Greetings,
The purpose of this discussion is to get you to learn a little more about the history of psychology as well as to appreciate the kind of research that is done in the field. There are a number of online sites that provide detailed information about classic psychological studies.
Famous Psychology ExperimentsLinks to an external site.
Classic Psychology ExperimentsLinks to an external site.
The 25 Most Influential Psychological ExperimentsLinks to an external site.
What
So, do a little online searching and pick a classic study that you feel is really interesting. Consider the question(s) the researchers were asking, what procedures they employed, their findings and conclusions. Note that not every aspect of psychology has lent itself to conducting true experiments. In some cases subjects were simply observed while dealing with a unique situation designed to test their reactions, while in other cases true experiments were performed. Also consider the implications of both the research itself and the findings. Some of the earlier research later raised ethical questions regarding possible risks to subjects. Those cases ultimately led to the ethical guidelines now established for psychological research. And many findings have been unexpected and surprising, far from what most people’s common conceptions might have predicted.
How
Address the following points.
- Identify and briefly describe the research.
- What question(s) were the researchers trying to address?
- What kind of research was it? Was it simply an observational kind of study, based on interview or survey data, or a true experiment. If you believe it was a true experiment, what were the independent and the dependent variables?
- Were there any ethical issues regarding how the subjects were treated? Could the study be conducted today?
- What were the findings? Do you agree with the interpretation of those findings by the researchers? What implications do the findings have?
In responding to your peers try to assess their analysis of the research they cited. Do you agree that it was, or was not, a true experiment? If a true experiment, did your classmate correctly identify the independent and dependent variables? Do you agree, or disagree, regarding possible ethical considerations? Did you think it was an interesting study?
When
I’d like you to submit your initial post by the middle of the week. Then respond to at least two of your peers by 11:59 pm Sunday.
Assessment
I’m looking for clear and specific responses to these different considerations. The idea is to help you understand all the things one might need to consider when conducting research, pitfalls to avoid given what we’ve learned from previous studies, and how our knowledge of psychology has advanced over the years.
