CHAPTER 1:

EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
AND THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Prepared by:
Arold A. Parungao, RPm, MAPsy

Adopted by:
Ezekiel S. Lapira, RPm
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
Describe why we rely on scientific
methods rather than commonsense
to explain and predict behavior.

Explain the principles of the

scientific method.

Examine the basic tools of

psychological research.

Apply how “cause and effect” is

established by experimentation.

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PSYCHOLOGY

• It is the scientific study of behavior and mental

processes.
• Thus, it relies on scientific methodology and
techniques in gathering data and analyzing
behavior.
• These processes vary form surveys, to therapy
sessions, to laboratory experimentations.

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PSYCHOLOGY IS A
SCIENCE!
• Psychology is a relatively
young discipline, emerging
in the late 1800s. While it
started as part of philosophy,
it officially became its own
field of study when the early
psychologist Wilhelm
Wundt founded the first
psychology laboratory in
1879.

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EXPERIMENTAL
PSYCHOLOGY
• It is the scientific study of behavior,
motives, or cognition in a laboratory or
other controlled setting in order to predict,
explain, or influence behavior or other
psychological phenomena.

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EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Psychologists take a scientific approach to understand behavior and cognition,

and our knowledge about psychological processes is based on scientific evidence
accumulated through research.

Observing in a systematic or orderly way, and accepting or rejecting alternative

explanations of behaviors on the basis of what we observe.

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SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
• It is an organized way of using
experience and testing ideas in an effort to
expand and refine knowledge.

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SCIENTIFIC
METHOD

• Formulate the research problem.

• Construct hypothesis and an
appropriate set of instruments is
developed.
• The data are collected.
• The data are analyzed for their
bearing on the initial hypothesis.
• Results of the analysis are
interpreted and communicated.

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WHY SCIENTIFIC
METHODOLOGY?
• Methodology ‒ scientific techniques
used to collect and evaluate data.

• Folk wisdom / Commonsense

psychology
• Nonscientific data gathering,
and uses nonscientific sources
and inferences.

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LIMITATIONS OF
COMMONSENSE

• Gathered from small samples of behavior

• Might be biased
• Generally unreliable

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NONSCIENTIFIC
SOURCES OF DATA

• Sources are not always good for

obtaining valid information about behavior
even though it comes from trusted sources
like friends, family, etc.; because it is
offered by people we like and it is accepted
without question.

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• Once we believe we know something, we tend to overlook instances that might
disconfirm our beliefs, and we seek, instead, confirmatory instances of behavior
(Confirmation bias).

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NONSCIENTIFIC
INFERENCES
• 1. Traits
Ay nadapa…Lampa!
• 2. Stereotyping
Basta kulot….
• 3. Poor calculations of the probability
Na-fi-feel ko talaga… gusto niya ako!
• 4. Overconfidence bias
Iʼm super sure!
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CHARACTERISTICS
OF MODERN
SCIENCE
SCIENTIFIC
MENTALITY

• It assumes that behavior must follow a

natural order; therefore, it can be
predicted.
• This assumption is essential to science.
There is no point to using the scientific
method to gather and analyze data if there
is no implicit order.

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GATHERING EMPIRICAL DATA
• Describing the universeʼs order requires collecting empirical data ‒ data that are
observable or experienced.
• Empirical data can be verified or disproved through investigation.

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SEEKING GENERAL PRINCIPLES

• Data gathered should be organized through principles, such as laws or theories.

• A law consists of statements generally expressed as equations with few variables that
have overwhelming empirical support.
• A theory is a set of related statements used to explain and predict phenomena.
-Theories pull together or unify diverse sets of scientific facts into an organizing
theme.

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GOOD THINKING
• Collecting and interpreting data systematically and objectively with no personal biases
or beliefs; includes being open to new ideas even when they contradict prior beliefs.
• Occamʼs razor - entities should not be multiplied unless necessary; if two
explanations are equally believable, the simpler one is preferred.
• Principle of parsimony ‒ prefer the simplest useful explanation.

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SELF-CORRECTION

• “Weight-of-evidence” approach: The more evidence that accumulates to support a

particular explanation or theory, the more confidence we have that the theory is
correct.
• Theories are best tested through attempts at falsification, not verification.

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PUBLICIZING RESULTS
• Continuous exchange of information and incorporation of findings is vital to the
scientific process.
• Scientists meet frequently through professional and special interest groups and attend
professional conferences to exchange information about their current work.

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REPLICATION

• Repeat procedures multiple times to verify results; multiple researchers should verify
the experiment.

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OBJECTIVES OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL
SCIENCE
DESCRIPTION/ DESCRIBE
• Initial step toward understanding; a systematic and unbiased account of the observed
characteristics of behaviors; good descriptions allow greater knowledge of behaviors.

