Experimental and Developmental Psychology

Contents: Preface. 1. Experimental design of psychology. 2. Experimental plans. 3. Experimental control. 4. Interpretation of data. 5. Growth and development. 6. Psychology of emotional pattern. 7. Psychology of learning. 8. Thinking process and psychology. 9. Attitudes of old age. 10. Psychology of international relations. 11. Psychology of social process. Index.

"Designing an experiment is a creative activity. The designing of a study is one of the points at which a sort of artistic endeavor is found in science. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that planning an experiment calls for inventive ingenuity. Artist or inventor, you will probably need all the help you can get when you face the problem of just how to go about testing a behavioural hypothesis in the laboratory. Let us consider, then, some of the guides that may help you and some of the practical considerations that may be a limiting influence as you carry out the design phase of an investigation.  

In addition to past research which was aimed at testing very similar hypotheses, studies which identify some of the determinants of the behaviour in question provide valuable guidance in designing an experiment." (jacket)