experimental design

Question 1

what is a solution to the problem of order effects caused by a repeated measures design?

Answer 1

a solution would be counterbalancing. this is when half of the participants are made to do conditions in one order and the other half in the opposite order.
this eliminates order effects

Question 2

what is an experimental method?

Answer 2

the manipulation of the IV to see its effect on the DV

Question 3

independent groups

Answer 3

there are two separate groups of participants: one group takes part in condition A, the other takes part in condition B

Question 4

advantages of independent groups

Answer 4

• fewer demand characteristics - participants may only know the condition they have taken part in
• no order effects - only takes part in one condition so participants don’t get bored or practised

Question 5

disadvantages of independent groups

Answer 5

• more participants required
• individual differences as the people taking part in each condition are different - one group might simply be better at that particular task

Question 6

repeated measures

Answer 6

there is only one group of participants: this group takes part in both conditions

Question 7

advantages of repeated measures

Answer 7

• less people required
• no individual differences as the same person does both conditions

Question 8

disadvantages of repeated measures

Answer 8

• demand characteristics - participants expect what the second condition may be and may perform to meet that expectation
• order effect - either boredom or practise - can be helped by counter-balancing

Question 9

matched pairs

Answer 9

there are 2 separate groups but this time they are matched into pairs for certain qualities such as same age or iq: one of each pair takes part in condition A, the other takes part in condition B

Question 10

advantages of matched pairs

Answer 10

• no order effects
• controls for individual differences - can be more sure the IV caused difference in DV rather than big differences between the 2 groups

Question 11

disadvantages of matched pairs

Answer 11

• can be difficult to make perfect matches and is costly on money and time