Changeable Variables - Assignment Example

Changeable VariablesA variable is anything changeable, such as value or character. Variables are usually used in experiments of psychology to see if they will be changes to something because of changes in another. Psychology is a wide field and has many different ways of testing ideas as well as learning more regarding thoughts and behavior. However, experiments in psychology of which are different from surveys and studies as well as other methods of measuring psychology, have a particular definition and take into account many issues.

One of the issues that every experiment in psychology must take into account is variables, of which are dependent, independent as well as confounding. Furthermore, ignoring any of these three variables can ruin an experiment in psychology.For an experiment in psychology to give accurate results, it has to control an independent variable in order for the effects of the dependent variable to be understood (Myers, 2010). In short, an experiment in psychology simply measures the cause and effects of relationships.

For example, an experiment that measures the study time effect on scores earned from a test in psychology, the independent variable here will be the student’s time spent studying while the dependent variable is the scores the student has earned.It is important to comprehend the duties of dependent and independent variables within psychology experiments, but there is another type of variable that may seriously affect the psychology experiment and can even ruin the credibility of the results of the experiment (Myers, 2010).

This variable is called the confounding variable of which can affect a dependent variable, although the confounding is not similar to the independent variable. To make clear the significance of the confounding variable within a psychology experiment, we need to go back to our experiment example of test scores. Even though it is helpful to test the method in which study time (the independent variable) affects the earned test scores (the dependent variables), such an experiment would not be credible if other variable factors were not considered, or confounding variables, of which can affect the scores earned.

Some examples of confounding variables in relation to our experiment would be, how many hours did the students sleep the night and or did the students in the morning have breakfast (Myers, 2010). It is very important for experiments in psychology to consider various confounding variables because they could be the hidden reason as to why certain results are found. Confounding reasons are not always clear, of which is one of the intentions as to why experiments in psychology that were thought of as having shown accurate results were later on viewed as discredited.

In summary, in order to determine the accuracy of variables in psychology in both dependent and independent variables experiments, it is very important to avoid or eliminate confounding variables because they will misrepresent facts and findings of psychology research work. In addition, in order to avoid confounding variables, a psychology experiment must have extensive preparations as well as screening periods of participants before beginning the experiment, whereby eligible participants might need to perform specific uniform behaviors while avoiding others.

ReferenceMyers, D, G. Psychology. New York: Worth, 2010. Print