PSYC 2030 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Espresso, Caffeine, Random Assignment
30 Mar 2016
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Temporal precedence (irst x, then y, the cause comes irst) o: consistency/regularity (if x, then y, contingent on presence (without x, no y) The experimenter will manipulate a variable (independent variable) All other factors will be controlled for (extraneous variables) The experimenter will then measure the result/outcome (dependent variable) Simplest form of manipulation is presence and absence (experimental condition and control) o. Ex: one group of students gets a shot of espresso before an exam, the other group doesn"t. Or have the control group have decaf cofee instead of cafeinated (as a placebo) We can also compare diferent levels of the iv between groups o. Ex: 3 groups of students receive either 1) no cafeine 2) 5 mg of cafeine 3) 10 mg cafeine in a shot of espresso. A control condition is important to set a baseline for the measurement scale afterwards. Ideally, manipulation isolates only the factor of interest.
