The main types of experiment in psychology

There are several main goals, for the achievement of which such science as psychology is needed. With the help of it you can learn to know yourself, other people, and also to regulate the relationship between them. This knowledge, like any other, is taught to a person in the form of theory and practice. The latter represents several types of experiment in psychology, thanks to which one can make a complete analysis of the behavior of the individual in a particular environment.

Representation of the types of experiment

What are the types of experiment in psychology? This term implies a long-term study of one or more objects. And the result can be completely unpredictable.

For example, when a mathematician begins to solve a problem, he knows exactly which answer he will get. The chemist knows how the solution will become if he mixes several components. A physicist can tell in advance the result of any phenomenon occurring around.

With this humanitarian science the situation is slightly different. There are basic types of experiment in psychology. Each study can become the most unforeseen.

Experiment taking place in the laboratory

We can distinguish three most basic types of experiment in psychology: laboratory, natural and formative. The first is the most effective. For its conduct, certain conditions are created in a confined space. For example, it is necessary to have a small group of people in the cabinet and ask them to do some specific actions.

As a result of a practical lesson, one can determine the personality's reaction to a certain action, the similarity and difference in the characters of two or more people, the speed of reaction of each of them, and many other individual characteristics.

Positive and negative qualities

It is possible to identify advantages and disadvantages in each kind of experiment in psychology. In laboratory conditions, the most accurate results can be obtained. All practical exercises can be repeated several times, if necessary. After a while all of them will be repeated, in the future they can already be foreseen. Also, there will be no secrecy in this method, all participants in the experiment will know about its conduct.

There is also a significant drawback - the results may differ markedly from those that usually occur in real life. It is for this reason that this method is often called unjustifiable.

Case Studies

There is the most common example of the laboratory type of experiment in psychology and pedagogy. A group of people are put in a pre-arranged studio and planted it in such a way that each of them is in the same conditions. Next include a TV, which shows pictures with details of a certain object. Each person should guess what exactly unites them, and to foresee the name of the subject, which of them consists. With the help of such a study, one can determine the speed of the reaction of each participant's thinking.

To the laboratory method can also be attributed role-playing games at events in kindergarten. Certain conditions are created, and each participant is given a certain role. There is an opportunity to determine the manner of behavior of each child.

The simplest example is the creation of certain conditions for a person (to take him to an unfamiliar place) and an analysis of his reaction to them.

An experiment taking place in natural conditions

To a greater extent, modern specialists give preference to the natural method in psychology. Experiment and its types has several features.

• Studies take place under standard conditions, in which every person is used to exist.
• Personality, on which the experiment is put, does not necessarily need to know about its conduct. It can be absolutely any passer-by.
• The method of carrying it out can come at any time.

The study in natural conditions is closer to reality, for this reason in psychology it is used quite often.

Positive and negative qualities

In total, there are several main advantages of this kind of experiment in psychology. First of all, it's simplicity of holding. There is no need to create special conditions and look for a specific person.

However, unlike the laboratory method, here the experimenter can not completely control the situation. Also there is no chance to repeat another similar study, which will correspond to all the same parameters. The analysis under natural conditions is rather complicated, as it can not always lead to a definite result, but, thereby, it is more interesting.

Case Studies

As a natural method, you can use absolutely any work structure: a shop, a hospital, a hairdresser, etc. You can determine how a few workers cope with the same responsibilities, for how long they will solve a certain task and how they communicate with customers. By the result of their behavior, you can create a general picture of a person.

Forming experiment

The forming method is the only type of experiment in psychology, the result of which can be foreseen in advance. To conduct it, you need to recruit a small group of people and give each participant in the process a certain task in advance, taking into account all the most important details of its implementation.

The experimenter will try to predict what action each person will perform, and then determine if his assumption is justified. Such a study can be conducted at any age group of people from 5 to 70 years.

Positive and negative qualities

In total, several positive and negative aspects of this method can be distinguished. Basically, it is applied due to the fact that all the acquired skills can later be applied in practice. For the study, it is not necessary to collect a large number of objects under investigation, enough two or three people.

This experiment is quite interesting, as it can be repeated many times, and under identical conditions the result can turn out to be diverse. There is one drawback. It can not be called effective, so one of the participants can squeak.

Case Studies

Psychologists strongly recommend conducting a formative experiment in the middle group of the kindergarten, where the age category of the studied objects is from 3 to 5.5 years. For them, a small sketch is played out. The main characters from it speak different voices, gradually reducing and increasing the volume of the sound.

The purpose of the study is to find out how clearly each child can recognize a particular speech. With the help of this method, it is possible to identify a psychological disease at an early stage of development.

Levels of awareness of the experiment

In order to find out how the personality behaves in a particular situation, it is necessary to conduct a special experiment. The types and peculiarities in the psychology of such studies differ markedly from each other. In the laboratory, the forming and the natural method, there are several options for awareness of the personality.

• Explicit research. With him, the person to be experimented with is fully dedicated to all of his details. He will know exactly the same as a psychologist who will observe the situation.
• With hidden research, on the contrary, the object does not know anything about what it has to do.
• There is also an interim study in which objects are dipped into details in part.

The most realistic is the hidden experiment, under which the personality can not somehow influence its result.

Experiment with the camera of sensory deprivation

Very interesting, exciting and universal is every kind of experiment in psychology. Briefly describe each of them is almost impossible. For example, there is the most popular method in psychology using the sensor deprivation camera, which you can talk about endlessly.

This research was first used in 1950 by John Lilly. He created certain conditions that completely isolate man from the external environment. On the person, on which the experiment is conducted, a special impermeable mask and headphones are worn, from which practically imperceptible noise is heard. Practitioner from the medical institute as a result of his experiments was able to find out that the object completely changes the perception of everything that is happening. For example, when trying to determine the type of object to the touch, he became distracted, inattentive, and he even had a feeling of anxiety.

All these conditions for the subjects seemed unbearable, none of them could sit in the cell for more than three days. There are also positive aspects of this experiment: a person begins to know himself better, can fully relax and even significantly improve his health.

Psychology now is of great importance for every person. Thanks to this unique science, a person can better understand himself, what he needs from life, how to act correctly in a certain situation, to establish relations with a partner, to resolve a conflict, and to solve many important problems. Experiments in this area will achieve a positive effect.