 Experimentation

Bell ringer  Do you think listening to music while you read interferes with reading comprehension? Explain

 Lets see how we would conduct an experiment on whether listening to music interferes with reading comprehension. Identify the variables and conditions

Experiment  A scientific method in which researchers manipulate, or change, a variable to observe the effect on some other variable  Proves cause and effect relationship

Independent Variable  The variable that is manipulated or changed.  The variable whose effect is being studied.  The Cause  What is the independent variable in our experiment?

 Music

Dependent Variable  The experimental factor that is being measured. The constant  Variable may change in response to manipulations on the independent variable  The Effect  What is the dependent variable?

 Reading Comprehension

Confounding variable  Confounding variables (aka third variables) are variables that the researcher failed to control, or eliminate, damaging the validity of the experiment  What is a possible confounding variable?

 Volume of music  Level of reading

Experimental Condition (group)  The condition (group) of an experiment that exposes participants to the independent variable  What is the experimental condition?

 Listening to music while reading

Control Condition (group)  Contrasts with the experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment  The constant or controlled condition  What is the control condition?

 Reading without music

Random Assignment  Assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance

Placebo  Used in experiments with substances (active agents) such as drugs  Pseudotreatment that is administered instead of the active agent to see if it triggers the same results  Blind experiment: Participants don’t know if they receive the placebo  Think of an example of a placebo

Placebo effect  Effect on behavior caused by a placebo  Thinking you are receiving treatment or a drug will cause people to act a certain way

Double-Blind Procedure  Both the research participants and and the research staff do not know which group has received the placebo  Eliminates bias and enthusiasm