The Science of Psychology Lecture notes for Module

The Science of Psychology Lecture notes for Module 2

The Scientific Method Hallmark of scientific psychology n The Scientific Method involves: n – Theory—explains, organizes, predicts – Hypotheses—testable predictions from theory – Careful study

Independent and Dependent Variables Independent variable (X): What you change/manipulate between different groups. You think it affects the dependent variable. n Dependent variable (Y): What you measure from all groups. You think it is affected by the independent variable n

Independent and Dependent Variables X affects Y: The independent variable is believed to affect the dependent variable. n In other words, the value of the dependent variable is thought to DEPEND ON the independent variable. n

Real-Life Practice Alcohol affects driving ability n What variable “depends on” the other? n This is the dependent variable. n What variable affects the other variable? n This is the independent variable. n

Real-Life Practice Answers n n Alcohol affects driving ability What variable “depends on” the other? – Driving ability depends on the amount of alcohol consumed. n n Driving ability is the dependent variable. What variable affects the other variable? – The amount of alcohol consumed affects driving ability. n Alcohol is the independent variable.

More Practice An experimenter designs a study to assess whether teams wearing dark colors receive more penalties than teams wearing light colors. n Hypothesis? n Dependent variable? n Independent variable? n

More practice--Answers An experimenter designs a study to assess whether teams wearing dark colors receive more penalties than teams wearing light colors. n Hypothesis? n Dependent variable? n Independent variable? n