and those expectations may
also be inadvertently communicated to the witness.
3. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 3
Experimenter Expectations and the Accuracy and Confidence of Memory
For a long time we have known, through psychological research, that one person’s
expectations can affect another person’s behavior (from Rosenthal, 1978). This principle
has important implications for research because an experimenter’s expectations can also
influence or bias the behavior of the experimental participants. Experimenter expectancy
effects have been shown time and time again through various experiments. For instance,
Rosenthal and Fode conducted a study in which rats ran mazes and were tested on their
learning ability (1963). However, the real participants in the study were not the rats, but
the experimenters running the study. Some of experimenters were told that their rats were
“bright” or intelligent, while others were told that their rats were “dull” or unintelligent.
In reality, the rats were just randomly assigned into each category. However, the labels
“bright” and “dull” likely created an expectation among the experimenters. The
experimenters in the “bright” rat condition may have expected their rats to improve on
the maze learning task, while the experimenters in the “dull” condition may have
expected their rats to not improve on the maze learning task. And that is exactly what the
results showed, even though the two groups of rats were determined randomly.
This study prompted a similar experiment by Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968).
However this particular experiment was conducted in the real world setting -- in a
classroom with teachers and students. Students took an intelligence test that measured for
“intellectual blooming”. The teachers were told that they should expect enhanced
performance from some of their students, classifying some as brighter than others. Again,
these labels were just randomly assigned. The children were administered an intelligence
test at the end of the term, and once again the results suggested that teachers’
4. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 4
expectations influenced the children’s performance on the test. The “gifted” children
scored higher on the intelligence test than the rest of the children.
Expectancy effects extend well beyond the confines of laboratories and classroom
settings. Rosenthal (2002) explains that these expectation trends are also found in work
organizations (Kierein & Gold, 2000), judges’ beliefs about the guilt of a defendant
(Blanck, Rosenthal, Hart, & Bernieri, 1990; Halverson, Hallahan, Hart, & Rosenthal,
1997), and even in the health care setting such as nursing homes for the elderly
(Learman, Avorn, Everitt, & Rosenthal, 1990). Rosenthal and Rubin (1978) examined
345 studies in which experimenters’ expectancies influenced experimental results. This
research ranged from reaction time to animal learning, and even to everyday life
situations. Overall, research has shown this to be a very consistent and robust effect in
various settings.
These experimenter expectancy effects not only have important implications for
research and everyday life events, but profound implications for the justice system.
Eyewitness identification errors are the primary cause of wrongful convictions in the
United States. In about 75% of exonerations based on DNA evidence the original
conviction was due to mistaken eyewitness identification (www.innocenceproject.org,
last visited May 30, 2013). One source of these eyewitness errors may be the expectations
of the police who administer the lineup. To avoid this bias effect, Wells, Small, Penrod,
Fulero, Malpass, and Brimacombe (1998) recommended that lineups should be double-
blind, meaning that the police officer administering the lineup should not know the
position of the suspect in the lineup. The problem of police officers’ expectations is
illustrated in an experiment by Greathouse and Kovera (2009). They presented
5. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 5
participants with a staged crime and then later asked those participants to identify the
person who committed the staged crime from a lineup. Some of the lineup administrators
were blind as to the position of the suspect and others were not blind, meaning they knew
which person in the lineup was the suspect. Their results were mixed. In some conditions,
the suspect identification rates were higher, whereas in other conditions they were not.
They also examined how administrators’ expectations affected the witness’s confidence.
The witnesses were less confident in their identifications when the lineup administrator
knew the position of the suspect than when the lineup administrator did not know the
position of the suspect.
