# Ecological Validity

A person's behaviour alters according to the situation they are in. Think about your own behaviour for a minute. Would you behave in exactly ther same way in each of the following situations?

- In a pub, club or other social gathering
- Having a meal at an expensive restaurant
- Meeting your partner's parents for the first time
- In a class at college
- At a funeral

The answer is probably 'no'. Depending on where you are, who you are with and what you are doing, your behaviour can change quite markedly.

This probably seems quite obvious. But now think about what happens when a person takes part in a psychology experiment. Just like going to a club, a class or a funeral, the psychology experiment is a social situation with its own set of pressures and expectations. The question is, do people behave the same way in psychology experiments as they do in other situations?