A Peek Into The Use Of Control Groups In Psychology

Imagine you've been asked to prepare a research paper in psychology. Depending on your topic, you may have to divide your test subjects into two groups. One of these groups is known as the control group to prove your hypothesis.

Many of you may still have confusion about how to treat the control group and how it helps in the research. We can help you find clarity on the control group and its function. On that note, mentioned below is a detailed insight on the control group, its importance, purpose, along with a pertinent example.

What is a control group in psychology?

The control group consists of participants who don’t receive the experimental treatment. When carrying out the experiment, these participants are randomly picked out to be in this group. They’re also similar to the participants who are in the experimental group or the people who seek the experimental treatment.

Researchers draw a comparison between the experimental and control groups to decipher if the treatment had an impact. Making this comparison helps the researchers to isolate the independent variable and check the impact it had.

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Experimental group definition psychology

In psychology experiments, the experimental group or experimental condition indicates a group of participants who are exposed to the independent variable. The experimental group is a variant that’s being tested for a reaction to a particular change in the variable. The information that is gathered is compared to the data from the control group, which didn’t receive the experimental treatment.

For instance, a human experimental group may receive a new medication, a unique form of counselling, or some new vitamin supplements.

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Purpose of the control group

Scientific experiments always aim to present a cause-effect relationship between a single variable and an outcome.

To do so, researchers often create one or sometimes even two control groups. A single group with no changes in the variable is measured on the same factors as the group with a changed variable. The outcomes are then compared to establish whether they are significant or not.

The control group comprises elements that provide the same characteristics as the experimental group, except for the variable assigned to the latter. In a controlled experiment, two similar experiments are conducted. In one of them, the treatment or tested factor is incorporated, whereas, in the other group, the tested factor isn't used.

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Why a control group is important

While the control group doesn’t receive a specific treatment, it does play a vital role in the experiment process. This group is considered a benchmark, enabling researchers to draw a comparison between the experimental group and the control group. This helps them find out the kind of impact that changes to the independent variable has highlighted.

Any differences between the two groups are thus the outcome of the manipulations of the independent variable. The researchers carry out the same procedures with both groups, with the exception that they manipulate the independent variable in the experimental group.

A control group is used to separate a group based on a variable you’re introducing to your test subject. This is a significant component, specifically in complicated experiments, if you want to maintain a causal relationship between your test variable and outcome.

If the control group doesn’t highlight the same result as the experimental group by the end of the research, then you can conclude whatever variable you introduced caused the outcome.

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What is the point of a control group?

Control groups ensure the internal validity of the research. You might notice a difference over time in your dependent variable in your treatment o experimental group. However, without a control group, it’s difficult to understand whether the change has come from the treatment. It’s that the change is owing to some other variables.

If you introduce a control group that’s similar in every way possible to the treatment group, you know that the treatment, which is the only difference between the two groups, must be what has impacted the change.

For instance, people often recuperate from illnesses or injuries over time, irrespective of whether they've obtained effective treatment or not. Hence, without a dedicated control group, it’s tough to determine whether improvements in health conditions come from treatment or just through the natural progression of time.

The experts from our website will help you figure why it's necessary to keep the control group when researching a specific topic. With this knowledge, you can take on similar research topics in the future.

What is an example of a control group?

Imagine a researcher who wants to determine how distractions during an exam impact the test results. The researcher might start by operationally describing what they mean by distractions and also develop a hypothesis.

In this case, he/she might emphasise distractions as changes in noise levels and room temperature. His hypothesis might be that students in a warmer and noisier room will perform poorly than students in a room that’s normal in terms of both noise and temperature.

To assess the hypothesis, the researcher picks a handful of participants who are all taking the same math class. All students have been provided with the same instructions and resources to study. The researcher then randomly assigns participants to either the experimental group or the control group.

Students in the control group sit for the math exam in their normal classroom. The room is quiet for the duration of the test, and the room temperature is set as a comfortable 23 degrees Celcius.

In the experimental group, students take the same test in the same classroom again, but this time the independent variables are altered by the researcher. A series of loud noises are produced nearby, creating the impression that some kind of construction work is underway. And the thermostat is set to a balmy 28  degrees Celcius.

The researcher has used the same room, same test processes, and the same test in both groups. The only difference is the amount of distraction added by room temperature and noise levels in the experimental group.

After the experiment is over, the researcher can check the test results and draw comparisons between the experimental and control groups. He finds that the test scores on the math test were significantly lower in the experimental group than in the control group. 

Parting thoughts,

It's important for students of psychology to learn about this control group since they are required to carry out experiments involving the groups. This post clearly explains every detail about the control group that a student needs to know.

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