The Greathouse and Kovera experiment addresses a fundamental question about
how experimenters’ expectations can affect memory. Stanton and Baker (1942) measured
just that. They conducted their experiment by showing participants a series of random
shapes and testing the participants’ memory by showing them the original shape and its
mirror-image. During this memory test all of the experimenters were provided with an
answer key, thus giving the experimenters expectations as to which answers the
participants should choose. However before running the experiment, the administrators
were informed about experimenter bias and that they should refrain from any suggestive
behavior. Without their knowledge, only half of the answers were keyed correctly. The
results showed that the participants followed the experimenters even when the answers
were actually incorrect, suggesting that they were influenced by the experimenters’
beliefs even after being informed of experimenter bias. The Stanton and Baker (1942)
study has only been replicated twice (Friedman, 1942; Lindzey, 1951). Friedman (1942)
showed a very slight (.614 versus .610), and statistically non-significant accuracy
6. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 6
advantage when participants’ responses were consistent with the experimenter’s
expectations. This same experimental procedure was replicated again by Lindzey, only
to find that there was again only a slight difference in accuracy whether the experimenter
had the answer correct or not (1951). The differences were not statistically significant and
therefore the null hypothesis could not be rejected. Neither one of the replicated studies
provides compelling evidence that experimenter expectancy effects have an impact on
memory, as was found by Stanton and Baker (1942). Lindzey (1951) pointed out that one
potential flaw in the Stanton and Baker (1942) study was that the participants may have
been able to see the administrators’ answer key. In other words, the participants may have
simply seen the answers and responded “correctly” due to the fact that they saw the
answers, not because they were influenced by the experimenters’ suggestiveness or
biased behavior. This could be a reason as to why the replications were inconsistent. So
the question still remains, how does experimenter bias affect eyewitness lineups?
The Current Study
There have been very few studies that examined the accuracy and confidence of
witnesses’ memory when both biased and unbiased administrators presented a lineup.
The current study is a replication and extension of Stanton and Baker (1942). We wanted
to examine how accurate participants were in their memory of stimuli when the
experimenters had skewed answer keys. In addition, we also wanted to see how confident
participants were in their choices with these experimenter expectancy effects.
7. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 7
Predictions
There are two predictions. First, to the extent that experimenter expectancy can
influence memory decisions, participants should be more likely to recognize stimuli that
the experimenters had believed were correct than stimuli that experimenters believed
were incorrect. Second, the same subtle cues that communicate the experimenter’s
expectations about the “correct” responses might also influence participants’ confidence
in those responses. To the extent that this holds, participants would have lower
confidence when the answers were marked as correct on the experimenters’ answer sheet
than when they were marked incorrect. Thus, the participant may know that the
experimenter believes that “A” is the correct answer, and they may choose “A” as their
answer, but they may not be completely convinced that it is the correct choice, resulting
in a decrease in confidence. Similarly, participants may show increased confidence on
trials where their response is consistent with the expectations of the experimenter.
METHOD
Participants
The experiment included 64 undergraduate students from the University of
California Riverside who participated for one hour in exchange for one course credit. The
mean age was 19.5 (SD= 1.34). Exactly half of the participants were male and the other
half were female. The demographics breakdown was 48.4% Asian, 29.7% Hispanic,
10.9% Caucasian, 7.8% Middle Eastern, and 3.1% African American.
8. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 8
Materials
A brief power point presentation was created for the purpose of this study in order
to tests participants’ memory. A total of twelve images were sequentially presented on a
computer screen. The stimulus shapes are shown in Appendix A. Each image was
presented for five seconds followed by a blank frame for half a second then the next
image was shown. This sequence continued for all twelve images. There were two
versions of the study slide sequence, one of which simply included the mirror images of
the other.
The Big Five Inventory (BFI) (John, 1999), which measures participants
personality traits, was used as a filler task. The BFI is a 44-item scale ranging from 1
(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). It uses accessible vocabulary to determine the
main five personality traits. This measure includes items such as: “Is depressed; Does a
thorough job; Is full of energy.” This may be analyzed later on to determine if personality
has an effect on the memory and confidence of participants, but will not be discussed in
the present study. Since this BFI task is relatively short, averaging about 3 minutes to
complete, subjects were also given a page of math problems to work on as well until five
minutes had passed.
Eight research assistants, four female and four male, were recruited to collect the
data. Each of the research assistants was provided with his or her own set of eight by
eleven note-cards that contained the stimulus shapes from the power points. Each set
consisted of 24 images, 12 being the images the participants saw in the power point
presented, and the other 12 their mirror-image. Each notecard only consisted of one
image. Directly underneath each stimulus shape pair (image presented and its mirror
9. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 9
image) one was labeled “A” while the other was labeled “B”. Each research assistant was
assigned a power point slide set as well as his or her own answer key. Four of the
experimenters had half of their answer sheet keyed incorrectly, while the other four had
one-third of their answers keyed incorrectly. There were two different answer keys for
each study slide sequence; one containing a series of answers and the other the exact
inverse of those answers. For example, if power point one’s first answer key had A,A,B
as the first three correct answers, then the second answer key for power point one would
be B,B,A and so on. This same method was also used for the second power point.
Afterwards, an online demographics questionnaire was created to collect generic
information about each participant including questions such as their age, ethnicity, and
sex.
