PSYCO104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Braking Distance, Dependent And Independent Variables, Confounding

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCO104
• Professor: James Farley

Document Summary

A variable is manipulated (the independent variable, e. g. whether a participant receives a drug or placebo) Whether this variable produces a change in another variable is measured (the dependent variable, e. g. (cid:449)hether a parti(cid:272)ipa(cid:374)t(cid:859)s (cid:271)lood pressure (cid:272)ha(cid:374)ges after re(cid:272)ei(cid:448)i(cid:374)g a treatment) Other factors that might influence results are controlled for. Unlike the other stud(cid:455) desig(cid:374)s (cid:449)e(cid:859)(cid:448)e dis(cid:272)ussed, e(cid:454)peri(cid:373)e(cid:374)ts do allo(cid:449) i(cid:374)fere(cid:374)(cid:272)es a(cid:271)out (cid:272)ause and effect to be made. This is due to the combination of directly manipulating the independent variable(s), while controlling for other factors that may influence the dependent variable(s) Treat them equally in all respects except for the variable that is of particular interest. Measure how the groups respond and compare the results. Start with equivalent groups, treat them equally in all respects except for the iv. Group 2: no cell phone use (control group) Isolate this variable and manipulate it, then measure how the groups respond and compare the results.