What are dependent, independent, and extraneous (confounding) variables?

The dependent varible is defined as the thing which is being measured in an experiment, whilst the independent variable is the thing that is being manipulated or changed. Extraneous variables are undesirable variables that influence the relationship between the variables that the experimenter is observing.  For example: An experimenter was studying the effects of gender on response times, with the theory that females would be slower than males. The experimenter studied 20 participants in a public computer room throughout the day. The dependent variable is the response times, the indepdent variable is the gender of participants, and extraneous variables could be time of day or how noisy the computer room is.

MC
Answered by Megan C. Psychology tutor

47255 Views

See similar Psychology GCSE tutors

Related Psychology GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Outline what is meant by qualitative and quantitative methods in psychology and explain one difference between these methods.


What is conformity?


Explain the different types of conditioning.


Describe the Multi-Store Model of Memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning