1. Psychology
A definition

2. Today Understanding that psychology is a science
Considering how we know if a psychological theory is correct
understanding what is meant by IV, DV and extraneous variables
Being able to write directional and non-directional hypotheses.
Considering how to run experiments in psychology

3. What is psychology?
You know this definition of Psychology Psychology is the science of mind and behaviour. But what does this mean? In pairs, define the word ‘science’ on a mini whiteboard

4. Science and Psychology
Science is a process that allows us to get closer to a ‘factual’ understanding about the universe. Psychology aims to take complex human behaviour and study it scientifically so we can be pretty certain why we do what we do. For example, one complex human behaviour that many people are interested in is what motivates people to tell lies? Lets think scientifically about why people might ‘lie’ to someone about something. In pairs using the mini whiteboards, come up with a theory about why people lie. (Think of a ‘theory’ as being an idea about why something happens)

5. Science and Psychology
Lets chose three or four different explanations from the class. Which one do we think is correct. Vote for the one that best explains ‘lying’. This is subjective opinion, how do we know whether it is true? (a fact) We need to test it scientifically and to do this, we use experiments. We will return to ‘lying’ a little bit later

6. Experiments in Psychology
An experiment in psychology attempts to see the effect when we change one variable whilst keeping all other variables constant A variable is anything that can change. What you have for breakfast can change, room temperature can change, noise levels, substance use, people’s ages, gender, upbringing, educational experiences are all variables that affect what we do. They have all been manipulated in experiments to see if they change behaviour.

7. IV= independent variable
An experimenter manipulates the iv in someway in order to have an effect on the dependent variable.
E.g if testing “does music effects memory?” the experimenter could have one condition with rock music and one with no music. The change in the music is the IV.

8. Dependent variable
The DV is the variable the experimenter MEASURES, i.e. the aspect of the participants behaviour that is changed by the IV.
E.g. if testing “does music effects memory?” the experimenter would measure the memory of the participants using number test for instance to see if there is a difference with rock or no music. This is the DV.

9. On MWBs - Now have a go…..which is the IV and DV?
1. Gender effects memory 2. People aged complete memory tasks quicker than people Those participants drinking three units of alcohol have lower scores on a memory test than those who drink no units. 4. An experimenter had one group of people learning a list of words in silence, the other group of people learned the same list in a noisy environment (listening to loud rock music) She wanted to see whether the recall of the words was worse in the ‘noise condition’

10. Other key words related to experiments
Extraneous variable- Anything in the experiment that is effecting the DV that is not the IV for e.g the instructions are not given out clearly so the participants don’t do very well in a task.
Cause and effect relationship-this is when you can say that the only thing that in the experiment that had an impact on the DV was the IV.
Controls- Factors that a researcher considers in an experiment in order to prevent extraneous variables impacting on the DV.

11. Festinger and Carlsmith
So what motivates people to lie? This next part of the lesson allows you to see that complex behaviour can be studied scientifically. It will also help you to identify IVs and DVs and learn the skills to write effective hypotheses.
Firstly, why do some students claim that they have done their homework but forgotten it, rather than say they just haven’t done it?
What other ‘classic’ lies do people tell?
In Pairs, take two minutes to discuss how you would study ‘lying’ in a laboratory?
Imagine you were asked to complete a really boring task. At the end of the task you were asked to lie about the task and say it was really interesting and fun to another person; you’d be paid £100 if you did. Would you? (write ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on your MWB and hold it up)
Would you lie if you were only paid £1 to do it? (‘yes’ or ‘no’ on MWB)
These questions underpin a classic scientific study into the human phenomenon of ‘telling lies’

12. Festinger and Carlsmith
In 1959, two psychologists, Festinger and Carlsmith asked participants turn wooden blocks 90 degrees each time on a board for an hour. That’s a really boring task! They then randomly split the group into two, and informed one half that they would get $20 each (that’s the equivilent of £120 today) if they told the next person before they came in that it was a really fun task. The other half of the participants were asked the same request, but would only get $1. If participants agreed to the task (some refused), which group were more likely to tell the next participant that it was a really fun task? In other words, who was more motivated to lie? Write $20 or $1 on your boards.

13. Festinger and Carlsmith
It may surprise you that those who were paid $20 were much less enthusiastic than those who were paid $1, who were very happy to say how fun the task was. Any ideas why this was the case?

14. Festinger and Carlsmith
According to Festinger, People who were paid very little who then lied, would ask themselves “why did I lie for such little money?” this creates a conflict. People do not like being in conflict so these participants actually convinced themselves that they did enjoy the task by becoming overly enthusiastic about it. Strictly speaking they are no longer ‘lying’, they really believe it. This is known as cognitive dissonance (see p7 in green hair book for more information) The theory states that when we feel anxiety, we try very hard to reduce it. Beware the over-enthusiastic teacher next time they tell you there is a really fun activity to do for homework!

15. Over to you – Hypothesis testing
Festinger’s study was evidence to support his theory. Any theory is worthless unless there is evidence. A large part of psychology A level is studying evidence which supports theories (or contradicts them) Studies such as Festinger’s would have had a specific hypothesis to test. You’ll probably remember hypothesis testing from science at school. TASK: remembering your summer homework, write a definition of a hypothesis on the mini whiteboards TASK: (Handout) Hypothesis testing 1: follow the instructions. Choose which task you want to do.

