Psychology as a Science

This class is General Psychology. The assignments will generally build on each other. This is the first assignment that will eventually build into a research paper.

Assignment 1: Psychology as a Science

In this assignment you will design a study that could be used to answer one of the given research topics.

Step 1: Select a Research Topic

Choose one possible research topic from the list below. You do not need to respond to the question posed in the research topic, simply use it to answer the study design questions that follow.

Research Topics:

• Do yellow walls in hospital recovery rooms promote faster healing?
• Does the activity level on discussion boards impact final grades in online classes?
• Can music impact an individual’s mood?
• Can a history of childhood trauma have impact on happiness as an adult?

Step 2: Design a Study

Now that you have chosen a research topic, answer each of the four questions below. Base your answers on your readings about psychological research methods.

Study Design Questions:

• Would you choose to use an experimental method or a correlational method to study this topic?
• Describe how you would carry out your study. In other words, state exactly what you would do in your study.
• Do you anticipate any confounding variables or expectancy effects in your study? If yes, describe them. If no, explain why not.
• Discuss how you would approach informed consent, risk/gain assessment, intentional deception, and debriefing in your study.

Important Notes

• You do not need to respond to the question posed in the research topic.
• You do not need to provide any research or other background information about the topic. Simply design a study to explore the topic, and answer the four study design questions above.