Procedure
One psychology research assistant and one participant were present during each
session. Each research assistant began by jotting down the participant’s subject number
and name. The participant was then given an informed consent form to sign before
participating in the study. Next, the research assistant set up the assigned test stimuli
(either slide set 1 or 2), read the instructions, and left the room while the power point was
presented to the participant. The participants were then given a five minute filler task
consisting of the BFI and a series of math equations. The participants were instructed to
first complete the BFI and afterwards continue onto the math problems until the research
assistant instructed them to stop.
10. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 10
After the research assistant presented the test stimuli and the participant
completed the five minute filler task, an “interview” between the research assistant and
participant took place. The research assistant presented a two-alternative forced-choice
memory test to the participant and then gave the participants some instructions on how to
complete the test. “I am going to show you two images at a time. One will be the same
image you previously saw in the power point presentation, while the other is its mirror
image…” The participant’s task on each trial was to determine which of the two test
stimuli was the one previously seen. An example of one of the test trials is shown in
Appendix B.
The research assistants were not given exact instructions on how to present the
stimuli. For instance, one research assistant may have placed a certain image down prior
to the other or closer to the participant, in which this suggestive behavior could bias the
results. Whereas in another scenario the research assistant may have placed them down at
the same time or directly side by side. The research assistants were only told to present
the two images simultaneously, the image the participant previously saw and its mirror-
image, in a distinct order. Each eight by eleven notecard was numbered on the back [i.e.
both cards in each pair consisted of the same number n1, and the next pair n2 and so
on…] as to not mix the order. Once the participants made their decisions (by choosing
either A or B) the research assistants marked it on their subjects answer sheets, which had
columns for all of their participants as well as the corresponding “correct” answers (see
Appendix C). After each decision was made the research assistants also asked the
participants how confident they were in the answer choice on a scale of one (not very
confident) to four (very confident).
11. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 11
After the memory test the participants filled out the online demographics page.
When this was complete the research assistants went through a verbal agreement with the
participants and were told not to discuss this study with others and were then debriefed.
RESULTS
Memory Accuracy
An average of the participants’ accuracy was calculated for the one-half
incorrectly keyed conditions and one-third incorrectly keyed conditions. In the case
where half of the experimenters’ answers were miskeyed, participants got the answers
correct when the experimenters believed the answers to be correct an average of .672.
When the participants got the answers correct but the experimenters believed the answers
to be incorrect, the participants were accurate about .661 of the time. This small
difference in accuracy was not statistically significant, t (31) = .247, p = .807, r =.044.
The one-third incorrect condition had a .613 accuracy when the participants got the
answers correct and the experimenters believed the answers were correct. On the other
hand, participants scored an average of .594 when the participants got the answers correct
but the experimenters believed the answers were incorrect. Similar to the one-half
incorrect condition, the averages for the two groups did not have much variation thus
yielding insignificant results, t (31) = .357, p = .724, r = .064.
Memory Confidence
Participants had a 2.971 average confidence rating when they got the answers
correct when the experimenters also believed them to be correct. However, the
12. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 12
confidence significantly dropped to 2.535 when the participants got the answers correct
but the experimenters believed the answers were incorrect. This decrease was statistically
significant, t (31) = 2.730, p = .010, r = .440. There was very little change in confidence
when the participants got the answers incorrect; the averages remained consistently low.
The participants got the answers wrong when the experimenters correctly believed they
were wrong with an average 2.070 confidence rating, but slightly decreased to 1.945
when the participants got the answers incorrect and the experimenters incorrectly
believed the answers were right. This slight decrease was not statistically significant, t
(31) = .589, p = .560, r = .105.
As for the confidence in the one-third incorrect condition, we did not find any
effects between the conditions where the participants got the answers correct when the
experimenters believed them to be correct (2.523) and when the participants got the
answers correct when the experimenters believed the answers were incorrect (2.458), t
(31) = .387, p = .701, r = .069. Consistent with the one-half incorrectly keyed condition,
the participants had a fairly low confidence when they got the answers incorrect t (31) =
.180, p = .858, r = .032. When the participants got the answers incorrect their average
confidence was 2.039 when the experimenters also believed they were incorrect and was
2.005 when the experimenters believed the incorrect answers were correct.
DISCUSSION
One-half Incorrectly Keyed Condition
We were expecting some variation in the participants’ accuracy depending on
whether the experimenters had the answers correctly keyed versus incorrectly keyed.
