Why must a hypothesis be testable?

A testable hypothesis can be checked against data and either supported or not supported. A vague prediction cannot be tested with evidence.

A researcher thinks that revising with music playing affects how many words people remember. Write a suitable alternative hypothesis.

Participants who revise with music will recall a different number of words from participants who revise in silence.

A researcher predicts that eating breakfast improves pupils' test scores. Write a null hypothesis for this study.

Eating breakfast will have no effect on pupils' test scores. Any difference in scores will be due to chance.

AQA GCSE Psychology 8182

Memory

Topic overview Processes and types of memory The multi-store model of memory Primacy, recency and Murdock's serial position curve Reconstructive memory, Bartlett and factors affecting accuracy

Perception

Topic overview Sensation, perception and depth cues Gibson's direct theory of perception Visual illusions Gregory's constructivist theory of perception Perceptual set and factors affecting perception

Development

Topic overview Early brain development, nature and nurture Piaget's stage theory of cognitive development Piaget in education, naughty teddy and policeman doll studies Dweck's mindset theory, learning styles and Willingham

Research Methods

Topic overview Hypotheses and variables Sampling methods Experimental designs and types of experiment Interviews, questionnaires, case studies and observations Research procedures, reliability and validity Ethical issues in psychological research Types of data, calculations and averages Correlation, graphs and the normal distribution

Social Influence

Topic overview Conformity and Asch's study Obedience, agency theory and the authoritarian personality Bystander intervention and Piliavin's subway study Crowd and collective behaviour

Language, Thought and Communication

Topic overview Language, thought and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis Animal communication and von Frisch's bee study Non-verbal communication Explaining non-verbal behaviour: Darwin and Yuki

Brain and Neuropsychology

Topic overview The nervous system, fight or flight and the James-Lange theory Neurons, synaptic transmission and Hebb's theory Brain structure, localisation and Penfield's study Brain scanning, Tulving's gold memory study and brain damage

Psychological Problems

Topic overview An introduction to mental health Effects of mental health problems Clinical depression Explaining and treating depression Addiction Treating addiction

Research Methods

Hypotheses and variables

3 things to know
Paper 1

Overview

Alternative and null hypotheses, operationalising variables, independent, dependent and extraneous variables, and how extraneous variables are controlled.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

What is a hypothesis?

Key term

What does an alternative hypothesis predict?

Key term

What does a null hypothesis predict?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What is a hypothesis?
Model answer
A hypothesis is a precise, testable prediction of what a researcher expects a study to find.
2
What does an alternative hypothesis predict?
Model answer
An alternative hypothesis predicts that the independent variable will affect the dependent variable. The researcher expects a real difference to be found.
3
What does a null hypothesis predict?
Model answer
A null hypothesis predicts that the independent variable will have no effect on the dependent variable. Any difference that is found is put down to chance.
4
Why must a hypothesis be testable?
Model answer
A testable hypothesis can be checked against data and either supported or not supported. A vague prediction cannot be tested with evidence.
5
A researcher thinks that revising with music playing affects how many words people remember. Write a suitable alternative hypothesis.
Model answer
Participants who revise with music will recall a different number of words from participants who revise in silence.
6
A researcher predicts that eating breakfast improves pupils' test scores. Write a null hypothesis for this study.
Model answer
Eating breakfast will have no effect on pupils' test scores. Any difference in scores will be due to chance.

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Memory

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Development

Research Methods

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