1. TuTh – 4:00-5:15 Psych 241 – Methods Lab section 03

2. Quiz How many unexcused absences will result in a failing grade? When you turn in the final draft of an assignment, what are the two ways in which you need to hand it in? If you missed a lab, what should you do to find out what you missed?

3. Introduction to methods Why are we studying methods? Answer: research! Why do we do research? Answer: so that we can understand how we/the world work(s), and so that we can know what works to help solve problems and issues that we see.

4. Introduction to methods Also, understanding how research is conducted and what issues may arise helps us evaluate research that we see.

5. Chocolate and the Nobel Prize Flavanoids, some of which are present in chocolate, have been proposed to improve cognitive function. Question: Will eating more chocolate correlate with better cognitive functioning? Hypothesis: The more chocolate that a country consumes, the more Nobel Prize Laureates per 10 million inhabitants.

6. Chocolate and the Nobel Prize

7. Does this mean we should all eat more chocolate? Why not? Internal validity concerns Is the Nobel Prize a good representation of cognitive abilities? What else could account for these?

8. Ice Cream and Violence As more ice cream is eaten, there are more violent crimes! What else might it be? Understanding how we formulate, run, and report good research will help you understand the studies you see!

9. Gay Conversion Study Spitzer, 2001. 66% of males and 44% females (N = 200) had achieved change. So does it work? What issues might have been at play? 93% reported being religious, and 78% publicly spoke in favor of changing homosexual orientation. Spitzer retracted his study in 2012.

10. Methods and Statistics Statistics and math are only a tool with which to conduct our research. It is easier to conceptualize when we are using it to answer questions.

11. Stroop Task We are going to run an experiment with a repeated measures manipulation and counterbalancing of levels of the IV across subjects Stroop task: Does seeing a word that does not match up with the other information provided slow us down?

12. Stroop Task What is the IV? What is the DV?

13. Stroop Task

14. Research Articles Abstract: Gives a basic description of the study, draws attention. Introduction: Why did they do this research? Also includes the hypothesis. Method: What was done, and how? It should be informative enough to be a “recipe” for a replication

15. Research Articles Method: Participants: Materials: Procedure: Results: What was found? Statistical significance: (p <.05). Discussion: Why was this important, and what did we learn from it?

16. Homework Hypothesized results for the Stroop study. Do Words Really Interfere in Naming Pictures? (pages 39-42 CP) “Reading Research Articles” (pages 35-38 CP) Come prepared with the answers to the questions included in this reading!

17. Contact Information ladelman@psych.umass.edu Tobin 626 Office hour: Tuesdays from 1-2pm Meet other students, get contact information, because you need to go to them for any missed information!