What Are Practice Effects?
Practice effects, the improvements seen with repeated testing or tasks, offer insights into learning and memory—but they also raise questions about validity in research.
The Robbers Cave Experiment: Realistic Conflict Theory
Psychologist Muzafer Sherif suggested that conflict between groups was the result of competition for limited resources. To put this theory to the test, he conducted a series of experiments that are today referred to as the Robbers Cave Experiment. In this article, learn more about what happened in the Robbers Cave Experiment and the conclusions…
What Is a Single-Blind Study?
In psychology, a single-blind study is a type of experiment or clinical trial in which the experimenters are aware of which subjects are receiving the treatment or independent variable, but the participants of the study are not. A study in which both the experimenters and participants are unaware of who is receiving the independent variable and…
What Is a Factorial Design? Definition and Examples
A factorial design is a type of experiment that involves manipulating two or more variables. While simple psychology experiments look at how one independent variable affects one dependent variable, researchers often want to know more about the effects of multiple independent variables. How a Factorial Design Works Let’s take a closer look at how a…
What Is an Extraneous Variable? Definition and Challenges
Not all variables in an experiment are easy to control. Learn how extraneous variables can influence outcomes and why they matter in psychological research.