Hey future Psychologist, let's dive into the amazing world of experimental procedures! We'll make sure this info is neat and tidy and help you remember it using real-world examples. Ready?

• Just like a DJ carefully adjusts the sound knobs, you need to control variables in your experiment. What's a variable you ask? Well, it's anything that could potentially change and impact your results. Kind of like if a DJ added a lot of bass, it could drown out the vocals.
• Imagine this: You're doing a study on the impact of a new teaching method on students' performance. Things like the students' intelligence, the subject taught, or the time of the day could mess up your results if not controlled.
• Make a list of such factors and decide what to do. You have three options:
  • You can do nothing and accept that they might mess up your results.
  • You can randomly put people in groups, expecting these factors to equally influence all conditions. Like giving each child a random mix of candies, assuming all bags have an equal mix.
  • Or, eliminate them. Like choosing a quiet room for studying where loud noise won't distract you.