control group

a comparison group in a study whose members receive either no intervention at all or some established intervention. The responses of those in the control group are compared with the responses of participants in one or more experimental groups that are given the new treatment being evaluated. See also no-treatment control group.

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Psychology term of the day

November 18th 2024

co-occurrence

n. a relation between two or more phenomena (objects or events) such that they tend to occur together. For example, thunder co-occurs with lightning, and in English the letter Q typically co-occurs with the letter U. By itself, co-occurrence does not imply a causal link: For co-occurrence to become covariation, there must be a systematic correlation between both the occurrence of the phenomena and their nonoccurrence. —co-occur vb.