What are the Independent and Dependant variables in a psychology experiment?
Ok, try this: the independent variable is the thing that the experimenter manipulates, and the dependent variable is the thing the experimenter measures. So for example, suppose the experimenter wants to see if a new drug decreases depression. So she gets two groups and she decides to give one group the drug and the other group she decides to not give a drug. This is the independent variable. She is deciding who gets what. So we say that she’s “manipulating” this variable. She measures depression after, say six months. Maybe she gives everyone in both groups a depression test. She’s hoping that the people who got the drug have lower depression scores. This score is the dependent variable. It’s the thing she’s measuring. Technically, we say that whether or not depression decreases “depends upon” the drug. That’s why it is the “dependent” variable. It’s a little wacky, but try to remember this: The independent variable is manipulated. The dependent variable is measured. Hope this helps,
