Introduction

It is important that you have a good knowledge about the way psychologists study behaviour. In this topic, you will learn about the different types of experiments (natural, field and laboratory) and the various experimental designs, which relates to how you use the participants (independent measure, repeated measures and matched pairs). You will learn about correlational studies and when they are conducted. It is also essential that you understand the different variables that are relevant to field and laboratory experiments – these are the independent (IV) and dependent (DV) variables. All experiments will have hypotheses – the experimental and the null hypothesis.

Read and Make Notes

Read and make notes on pages 1 to 10 in the textbook.

Tasks

Laboratory experiments

Write out a definition and note two strengths and two weaknesses of this method.
Complete the questions at the end of the following PowerPoint:

READ – Laboratory Experiments and Experimental Design (PowerPoint)

Independent and dependent variables

Make a note of the definitions.
Write out an example of each.

READ – Experimental Designs (PowerPoint)

Field experiments

Write out a definition.
Note two strengths and two weaknesses of this method.
Complete the questions in the following PowerPoint:

READ – Field Experiments (PowerPoint)

Read and make notes on the following resources:

READ – Questionnaire and Interviews

READ – Likert Scale

READ – Interviews (PowerPoint)

Read and Make Notes

Read and make notes on pages 19 to 21 in the textbook.

Tasks

Hypotheses

Make notes on the following: aim(s), directional and non-directional hypotheses, null hypotheses.
Read the following document and add core studies to the relevant boxes as you study them:

COMPLETE – Longitudinal/Snapshot Studies Worksheet

Terminology

Make sure you understand all the key terms covered in this topic. You may like to make flashcards of key terms now, to help you with revision later on.