in the following short animation we'll be talking about the naturalistic observation method An important method in Psychology this method may seem familiar to you because a less formal version of this method is the stuff of Nature Documentaries and films most of the time that you are watching a nature film you're watching a variation of the naturalistic observation method you see naturalistic observation is the secret observation of animals and as we will talk later humans in their natural environments so every time you are watching a nature show in which the narrator is watching Wildlife secretly in nature like at a watering hole in the jungle Ocean or Savannah this is an example of naturalistic observation now psychologist can use a similar method to watch humans surreptitiously in their natural environments for example to see how people act in crowds as at a baseball game or in church or during a street demonstration remember that like all research methods naturalistic observations have both strengths and weaknesses or limitations for example its greatest strength is that it allows research ERS to look at what they are most interested in real behavior in the real world however at the same time at least with regards to humans there are of course important limitations with respect to this method first of all in particular we must respect people's privacy psychologists can't go creeping through people's backyards engaging in naturalistic observation but importantly must conduct their observations only in public a second limitation is that naturalistic observations are good at telling us what people are doing but not why they are doing these things for example around the world people speak to babies in very similar ways but naturalistic observation is not very good at telling us why people speak to babies this way