Basically I need to write a paper about the experiment I took part in. The experiment was the following: I was kept in a empty room with a computer and shown a variety of diferent art works, from faces to views, and had to rate the paintings from (1-7) being 1 dislike and 7 like a lot. The second part of the experiment, I was shown the same paintings again and had to choose between the numbers 1 and 2. 1 being portray the paintings in a art gallery in 2,3 days and the number 2, put the paintings in a gallery in 1 to 2 years. So the the assignment is to write a paper about it. The guidelines specify what I need to write down in each paragraph.
new doc 2019-10-19 13.43.57 Scanned with CamScanner PowerPoint Presentation Psychology – the scientific study of brain, mind and behavior How did Psychology evolve? 1800’s – early 1900’s: Hermann von Helmholtz was one of the first to collect empirical data associated with the brain and behavior. Example of this empirical data was “reaction time” Wilhelm Wundt & Edward Titchener argued that the scientific study of Psychology should focus on structuralism, or breaking down of elements that constitute the mind; “anatomy of the mind”. William James believed that the scientific study of Psychology should not focus on structuralism, but rather on functionalism, or the study of how the mind enables people to adapt to their environments. This incorporates behaviors. What about modern day Psychology? Fundamentals of scientific research in Psychology 1. Decide on a research question/topic that will help determine the scientific prediction to be experimentally tested 2. Conduct a thorough search in the peer reviewed scientific articles to see what is currently published, thus what is known, or not known, about your research question/topic 3. Formulate a hypothesis, which is formulating an experimentally testable statement of your scientific prediction 4. Design an experimental methodology to experimentally test the hypothesis you have formulated 5. Obtain institutional approval of the designed experimental methodology 6. Once institutional approval is obtained, implement the experimental methodology: collect data and consistently analyze the data, even during the beginning of the implementation of the experimental methodology consistently interpret the data, and consistently present the data, to help inform you about what the data tell you about your hypothesis, and to inform you of any experimental methodological flaws as soon as possible 7. Publish the results from the data in a peer reviewed scientific journal!!! The experimental methodology of scientific research in Psychology generally includes the following: independent variable: the part of the experimental methodology that is directly manipulated by the experimenter dependent variable: the part of the experimental methodology that is being measured by the experimenter, and this can be the outcome due to the independent variable, thus an indirect assessment of the independent variable control group of human participants, or control group of animal subjects: the group that is not exposed to the independent variable experimental group of human participants, or experimental group of animal subjects: the group that is exposed to the independent variable Let’s look at a few examples of what the data may be graphed as……. x axis y axis bars indicating +/- deviation or error 60 40 20 0 mean mean y axis x axis Let’s apply some of these fundamental concepts associated with scientific research in Psychology 0 5 10 10 5 0 Group A Group B star(s) indicating whether the data is significant Now, let’s look at a make believe example of scientific research that is flawed hypothesis: A type of species, known as bird x, exhibits increased behavioral responses when it sees its main predator. experimental methodology: 50 different bird x are each individually exposed, only once, to a set of 4 different visual stimuli. independent variable of experimental methodology: the one time exposures always consisted of, in the same order, pictures of 1) bird x’s main predator , followed by 2) a bird that bears some resemblance to bird x’s main predator , 3) a bird that bears little resemblance to bird x’s main predator 4) an object that is not a bird dependent variable of experimental methodology: magnitudes of bird x’s behavioral responses (flapping of wings, vocal noises) when presented each visual stimulus What is a flaw in this experimental methodology? Now, let’s look at an example of real scientific research Decide on a research question/topic: What makes studying behavior so complex is that there is not one specific gene that causes one specific behavior. Is there a gene that is implicated for behaviors associated with “anxiety” Do a search of peer reviewed scientific articles: Hmmm, not much is known about following: The role of the gene named Npas4, and whether this is implicated for behaviors associated with “anxiety” Formulate a hypothesis: Decreased expression of Npas4 in the brain increases symptoms associated with “anxiety” Design the experimental methodology: independent variable: knock out Npas4 in the brains of live mice to generate “knockouts or KO” experimental group: group of live mice that are Npas4 KO control group: group of live mice that are not Npas4 KO If decreased Npas4 in the brain increases symptoms associated with “anxiety”, then the experimental group should exhibit more symptoms associated with “anxiety”. Let’s test this by placing all the mice, individually ,in a new environment that they have never been exposed to before, and record the total time exploring, via movement, while placed in this new environment. dependent variable: total time exploring, via movement, in this new environment Once institutional approval is obtained, the experimental methodology is then implemented, data collected, analyzed and interpreted, the graphs of the data (results) are as follows…. Modified from Coutellier et al., (2012) PLOS ONE 60 40 20 0 control group Npas4 KO group Time of exploration in a new environment (seconds) hypothesis - decreased expression of Npas4 in the brain increases symptoms associated with “anxiety” internal validity – degree to which the effects observed from the experimental methodology are due to the manipulation of the independent variable, and not some other factor construct validity – degree to which the variables of the experimental methodology measure what they are supposed to measure external validity – degree to which the results of the experimental methodology can be generalized to the “real world” Scientific research in Psychology involve variables, but may differ in experimental methodologies Descriptive scientific research utilize experimental methodologies that involve describing what the experimenter observes in an often objective, and systematic manner. Examples of experimental methodologies utilized for descriptive scientific research: case study – experimenter intensively observes, describes, and documents the observations and descriptions of a “unique” participant or participants naturalistic observation – experimenter is passively, usually separated from what they are observing, to ensure that they are not altering the environment of what they are observing self-reports – experimenter administers surveys or questionnaires, even interviews to participants All scientific research, including descriptive scientific research, have limitations that may decrease the power of the data and results: confounding variable(s) – extraneous part(s) of the experimental methodology, usually out of the experimenter’s ability to eliminate, that may affect the outcome reactivity – if a human participant knows their behaviors are being observed as part of the experimental methodology, that participant may alter their behaviors experimenter expectancy effect – due to expectations of the experimenter, the experimenters themselves may not be aware that they are altering the experimental methodology to fulfill their own expectations Ethics governing scientific research on humans, and on animals Institutional Review Board (IRB) Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Goals of ethics governing scientific research: 1. Experimental methodology should be designed to minimize harm/pain/distress (humans, animals) and to ensure more benefit than risk 2. Informed consent – fully informed of the nature of the research; potential risks and benefits; confidentiality; right to withdrawal at any time 3. Use of human deception - those who volunteer to be part of an experiment have the right to know what will happen to them during the course of the entire experiment; if justified, humane deception can be used, but experimenter(s) should debrief the participants after experimental participation 4. Vulnerable populations should be treated with special care and implementations -ensures thoughtful decisions on behalf of the participants as to whether or not to participate in the proposed scientific research