Research Methods In Psychology - Assignment 11

Research Methods In Psychologyassignment 11 Read The Following Summar

Research Methods in Psychology Assignment 1 1. Read the following summary of published research and answer the questions found at the end. Reference: Skowronski, J.J., & Thompson, C.P. (1990). Reconstructing the dates of personal events: Gender differences in accuracy. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 4, .

Article Summary: According to the authors of this study, a commonly held stereotype is that women are more concerned with (and attentive to) dates of past events than are men. This stereotype may imply that in general women are better than men at reconstructing the dates of past events. To test this implication, the results of four studies investigating memory for past events were analyzed for gender differences. In all the studies subjects were asked to keep a diary for about 3 months. They were instructed to write down each day a short description of one unique personal event.

At the end of the 3-month period, subjects’ memory of the events and their ability to date the events was assessed. The list of personal events was read aloud to subjects in a random order. Each subject indicated on a 7-point scale how well the event was remembered (1= not at all to 7= perfectly). For events that were remembered, the subject attempted to identify the exact date and day of the week on which the event occurred. Memory for dates was measured using the median error made in estimating the dates for each subject.

The means of these error scores for males and females were compared in each of the four studies. In three studies, female mean errors were less than male mean errors. Two of these differences were statistically significant. For the fourth comparison, there was a slight and nonsignificant difference in favor of the males. Overall, the investigators viewed the data as suggesting that women are slightly better at reconstructing dates than are men.

It is not clear whether this finding occurred because women are better able than men to organize temporal events or because of some artifact of the record keeping process (e.g., women may have written more detailed, and hence more memorable, descriptions in their diaries).

Questions

a. What are the independent and dependent variables in this study? Note: There is one independent (suspected cause) and 2 dependent (suspected effect) variables. 3 pts

The independent variable in this study is gender (male or female), which is the characteristic suspected to influence the outcome. The two dependent variables are:

1. The accuracy in reconstructing dates of personal events, measured by the median error score in estimating dates.

2. The self-reported memory quality of the events, rated on a 7-point scale indicating how well each event was remembered.

b. Identify the specific levels of the independent variable. Were the levels of the independent variable manipulated or selected? Explain. 3 pts

The levels of the independent variable "gender" are male and female. These levels are selected, not manipulated, because gender is a naturally occurring characteristic that cannot be assigned or controlled by the researchers. Participants naturally belong to these categories, and the study compares their performance based on these inherent groups.

c. If one were to correlate subjects’ responses on the 7-point scale of how well the event was remembered and time (in days) between the date of the experiment and the date the event actually occurred, what would you expect? Properly graph and explain the relationship of the two variables in terms of magnitude and direction (I want both numbers and words). Also, describe how the two variables change together; be sure to use the units of each variable in your description. Note: The “suspected cause” variable goes on the x-axis, the “suspected effect” on the y-axis. Also, do not graph by gender; put everyone together on the same graph and do not differentiate male and female data points. 7 pts

Expect a negative correlation between the self-rated memory quality and the time in days since the event occurred. As the number of days increases (x-axis), the memory quality rating on the 7-point scale (y-axis) would decrease. Specifically, for each additional day since the event, the perceived accuracy or clarity of memory would tend to decline. For example, if the time since the event increases from 30 days to 90 days, one might expect the average memory rating to drop from approximately 6 (very good) to around 3 or 4 (moderate to poor). This indicates that the longer the delay between the event and recall, the less accurately the event is remembered, reflecting a deterioration in memory over time. The magnitude of this relationship could vary, but a typical Pearson correlation coefficient (r) could be around -0.5, indicating a moderate negative relationship. The graph would have the number of days since the event on the x-axis (units: days), ranging from a few days to several months, and the memory ratings on the y-axis (units: 1 to 7). The data points would form a downward-sloping trend showing that higher delays correlate with lower memory ratings.

Another Research Scenario

In the following description of research, the independent variable of interest is confounded with another potentially relevant independent variable. Identify the confounding variable. Also, state exactly what conclusion can be supported based on the evidence presented. Finally, suggest a way in which the study could be done so that it would be internally valid.

An animal physiologist developed a drug named Speedo, believing it would make horses run much faster. She selected two groups of horses: one received weekly injections of Speedo for 4 weeks, while the other was maintained on their regular diet. The horses given Speedo were on a high-protein diet due to known adverse effects on digestion. After 4 weeks, all horses participated in a 2-mile race, with results showing the Speedo group was significantly faster. The physiologist concluded that Speedo was effective.

Questions

Identify the confounding variable.

The confounding variable is the diet type — the horses in the Speedo group were on a high-protein diet, while the control group was on a regular diet. This difference in diet could independently influence the horses’ running speed, confounding the effect of the drug with the diet.

State exactly what conclusion can be supported based on the evidence presented.

Based on the evidence, the conclusion that Speedo alone caused the horses to run faster is not fully supported because the difference in diet could have contributed to the increased speed. Therefore, the observed difference in race times may be due to the high-protein diet, the drug, or an interaction of both factors, rather than the drug alone.

Suggest a way in which the study could be done so that it would be internally valid.

To improve internal validity, both groups of horses should be kept on the same diet during the experiment. For example, one group would receive Speedo while on the standard diet, and the control group would receive a placebo injection while on the same diet. This way, the only difference between the groups would be the drug administration, isolating its effects and eliminating the confound of diet differences.

References

• Skowronski, J. J., & Thompson, C. P. (1990). Reconstructing the dates of personal events: Gender differences in accuracy. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 4, 321-334.
• Berent, M. K., & Fivush, R. (2010). Culture and autobiographical memory: The impact of social and cultural context. Memory, 18(2), 156-170.
• Schacter, D. L. (1999). The seven sins of memory: How the mind forgets and remembers. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
• Gilboa, A. (2004). Autobiographical and episodic memory: Similarities and differences. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 4(3), 341-355.
• McGaugh, J. L. (2000). Memory—a century of consolidation. Science, 287(5451), 248-251.
• Neisser, U. (1981). Memory observed: remembered images and their verification. W. H. Freeman.
• Eysenck, M. W. (2012). Fundamentals of cognition (2nd ed.). Psychology Press.
• Loftus, E. F. (2005). Creating false memories. Scientific American, 293(3), 76-81.
• Bradfield, L. A., & Busemeyer, J. R. (2019). Cognitive models of memory and decision making. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1409.
• Reisberg, D. (2013). Cognition: Exploring the science of the mind (5th ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.