By doing this, researchers are able to see if the independent variable had any impact on the behavior of the participants. Comparing the experimental group to the control group allows researchers to see how much of an impact the variables had on the participants.
A Closer Look at Experimental Groups
Imagine that you want to do an experiment to determine if listening to music while working out can lead to greater weight loss. After getting together a group of participants, you randomly assign them to one of three groups. One group listens to upbeat music while working out, one group listens to relaxing music, and the third group listens to no music at all. All of the participants work out for the same amount of time and the same number of days each week. In this experiment, the group of participants listening to no music while working out is the control group. They serve as a baseline with which to compare the performance of the other two groups. The other two groups in the experiment are the experimental groups. They each receive some level of the independent variable, which in this case is listening to music while working out. In this experiment, you find that the participants who listened to upbeat music experienced the greatest weight loss result, largely because those who listened to this type of music exercised with greater intensity than those in the other two groups. By comparing the results from your experimental groups with the results of the control group, you can more clearly see the impact of the independent variable.
Some Things to Know
When it comes to using experimental groups in a psychology experiment, there are a few important things to know:
A Word From Verywell
Experiments play an important role in the research process and allow psychologists to investigate cause and effect relationships between different variables. Having one or more experimental groups allows researchers to vary different levels of an experimental variable (or variables) and then compare the effects of these changes against a control group. The goal of this experimental manipulation is to gain a better understanding of the different factors that may have an impact on how people think, feel, and act.
