Comparing Conditioned And Unconditioned Groups
A control group is a necessity in order to prove the effect of the test variable by comparing conditioned and unconditioned groups. A conditioned group is a group who receives the independent variable. An unconditioned group does not receive the independent variable. In this experiment we are testing the effects of cell phone usage on driving skills. In this case, the control group gives us an example of what happens when drivers are focusing on the road. The results from the control group will show us what happens when the driver is not distracted, so that we may determine how talking on our cell phone while driving impacts our ability to drive. Without the control group, we would have data on only the drivers who use cell phones, but none