PSY E111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Fluoxetine, Psy, Random Assignment
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The experimental theory is the only real way to really answer the question why . Because the level of control that we have in the experiment. In an experiment, we want to isolate a cause and effect relationship between at least 2 variables, while holding all other variables constant: independent variable (iv) Is the variable that is considered the cause in the cause and effect relationship. It is the variable that is directly manipulated by the experimenter. Iv comes first and is the cause. Treatment condition (key word: dependent variable (dv) Is the variable that changes presumably as a result of the independent variable. Dv comes second and is the effect. Ex: the greater the dose of prozac, the lower will be the depression. If extraneous variables are present, then it limits about what we can say about the effectiveness of the iv.