16. Answer
There will be a difference in participants’ levels of enthusiasm for lying to another person if they were told they would receive $20 compared with if they were told they would receive $1 This is called an ‘alternative hypothesis’ and there are two types. Directional and non-directional

17. Non-directional and directional hypotheses
Directional: Scientists make a prediction about the direction of the results. Look at simple example below
Revising with flashcards will produce better exam scores than just reading through notes
This is a directional hypothesis as the prediction states which group would do better (in this instance, students who use flash cards)

18. Non-directional and directional hypotheses
Sometimes, scientists are unsure which way the results may go. There will be a difference in exam scores between students who revise using flashcards and students who revise by using mind-maps This is a non-directional hypothesis. A prediction is made but the direction is not easy to predict.

19. Why have two types of hypothesis?
It is to do with probability. Something you will do more work on as the course continues. But for now just remember this. If there are previous findings that point to a probable direction, then a directional hypothesis is best. If there are conflicting findings, or this is a new piece of research with no previous findings, then a non-directional hypothesis is best

20. TASK: Hypothesis testing 2 – Annotate/highlight your sheet with the IV and DV and directional or non-directional
1.Children will forget more items from a picture than adults
2.There will be a difference in speed of learning a maze between rats who are exposed to caffeine and rats who are exposed to THC
3.There will be a difference in estimated speed of two cars during a crash between participants who are asked how fast the cars were travelling when they ‘hit’ each other and how fast the cars were travelling when they ‘smashed’ into each other. –
4. People with neural damage in the frontal lobe are likely to show more aggressive behaviour than people without neural damage to the frontal lobe -

21. Answers
IV = Children or adults DV = Items recalled in memory test DIRECTIONAL
2) IV = Rats exposed to substances, either caffeine or THC DV = speed in seconds to learn maze NON DIRECTIONAL
3) IV = The question asked to participants, either containing the word ‘hit’ or the word ‘smashed’ DV = participants estimate of the speed of the cars before they crashed NON DIRECTIONAL
4) IV = participants with or without neural damage to the frontal lobe DV = instances of aggressive behaviour
DIRECTIONAL

22. So how do we write a hypothesis?
It is not a question but a statement
It must have the DV and all of the IV in. So if your IV is gender then you must mention men and women in the hypothesis.
It must be operationalised = the process of achieving precise descriptions of an IV and DV i.e saying EXACTLY how it is to be measured.

23. How do we operationalise?
You must state exactly how you will measure the IV and DV, so music isn’t good enough-what kind of music, in fact what song?
On your MWB operationalise the following
1. memory
2. Age
3. Alcohol drunk.

24. Writing hypotheses
Complete the last box on worksheet

25. Answers – hypothesis writing 2
There will be a difference in the scores on a concentration tests between children who have breakfast before school and children who do not eat before school
There will be a difference in the number of people who agree to pick up litter between those who were asked by a confederate dressed in a police uniform, and those who were asked by a confederate wearing civilian clothes
What’s a confederate in psychological research?

26. Answers – hypothesis writing 2
Participants who count backwards in threes for 60 seconds after learning but before recall will recall fewer words from a list of 20 than participants who sit in silence for 60 seconds before recall Monkeys reared in cages will show weaker bonds to their offspring than monkeys reared by their natural parents.

27. On the back of the exam question first answer this
Jackson noticed that his concentration was better during the day depending on whether he’d had lots of sleep or not much sleep at all. There is scientific evidence suggesting that more sleep improves concentration.
1. Should the hypothesis be directional or non-directional and why?
2. What is the IV and DV and fully operationalize.

28. Exam question
Read the item below and then answer the questions that follow.
A psychologist wanted to test the accuracy of eyewitness testimony when using different identification techniques. He wanted to compare the use of simultaneous line-ups with the use of sequential line-ups. Simultaneous line-ups involve a witness identifying a suspect when viewing everyone in a line-up at the same time. Sequential line-ups involve looking at one person at a time and deciding whether they are the offender or not. If not, the next person is viewed.
The psychologist had 40 students volunteering to take part in his experiment. He divided them into two equal groups- one group viewed a simultaneous line-up, the other group viewed a sequential line-up. All participants were shown the same staged mugging on film. A week later participants returned to the laboratory to view the line-up.
   
1) Write a suitable non-directional hypothesis for this experiment (3 marks)
2) Identify the IV and DV in this experiment (2 marks)
3) Identify one extraneous variable controlled by the psychologist and briefly explain why it was important to control it in this experiment. (3 marks)

29. answers
1) There will be a difference (1) in the accuracy of identification (2) between participants who were exposed to simultaneous line-ups and participants who were exposed to sequential line-ups (3) 2a) IV = type of identification exposure, simultaneous or sequential (1) 2b) DV = the number of accurate identifications made (1) 3) ex: similarity of suspects could cause confusion, different suspects in each condition leading to one condition being harder than the other. Suitable participant or experimenter variables could gain credit, randomisation concerns etc. One mark for suitable extraneous varaible, a further two marks for explanation of increasing depth.