Natural Experiments in Psychology

The video discusses a study by Duke University on the impact of poverty alleviation on Cherokee children's mental health. It explains natural experiments, highlighting their strengths and limitations. The study used a natural experiment when a casino opened, distributing profits to families, allowing researchers to observe changes in children's behavior. Natural experiments offer high ecological validity and large sample sizes but face challenges in establishing causality and replicability.

How did the opening of the casino impact the families on the Cherokee reservation?

What was the unique opportunity that researchers had during the study of Cherokee children?

What were the findings regarding the mental health of children whose families moved out of poverty?

What is a natural experiment and how does it differ from other experimental methods?

How did the researchers in Costello's study gather data before and after the casino opened?

What are some strengths of natural experiments in psychological research?

What limitations do natural experiments have compared to traditional experiments?