Psychology chapter 2 flash cards

Confounding variable

Confounding variables are external factors in an experiment that occur/exist casually and may influence the I.V and D.V, confounding variables generating may potentially influence the results of an experiment and generate a false association of correlation and causation.

Example

In a research study to see how caffeine effects test performance, a class of students are given coffee before taking a test. Half of the class is given decaf coffee, and the other half is given regular coffee, the whole class takes the same the same test. (1)The experimental group is the students who are given caffeinated coffee. (2)The control group is the students who are given decaf coffee. (3)The independent variable is the caffeine given to students to see if it will affect how they perform on a test. (4)The dependent variable is the students test scores. The amount of hours of sleep students get the night before, hours of studying, placement in the class, (those closer to the board may remember things better than those farthest away from it), distractors such as people walking by or into the classroom, what time the test is taken (early in the am vs afternoon), attendance, and the placebo effect (students would need to be given the coffee without knowing whether it was caffeinated or decaf) could all be (5)Confounding variables in this experiment.

dependent variable

The dependent variable is the variable outcome that depends on the other factors in an experiment and is what is being studied and measured in an experiment. Changes to the dependent variable are a often a result of changes from the independent variable.

Control group

The group in an experiment that is "isolated" from the experimental treatment and not exposed to the independent variable being tested in order to creat a baseline comparison. The control group is exposed to all conditions of an experiment except the one being studied in order to illustrate the absence of the independent variable that is being studied.

Experimental group

The group of subjects in an experiment that receive experimental treatment by being exposed to the independent variable

independent variable

The independent variable is the variable that is manipulated in an experiment to assess if it will effect dependent variable