PSY 310 Lecture 3: The Basics of Experimentation
6 Feb 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Operational definitions - definitions of variables in terms of the operations needed to produce them. Extraneous variables - (confounders) have an unintended influence on the results of an experiment by changing the difference between the groups. When an extraneous variable is present, the experiment is confounded. Nuisance variables - unwanted variables that can cause the variability of scores within all groups to increase. Results misinterpreted as classical music increases intelligence . Gov. of georgia asks for budget to buy every child in georgia a cd of classical music. Florida requires toddlers in state-run schools to listen to classical music every day. Multiple studies since have demonstrated that mozart music increases spatial task performance only to the extent that it improves mood. Mozart that"s not upbeat has no such influence. Other non-musical exposure that improves mood can also improve spatial task performance. Produce groups that are equivalent prior to the introduction of the iv, thereby eliminating extraneous variables.
