In a study on the effects of caffeine on memory, participants drank a bottle of tasteless water containing 100, 50, or 0 milligrams of caffeine. The participants assigned to the group that drank bottled water with no caffeine represented the _____ in this study.
A) dependent variable
B) placebo control group
C) meta-analysis
D) experimental group

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The group that drank bottled water with no caffeine represents the placebo control group, which is a standard control used in experiments to ensure that any effects observed in the experimental group are due to the treatment (caffeine) and not some other factor. The dependent variable in this study is likely to be memory performance, while the experimental group consists of participants who drank bottled water with 50 or 100 milligrams of caffeine. A meta-analysis is a statistical technique used to combine data from multiple studies, which is not relevant to the description of this particular study.

In a Study on the Effects of Caffeine on Memory