PSYC 2030 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Statistical Conclusion Validity, Confounding, Experiment

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2030
• Professor: John Grundy

Document Summary

I(cid:374)(cid:272)e the late (cid:1005)93(cid:1004)(cid:859)s ps(cid:455)(cid:272)hologists ha(cid:448)e thought of a(cid:374) e(cid:454)pe(cid:396)i(cid:373)e(cid:374)t as a s(cid:455)ste(cid:373)ati(cid:272) (cid:396)esea(cid:396)(cid:272)h stud(cid:455) i(cid:374) which the investigator directly caries some factor (or factors), holds all other factors constant, and observes the results of the variation. The factors under the control of the experimenter are called independent variables, the factors being held constant are referred to as extraneous variables, and the behaviors measured are called dependent variables. Any experiment can be described as a study investigating the effect of x on y. x representing the. Independent variable and y representing the dependent variable. Independent variables must have a minimum of two levels. That is, at the very least, an experiment involves a comparison between two situations (or conditions). Experimental research can be either basic or applied in its goals, and it can be conducted either in the laboratory or in the field.