Monday, September 16, 2013

Connecting Cognitive Psychology and Research Methods. A guest post by Kyle Luke.



                I found it extremely beneficial to review the importance of experiments and of conducting them in the correct manner.  I am taking Research III and thought that it was very helpful to get a refresher on properly conducting an experiment.   In Research III, we have to design and conduct an experiment, which allows us to use what our years of psychology classes have taught us.  As an honors student this is particularly helpful in writing the required honors thesis as I am hoping to use what I learn from my Research III study to take a deeper look at how psychology can affect the justice system and people in general.  Although, my experiment is currently in the planning phases, I am hoping to use what I learn in Cognitive Psychology in my study. 
                While reviewing and working on the group experiment project I was able to think about my own study and thesis, as well as plan out the way I would like to conduct my own experiment.  One thing that I noticed from the group work was how I had overlooked the importance of having a random group of participants (a random sample).  As I thought more about it I realized that it is unlikely that I would be able to acquire an accurate account from unbiased participants, due to the manner that the Psychology department acquires participants.  Currently, the psychology department requires that all students taking General Psychology take part in the Research III studies, yet this is not a random sample as these students are mostly psychology majors/minors and tend to be younger students because it is a pre-requisite for most psychology classes.  Therefore, it is unlikely that the participants would represent the overall student body accurately.  This may pose a problem as I hope to have my experiment and its results published.  It also got me thinking about how I would like to present my experiment to the participants; should I mainly use qualitative or quantitative methods, and how would I ensure that my biases would not affect the participants?  The variables for my study are something I still have to think about as I have not given it much thought thus far.  Yet, during the exercise I realized just how much of an impact something as simple as time or location can affect the results of a study.  I understand that it is not possible to control all variables, but I would like to control as much as I can or I would like to find a way to record it. 


                Going over the requirements for conducting the ideal experiment was a great refresher and has helped my work in my other classes.  I have not really focused on many Cognitive Psychology concepts, yet I feel that it is important for me to look at some of their ideas.  It has allowed me to look at my study with a new perspective and helped me plan out a large portion of it. I feel much more prepared to talk to my professor about my study and the manner with which I want to conduct it. I still have a long way to go in finalizing and conducting the study, but I’m sure that I will be able to use what I learn in class to help me along the way.  

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