That pattern of results was not obtained. Instead we found that when half of the answer
13. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 13
key was incorrect, the participants’ accuracy levels were about the same whether the
experimenter had the answers correctly keyed or not. Although we did not find any
change in the accuracy of the participants’ responses, we did find an effect on the
participants’ confidence of their answer choices when they got the answers correct.
Again, in cases in which the experimenters had one-half of their key marked incorrectly,
participants’ confidence levels were fairly high when they got the answer correct and the
experimenters believed the answers to be correct. However that number significantly
dropped when the participants still got the answers correct but the experimenters believed
their answers to be incorrect. This suggests that the experimenters’ beliefs and
expectations were conveyed to the participants, but that they had an effect on confidence
rather than accuracy.
Even though the participants may not have changed their answers because of the
experimenters’ suggestive behavior, they did show an increase in confidence when their
answers matched the expectations of the experimenters and a decrease in confidence of
their answer when their choices did not match the expectations of the experimenters. This
was only in the cases where the participants got the answers correct. There was no
difference in confidence when the participants got the answer incorrect; the participants’
confidence remained consistently low whether the experimenter believed the answer to
be correct or incorrect when it actually was incorrect. This may reflect that the
participants had some sort of intuition that they knew they were unsure of their answer.
14. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 14
One-third Incorrectly Keyed Condition
The memory accuracy of the participants in the one-third incorrectly keyed
condition yielded strange results. It would be assumed that if the experimenters had more
correct than incorrect answers on their answer sheet they would obtain better results since
the participants’ memory would be more likely to match the experimenters’ expectations
than when it does not. However this result was not observed. The participants did worse
when the majority of the answers were keyed correctly than when only half of the
answers were keyed correctly. This could be explained by a various number of reasons.
In other words, the students may have played the negative-participant role, which means
that the participant caught onto the experimenter’s hypothesis and actively attempted to
disprove it. On the other hand it could have had nothing to do with the participants
actions, but instead with the research assistants’ behavior. Since most of the
experimenters were undergraduate psychology students, they knew of experimenter bias
and its effects in the laboratory setting. It could have been just mere coincidence that the
research assistants in the one-third incorrect condition were less susceptible in conveying
their expectations to the participants than the researchers in the one-half incorrect
condition.
It is also possible that these unexpected results did not have to do with the
experimenters or the participants’ behavior, but instead with the positioning of the
stimulus images. The order of the stimulus images were the same in each condition,
however there were two different power points, one contacting a series of images and the
other containing the exact inverse of each image. There were also two different answer
keys for each set of power points, resulting in a total of four different answer keys. It
15. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 15
could have been that when certain images were depicted a particular way they may have
been more easily recognized than when they were portrayed in the opposing direction
(see appendix B). Another potential reason could be that there may be fewer
opportunities for experimenters to convey their violated expectations when only one-third
of the items are miskeyed. After all, their expectations are only violated on a very small
number of trials. Experimenters may not react when their expectations are violated
infrequently, but may be more likely to react, or to have a stronger reaction, when their
expectations are violated more often.
The present results are consistent with previous findings, by Friedman (1942) and
by Lindzey (1951), showing virtually no effect of experimenter expectations on memory
accuracy. How do we reconcile these null effects of experimenter expectations with the
broader literature showing robust effects of experimenter expectations? We consider two
ways in which the present experiment differs from some of the previous studies on
experimenter expectancy effects. The key effects can be seen by comparing the present
study to the Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) study. One major difference between the two
studies is the amount of time that the experimenters and participants spent together. The
participants in our study spent much less time with our experimenters than the students
did with their teachers in the Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) study. Thus, expectation
effects may develop over time through extended interaction. Another difference is that
our experimenters had different expectations than the teachers. The teachers expected
their “bright” students to be smarter than their other students; therefore they treated them
as if they were smarter. However, our experimenters’ expectations were not based on the
16. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 16
individuals, but were based on the answer keys and whether the participants got the
answer correct or incorrect.
Limitations & Future Research
One of the limitations is that all of the participants are college students around the
ages of 17 to 24. This may have yielded different results than it would in the real world
setting because many actual witnesses may not be in that age frame. Another factor that
could play a role is that all of the students who participated are taking a psychology
course and may have learned about experimenter bias and its effects prior to participating
in the experiment. This could have influenced the participants answer choices in making
them less susceptible to being influenced. Thus it may be beneficial to do this experiment
within the general population to see if they behave in a different manner.
The research assistants were not given clear instructions on how to present the
stimuli to the participants. We sought to examine the extent to which different
administrators influenced their participants. Each research assistant had his or her own
style of presenting the stimuli and phrasing questions while administering the two-
alternative forced choice memory test. This is a possible reason as to why the research
assistants had varied numbers of correct and incorrect responses from their participants.
