Ace the Introductory Psychology CLEP 2025 – Mind-Blowing Practice Awaits!

An independent variable is the variable that is purposely changed or manipulated by the experimenter in an experiment. This means that the experimenter has control over this variable, and it is not influenced by any other factors in the experiment. This is why option B is the correct answer.

Option A is incorrect because it incorrectly states that the dependent variable changes due to the independent variable. In fact, the independent variable is purposely changed in order to see how it affects the dependent variable.

Option C is incorrect because it only defines the dependent variable as the result of the experiment. While this is true, it does not fully explain the difference between an independent and dependent variable.

Option D is incorrect because it falsely states that the independent variable is the control in the experiment. The control in an experiment is actually the standard or unchanged condition used for comparison.