Here are experiments like the ones we looked at in class.
•The independent variable is the one the experimenter controls by assigning people to different
levels (conditions) of that variable.
•The dependent variable is the thing the experimenter is measuring.
•Experimenters use an operational definition to describe how they intend to measure the
dependent variable.
Experiment 1:
Participants have their reaction time tested. Half of the participants first drink a non-alcoholic beer. The
other half are given alcoholic beer. Only students who have had alcoholic beverages before and are
over 21 are allowed to participate in the experiment.
The independent variable is the amount of alcohol in the drink. The two levels are has alcohol
and doesn't have alcohol.
The dependent variable is reaction time. You could measure it by using a web page like
https://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime (the operational definition might be
"average reaction time over 10 attempts")
A possible title for this experiment might be: The Effect of Amount of Alcohol Consumed on
Reaction Time.
Experiment 2:
Three groups of participants will take a memory test. They have two minutes to study a list of 20
words, and are tested five minutes later to see how many words they recall. The more they recall, the
better their memory. Participants in first group will study in a quiet room; participants in the second
group will study in a room with classical music playing softly in the background, and participants in the
third group will study in a room with hip-hop music playing softly in the background.
The independent variable is the kind of music the participant listens to. There are three levels:
no music, classical music, and hip-hop music.
The dependent variable is memory. The operational definition of memory in this experiment
is the number of words recalled correctly.
A possible title for this experiment might be: The Effect of Type of Music on Memory.
Examples of Experiments Page 1 of 3 2017-09-15