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PREDICTION/ PREDICT

• The capability of knowing in advance when a certain behavior would be expected to

occur, because we have identified other conditions with which the behavior is linked
or associated.

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EXPLANATION/ EXPLAIN
• To be able to understand what causes a behavior and to gain knowledge of the
conditions that produced the behavior.

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CONTROL

• The application of what has been learned about behavior; once the knowledge about a
behavior is learned, it is possible to use that knowledge to effect change or improve
behavior.

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BASIC RESEARCH
It is designed to increase the amount of scientific
knowledge on a topic or particular field.

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• A study looking at how caffeine
consumption impacts the brain.
EXAMPLES OF • A study assessing whether men or women
BASIC are more likely to suffer from depression.
• A study looking at how attachment styles
RESEARCH among children of divorced parents
compare to those raised by married
parents.

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• It is designed to solve real-world
problems (like helping patients to
APPLIED deal with grief or improving
employee morale) conditions on
RESEARCH behavior and changing behavior
(i.e., control).

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• Investigating which treatment approach is
EXAMPLES OF the most effective for treating anxiety-
related disorders
APPLIED • Researching which strategies work best to
RESEARCH improve studentsʼ learning

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TOOLS OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL
SCIENCE
OBSERVATION

• Systematic noting and recording of events.

• This system should be used consistently in any given research.
• Within the scientific framework, observations also must be made:
• Systematic
• Objective

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MEASUREMENT

The assignment of numerical values to observed The same unit of measurement, same
objects or events according to conventional rules. instruments and procedures each time the event
is observed must be used.

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EXPERIMENTATION
• It is a process undertaken to test a hypothesis that particular behavioral events will
occur reliably in certain, specifiable situations.
• Systematically manipulate aspects of a setting to verify our predictions about
observable behavior under specific conditions.
• Experimentation is not always possible. To do an experiment, our predictions must be
testable.
• Undertaken to test a testable prediction ‒ a hypothesis

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EXPERIMENTATION
• Experimentation must also be objective. Ideally, we do not bias our results by setting
up situations in which our predictions will automatically be confirmed.
• At times experimentation might be possible, but it cannot be carried out for ethical
reasons.

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SCIENTIFIC
EXPLANATION
IN PSYCHOLOGICAL
SCIENCE
PSYCHOLOGY
EXPERIMENT
• A psychology experiment is a controlled
procedure in which at least two different
treatment conditions are applied to
subjects.

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Psychology Experiment
• Treatments ‒ manipulated specific sets of antecedent conditions.
• Different groups of participants are exposed to different treatments so as to compare
the effects of varying antecedents.

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PSYCHOLOGY EXPERIMENT

• Experimental Group - the group being treated, or otherwise manipulated (IV).

• Controlled Group ‒ the group that receive no treatment and are used as a comparison
group.

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Between-subjects design

• An experimental design in which

subjects receive only one kind of
treatment.
PSYCHOLOGY
EXPERIMENT Within-subjects design

• Present all treatments to each

subject and measure the effect of
each treatment after it is
presented.

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•
CONTROL IS •
(1) random assignment of subjects
(2) presenting a treatment condition in
MOST OFTEN an identical manner to all subjects
•
ACHIEVED BY: (3) keeping the environment, the
procedures, and the measuring
instruments constant

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PSYCHOLOGY EXPERIMENT

Independent
Variable

Experimental
Control Group
Group

Dependent
Variable
EXAMPLES:

• A researcher is interested in studying how

the amount of time spent studying
influences test scores.

IV: Amount of time studying

DV: Test scores

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EXAMPLES:

• The researchers want to examine if the type of

book given to the students has any effect on their
final grade. One group received a traditional text
book, while the other received an online textbook
on a tablet.
IV: Type of book
DV: Studentsʼ final grade

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EXAMPLES:

• A researcher wants to examine if the color of a

room has any effect on employeesʼ productivity.
In an experiment, one group performs a task in a
green room while another performs the same task
in a red room.

IV: The color of the room

DV: Employeeʼs productivity

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EXAMPLES:

• Researchers want to determine if a new type of

treatment will lead to a reduction in anxiety for
patients suffering from social phobia. In an
experiment, some volunteers receive the new
treatment, and another group receives no treatment.

IV: Type of Treatment

DV: Levels of anxiety

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FROM
PSEUDOSCIENCE
TO PSYCHOLOGICAL
SCIENCE
• It is any field of study that gives the
appearance of being scientific but has no
true scientific basis and has not been
PSEUDOSCIENCE confirmed using the scientific method.
• For example, phrenology, physiognomy,
and astrology.

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REFERENCES

• Myers, A., & Hansen, C. H. (2012). Experimental psychology (7th ed.). Wadsworth
CENGAGE Learning

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