PSYB01H3 Lecture : Chapter notes
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Variables: a variable is any event, situation, behavior, or individual characteristic that varies. Examples of variables a psychologist might study include cognitive task performance, word length, intelligence, gender, anger, stress, self esteem, age etc: each of these variables represents a general class within which specific instances will vary. These specific instances are called the levels or values of the variable. A variable must have two or more levels or values. For some variables, the values will have true numeric, or quantitative, properties. An example is gender; the values for gender are male and female. As an example, darley (1968) found that helping is less likely when there are more bystanders to an emergency. A mediating variable called diffusion of responsibility was used to explain this phenomenon. It is important to know that a variable is an abstract concept that must be translated into concrete forms of observation or manipulation.
