Clever Hans the horse could do simple math and spell out the answers to simple questions. He wasn’t always correct, but he was most of the time. While a team of scientists, veterinarians, zoologists and circus trainers could not figure out how Hans was correctly answering the questions, Oskar Pfungst, a psychologist did. What did he discover?

While Hans could not do math, or correctly answer questions on his own, he was very perceptive. Hans was picking up on subtle body language given off by his owner who asked the questions. When the owner was hidden from view, suddenly Hans could not answer the questions correctly. How does this story relate to research and Psychology?

The goal of psychology is to develop explanations for behavior and mental processes…explain why we do what we do. These explanations, based on solid empirical studies are called theories. – A theory is a testable explanation for a set of facts or observations.

What is the aim of the experiment? What studies and theories are considered in your research? How do you plan to manipulate and measure variables? How will you select participants? Which experimental design will you use? How will you deal with ethical issues? How will you analyze the data you collect? How will you discuss your findings? How will you report your experiment? How will you reference your sources?

Students will plan, conduct, and report on a simple experimental study The simple experiment enables students to experience the research process The experiment will be a replication of a previously published study Characteristics of the simple study: 1. Limited in scope 2. Involves the manipulation of ONE independent variable (the factor that is manipulated by the researcher to determine its effect on another variable) 3. Involves the measurement of ONE dependent variable (the factor that is being measured and that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable)

4. Requires the use and interpretation of descriptive statistics This is a group assignment (no more than four) However, each student will write their own individual paper using the group’s data Students are NOT to help each other write the report Just use the same data Multiple groups can do the same topic Step 1: Organize into groups Step 2: Choose a topic For possible topics, please refer to handout Students should research the study via the internet and read it through carefully (It is not necessary to have the original study) Turn in topic selected to Mr. Woodside (Paper with group member names and topic) Step 3: Identify the Independent Variable Step 4: Identify the Dependent Variable

A good way to remember which is which: – Independent Variable (IV) = stimulus or cause (Noise or no noise) – Dependent Variable (DV) = response or effect (Number of words recalled) Both the IV and the DV must have an operational definition. That means, you must explain what each will look like and how it will be measured. Examples: Noise (IV) could be operationalized as loud music at volume level 35 Operationalized DV could be the number of words remembered from a list of 20.

Step 5: Once you understand what you will need to do to replicate the study, select a pool of subjects to conduct your experiment on and conduct the experiment as soon as possible people No younger than 16 Participants should be volunteers from other classes Use a “controlled” sample (uniform age) without confounding variables Informed Consent: Need form that shows all expectations of participants Must be debriefed

Step 6: Collect and analyze your data Did your replication work??? Raw data (what comes out of data collection) IB expects you to provide a table with the descriptive results of your data (Mean Median, and Mode) Mean: The arithmetic average of all the individual measurements in a distribution Median: The score that divides a distribution of rank-ordered observations in half; in other words, the middle score. Mode: the value that occurs most frequently in a set of data.

But you will also need to include a measure of variance or dispersion in your results section. Dispersion The distribution and measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) will not give a complete picture Measures of dispersion are important for describing the spread of the data, or its variation around a central value Three statistics frequently used to describe the dispersion in a study are the range, the standard deviation, and the variance

Range: The lowest score in a distribution subtracted from the highest score (most common) One of the simplest measures of variability to calculate Problem: Cheryl took 7 math tests in one grading period. What is the range of her test scores? 89, 73, 84, 91, 87, 77, 94 Solution: Ordering the test scores from least to greatest, we get: 73, 77, 84, 87, 89, 91, 94 highest - lowest is = 21 Answer: The range of these test scores is 21 points. Standard Deviation: A measure of variability that describes an average distance of every score from the mean Variance: A measure of difference or variance within two distributions

You will need to be prepared to write about your data AND display it in a graph. Bar graphs show data for selected categories, e.g. Two different conditions in experiment.

Histogram: shows data for all categories.

Frequency polygon: a line graph similar to histogram but allows two sets of data to be shown on the same graph.

Great site to assist you in designing graphs!!! Step 7: Write your report. (This assignment becomes an individual assignment at this point!!!!) See sample 1,000 to 1,500 words DOES NOT INCLUDE:  Title  Abstract  References  Data  Appendix  /02/e02expand.html# /02/e02expand.html#

Turn in a hard copy and a digital copy Instructor grades all reports Externally moderated Every sample paper sent in must be signed Advice may be given after 1st draft but teacher does NOT make corrections Teachers are not permitted to provide any kind of written feedback on the paper itself The internal assessment is graded on a scale of 1-20, 20 being best (Assessment grade) For this class, the project will be worth 200 points (Assignment grade)

Title Page: Give a clear indication of what is being investigated. A title such as, “Memory Experiment” is not sufficient. Student Name and Number Course Title: IB Psychology SL Date, Month, Year of Submission Abstract- See handout Introduction- See handout

Method- See handouts The only section in the report that will have subheadings!!!!! – Design- Type and justification of experimental method, explain and justify why this method and design were chosen, controls, ethical considerations, identification of independent and dependent variables (See handout) – Participants- Characteristics of target population (age range, total number used & numbers of each sex any group similarities, method used in selections) – Materials- Written list of materials used (what is used not how) not basic materials, reference to copies in appendices, standardized instructions & debriefing & consent form – Procedure- Itemized in sufficient detail to allow full replication, chronological order, consent form, standardized instructions, did you run your study in groups or individually, debriefing

Results The purpose of this section is to make clear to the reader what your raw data has revealed in support of or in opposition to your Aim. (see handout) Discussion Linking results to study being replicated (see handout) References Appendices Sample IA