Perspectives on Experimental Psychology

Source: Laboratories of Gary Lewandowski, Dave Strohmetz, and Natalie Ciarocco—Monmouth University

As the Department Chair of Psychology at Monmouth University, I teach primarily upper level undergraduate students who are interested in Experimental Methods. These classes don’t have the same inherent appeal to students. This JoVE Psychology collection will help students vicariously watch the experiments being performed from start to finish, allowing them to gain exposure to over a dozen topics that they may not experience otherwise. Importantly, the videos provide a context for seeing the experiments embedded in their natural states—in the actual research process.

A few projects in this Science Education collection stand out. First, I consider the Ethics in Psychological Research video to be very useful in teaching, as it demonstrates how sensitive topics, such as interpersonal violence, can be studied in creative ways. Furthermore, students learn better with topics that they care about and can conceptualize in their personal lives. For example, Observational Research delves into the factors that go into homesickness, going beyond questionnaires and examining the relationship to what individuals actually leave around in their rooms. This design allows the researcher to curiously discover conclusions that students may not be fully aware of themselves.

Being an instructor and textbook author of research methods, I am keenly aware of the relative lack of quality resources that are available to teach Experimental Psychology well. These JoVE videos will help bring the material to life for instructors and particularly for students who do not necessarily get the opportunity to complete their own research projects.