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Overview
Kantowitz, Roediger, and Elmes, all prominent researchers, take an example-based approach to the fundamentals of research methodology. The text is organized by topic--such as research in human factors, learning, thinking, and problem solving--and the authors discuss and clarify research methods in the context of actual research conducted in these specific areas. This unique feature helps students connect the concepts of sound methodology with their practical applications. Carefully selected real-world examples allow students to see for themselves the issues and problems that can occur in conducting research. More importantly, students develop a sense of how to anticipate and adjust for problems in their own research.
- New coverage and more recent references have been added in every chapter, and some chapters have been rewritten to reflect recent findings and topics. New examples and updated figures are also included.
- New and expanded topics include: how to tell if you are a fox or a hedgehog and which cognitive style results in more accurate predictions (Ch. 1); interobserver reliability, updated results on the relationship between violent media/games and aggressive behavior (Ch. 2); researcher degrees of freedom and its implications for analyzing data (Ch. 3 and Ch. 8); animal welfare, scientific fraud, APA Standards 8.10 and 8.11 (Ch. 4); so-called benevolent deception in virtual environments (Ch. 14), cockpit animation in the coverage on pilot workload, and driver distraction (Ch. 15).
- Chapter 5, "How to Read and Write Research Papers," has been rewritten to align with the new edition of the APA Publication Manual, and now includes a new sample journal article and a new sample manuscript.
- Based on reviewer comments, the length of Chapter 6, "Psychophysics," has been reduced.
- Chapter 9, "Conditioning and Learning," has been entirely rewritten to put more emphasis on learning while maintaining material on the importance of conditioning, creating a balance between early examples of conditioning and contemporary research on human learning.
- This text is organized by topics, rather than methods. As the only undergraduate experimental psychology text on the market organized by content/research area, it helps students connect the concepts of sound methodology with their practical applications.
- The foundational chapters in Part I introduce readers to theory construction, observational and experimental research techniques, ethical issues, and reading and writing research reports.
- Each of the chapters in Part II is devoted to a specific content area (for example, psychophysics, perception, and conditioning and learning). In these chapters, the authors discuss and clarify research methods in the context of actual research conducted in these specific content areas. These "Experimental Topics and Research Illustrations" constitute the main part of each Part II chapter. For example, in Chapter 10, the authors discuss the difficulty of ceiling and floor effects in the context of the actual memory experiment where this difficulty occurred.
- "From Problem to Experiment: The Nuts and Bolts" features present the rationale behind experimental design decisions--how many subjects should be used, why variable x is selected instead of variable y, and so on--when hypotheses are taken from a general form to the specifics of an experiment.
- "Psychology in Action" features suggest safe and simple experimental demonstrations that require little or no equipment and that can be used in or out of class--giving students a perfect chance to apply what they've studied. For example, Chapter 7 includes a demonstration of the Stroop effect, and Chapter 14 illustrates the effects of noise on two kinds of memory.
- Genetics and cognitive neuroscience coverage is integrated throughout the book.
Part I: FUNDAMENTALS OF RESEARCH.
1. Explanation in Scientific Psychology.
2. Research Techniques: Observations and Correlation.
3. Research Techniques: Experiments.
4. Ethics in Psychological Research.
5. How to Read and Write Research Papers.
Part II: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY.
6. Psychophysics.
7. Perception.
8. Attention and Reaction Time.
9. Conditioning and Learning.
10. Remembering and Forgetting.
11. Thinking and Problem Solving.
12. Individual Differences and Development.
13. Social Psychology.
14. Environmental Psychology.
15. Human Factors.
1. Explanation in Scientific Psychology.
2. Research Techniques: Observations and Correlation.
3. Research Techniques: Experiments.
4. Ethics in Psychological Research.
5. How to Read and Write Research Papers.
Part II: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY.
6. Psychophysics.
7. Perception.
8. Attention and Reaction Time.
9. Conditioning and Learning.
10. Remembering and Forgetting.
11. Thinking and Problem Solving.
12. Individual Differences and Development.
13. Social Psychology.
14. Environmental Psychology.
15. Human Factors.