Session 4  Readings:  Chapter 3  Many of you may already be familiar with research methodology from your previous classes in Experimental Psychology or Research Methods. Basically environmental psychologists use the same research methods as other psychologists, however they study environment-behavior relationships as whole units and take a more applied focus compared to other areas of psychology.   Your text classifies the research used in environmental psychology into three broad categories: laboratory experimentation, field correlational studies and field experimentation. Several measurement techniques that are frequently utilized by environmental psychologists are also described including questionnaires, interviews, and rating scales. These are all self-report measures and they carry with them the biases and problems of all self-reporting devices.  One of the biggest biases with regard to self-report measures is the problem of reactivity. Reactivity is a process where merely measuring a variable causes changes in that variable. Several reasons for reactivity are discussed including evaluation apprehension, response set, and social desirability/social acceptability. Sometimes the testing process itself can sensitize respondents and affect the behavior because they know they are being tested. This was demonstrated in the famous Hawthorne Studies done at Western Electric.  Environmental psychologists also frequently use observational techniques. Three specific techniques described in your text include behavior setting, behavior specimen and behavior mapping. Environmental psychologists may use obtrusive or direct forms of measurement or more indirect or unobtrusive techniques. Examples of direct measures include video-audio tapes, galvanic skin response and blood analysis. Examples of indirect methods include erosion measures such as the wear and tear of objects or archival data such as information about births, deaths, sales records and personal documents.  Assignments:  Essay questions:  Compare and contrast the laboratory experiment, the field correlational study and the field experiment. Give an example of an environmental psychological study where you would employ each of these methods. You will need to come up with three examples for each of these three methods.  Activities:   1.Look up an environmental psychology research article. Some resources for this would be the references listed in your book, the electronic data bases such as Ebsco or UMI proquest which are available to you on the internet. If you need help accessing these databases the library staff here at FGCU will be happy to help you. Examine the methodology used in this research and relate it to the discussion in your Chapter. In a page or less summarize this and e-mail to instructor.This assignment  is due by February 8th.   2. After you read the research article what was one aspect you learnt about environmental psychology that you did not know before. In a sentence of two summarize this and post this on the discussion board and share this information with the rest of the students.This assignment  is due by February 8th.