Example Of Naturalistic Observation

For my first assignment in my Psychology 101 course, to become familiar with the method of Naturalistic Observation, I was tasked with watching the everyday behaviors of men and women in a public setting. I was to observe behaviors for some time period – 5 to 50 minutes was suggested. There were strict instructions that as the observer, I should not interact with my subjects.

Discuss the role of observation in psychological research, drawing from examples from chapters 3, 6 and 8 of Investigating Psychology

On Friday, February 10th, 2017 I did a naturalistic observation with the intent to observe gender dynamics unfold in a specific setting. I attended a party on Friday night and observed for approximately 2 hours. The setting was a lingerie party at Gaia’s Cradle.

In a naturalistic observation, the phenomenon in which behavior of the subjects being observed changes because they are being watched is called

Participant observation is a method of study in which the experimenter joins in the process being observed (Barnyard and Grayson 1996). Rosenhan’s study was conducted across 12 psychiatric hospitals. To make the experimental findings more generalizable, hospitals varied in several criteria, including location (five different states), condition (old and newly build) and a staff-patient ratio (some were well staffed, others severely understaffed). (Rosenhan, 1973)

Experimental method Vs. Naturalistic Observation The question: Does playing violent video games increase aggressive behavior in children? The experimental method will be conducted in a lab setting. I would use the scientific method for this experiment.

Psychologist use naturalistic observation to study human or animal behavior in its natural context (Morris & Maisto, 2016). The primary advantages of naturalistic observations is that the behavior viewed in everyday life is likely to be more spontaneous, natural, and varied than that observed in a laboratory (Morris & Maisto, 2016). Psychologist use naturalistic observations to see behavior as it comes. There have been many questions over the years about using animals in psychological research. Psychologist study animal behavior to compare it to human behavior. Animals are used in experiments in which it would be clearly unethical to use human participants--such as studies involving brain lesions (Morris & Maisto, 2016). Most of what we know

Naturalistic observations are made on animals without imposing experimentally contrived rewards or punishments. During behavioral observations, the subject animal is observed for the presence or absence of a particular response or set of responses. If the response is present, then the number of times it occurs (frequency or rate) or the length of time it occurs (duration) can be recorded. Ethograms may be used to operationally define a set of responses produced by the subject animals.

I think that the amount of pictures a person posts on social media a day would be a great behavior to be studied using the survey method. The reason that I feel that this is the best method to use is because by using this method you are able to get a wide range of responses.

Oberservation /Participation: MHS met with the client and the client’s mother at the home. The client appeared to be in a good mood when the MHS arrived. The client was playing with a toy and MHS joined the client on the floor at his level to build rapport with the client. The client had trouble sitting still during session, so the MHS and the client walked around the yard, the client enjoy being outside with the MHS. The client mother was present during the session, the client mother provide information about the client’s medical condition. The client mother reports that the client often displays violent behavior. The client’s mother also shared she has some concern about the client’s medication sad affect. The mother informed the MHS that

The subject is a 24 year old male. He is 5 feet 9 inches tall with long hair but no facial hair. This makes it easy to identify his facial structure when being observed. He is of white complexion with hazel eyes and a skinny physique. He has an image of Donald Joseph Qualls in the movie The New Guy.

Formal observations are effective and tend to be better than other specified methods as the observers are able to observe the environment and people when they are themselves which will make the results more accurate and valid. If participants knew they were being observed they may be less likely to act natural this is why this type of research will be accurate and valid.

The observation method is the most commonly used method especially in studies relating to behavioral sciences. Under the observation method, the information is sought by way of investigator’s own direct observation without asking from the respondent. The main advantage of this method is that subjective bias is eliminated, if observation is done accurately. Secondly, the information obtained under this method relates to what is currently happening; it is not complicated by either the past behavior or future intentions or attitudes. Thirdly, this method is independent of respondents’ willingness to respond and as such is relatively less demanding of active cooperation on the part of respondents as happens to be the case in the interview or the

Denzin & Lincoln (2003) agree and suggest that observations can be split into structured or unstructured, direct or indirect or, natural or contrived. Domegan and Fleming (2007) concur, but further add two more types, namely open or disguised and human or mechanical. While Chisnell (2001) does not suggest and drawbacks to observations, Bailey, Bemrose et al (1995) highlight the problems in consistency with this technique. Domegan and Fleming (2007), Denzin & Lincoln (2003) and Malhotra (1996) all support the statement that the greatest advantage of observation is that it permits measurement of actual

In contrived observation, the respondents’ behaviour is observed in an artificial environment, for example, a food tasting session.