The varied results could also be due to each administrator receiving a different power
point slides and answer sheets due to the positioning of each shape.
We assume that each researcher had his or her own flair while presenting the
stimulus images to each of the subjects, but we are not certain exactly what they did since
they were not given specific instructions nor were they observed. It may be helpful to
17. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 17
examine how different methods of presentation style affect participants’ decisions. For
instance each research assistant could be assigned to a different type of method in how to
present the stimuli. If this were case, however, the same images should be presented to
each participant and all of the answer keys should be consistent in order to measure the
effect size in the different types of styles. Different methods may be better than others in
that they have less suggestive behavior, thus less biasing effects on the participants, or in
the real world, in eyewitness identifications.
Conclusion
Although an abundant amount of research has been conducted on experimenter
bias effects, there has only been one published study on administrator expectancy effects
in eyewitness lineups that examined accuracy and confidence in memory (Greathouse &
Kovera 2009). Therefore further research is needed to better understand administrator
bias and their effects on eyewitness lineups and its role in the justice system.
Acknowledgements I would like to thank my mentor Steven Clark for putting in a
considerable amount of time and effort in helping me throughout this entire process. I
would also like to give thanks to the graduate students Rakel Larson, Molly Moreland,
Ryan Rush, Candace Rim, and Marie Hicks for giving me advice and feedback along the
way, as well as the undergraduate students, Ryan Hiroto, Chul Park, Delilah Maestas,
Emily Cadegan, Nathan Martinez, Welby Huynh, Renee Tiet, and Rita Saikali for helping
collecting data. I would not have been able to accomplish this without the help of my
supportive lab.
18. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 18
References
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Greathouse, S. M., Kovera, M. B. (2009). Instruction bias and lineup presentation
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Halverson, A. M., Hallahan, M., Hart, A. J., & Rosenthal, R. (1997). Reducing the
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Lindzey, G. (1951). A note on interviewer bias. Journal of Applied Psychology, 35(3),
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cubicles. American Psychologist, 57 (11), 839-849
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albino rat. Behavioral Science, 8, 183-189.Rosenthal, R.; Jacobson, L. (1968).
Pygmalion in the classroom. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom: Teacher expectation
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20. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 20
Table 1. The average of participants’ accuracy for the one-half correctly keyed condition
when the participants got the answer correct or incorrect when the experimenters believed
them to be correct or incorrect.
Total Averages
Experimenters Belief
Correct Incorrect
Truth
Correct .67 .66
Incorrect .33 .34
21. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 21
Table 2. The average confidence of participants for the one-half correctly keyed
condition when the participants got the answers correct or incorrect when the
experimenters believed them to be correct or incorrect.
Total Averages
Experimenters Belief
Correct Incorrect
Truth
Correct 2.97 2.53
Incorrect 1.95 2.07
22. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 22
Table 3. The average of participants’ accuracy for the one-third correctly keyed
condition when the participants got the answers correct or incorrect when the
experimenters believed them to be correct or incorrect.
Total Averages
Experimenters Belief
Correct Incorrect
Truth
Correct .613 .594
Incorrect .387 .406
23. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 23
Table 4. The average confidence of participants for the one-third correctly keyed
condition when the participants got the answers correct or incorrect when the
experimenters believed them to be correct or incorrect.
Total Averages
Experimenters Belief
Correct Incorrect
Truth
Correct 2.523 2.458
Incorrect 2.039 2.005
24. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 24
Appendicies
Appendix A. Images of the stimuli borrowed from Stanton & Baker (1942) that were
used in the power point and notecards. A mirror-image for each of these shapes was also
created for the memory test.
25. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 25
A
B
Appendix B. Examples of the two-alternative forced- choice memory test. These
stimulus shapes were on their own 8x11 notecard and were numbered on the
back to keep each pair in order.
A
B
A B
26. EXPERIMENTER BIASAND THE ACCURACY ANDCONFIDENCEOFMEMORY 26
Appendix C. This is a sample image of a research assistants’answersheet.This is where they marked the
participants answer choices and confidence levels. The left column states the stimulus number. In this
column we also had the participants copy in their “correct answers” from another page. The top row
indicates the participant number.
Subjects
SubjectResponses
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
1 A A 3
2 A B 1
3 B
A 2
4 A
5 B
6 B
7 B
8 A
9 B
10 A
11 B
12 A