Experimental Psychology Flashcards, test questions and answers

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What is Experimental Psychology?

Experimental psychology is a psychological field that seeks to understand behavior through controlled experiments. This type of research typically involves developing hypotheses, conducting tests and analyzing the results. Experimental psychologists use various methods such as surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and observation to collect data on individuals or groups in order to test theoretical principles underlying behavior. The main goal of experimental psychology is to establish cause-and-effect relationships between psychological variables such as cognition, emotion and motivation with behavior.The methodologies used by experimental psychologists are scientific in nature; meaning that they need to be replicable and validable in order for their findings to be accepted as meaningful by other researchers within the field. Some common techniques employed include psychometric testing (e.g., IQ tests), brain imaging (CT scans, MRI scans), physiological measurements (heart rate variability) and operant conditioning (rewarding desired behaviors). Experimental psychologists also study cognitive processes such as memory recall, problem solving abilities and decision making skills in an effort to gain further insight into how these areas influence our everyday lives. In addition to this type of research conducted in laboratory settings, some experimental psychologists also conduct what is known as naturalistic observation – observing people’s behavior out in the real world without any interference from the researcher. By studying people’s actions under naturally occurring circumstances rather than contrived ones allows us to gain valuable insights into how people behave when faced with different situations which can provide valuable information about human development across cultures and environments over time. Overall, experimental psychology continues to remain one of the most important contributions made towards advancing our understanding of human behavior today – its scope covers a wide range of topics ranging from basic sensory processes all the way up complex social interactions amongst many others.