Intervening variable

An intervening variable is a hypothetical internal state that is used to explain relationships between observed variables, such as independent and dependent variables, in empirical research.

History

The term “intervening variable” was first used by behavioral psychologist Edward C. Tolman in 1938.

Relation to operational definitions

An intervening variable facilitates in a better understanding of the relationship between the independent and dependent variables when the variables appear to not have a definite connection. They are studied by means of operational definitions and have no existence apart For example, an independent variable in a study on latent learning in rats is the number of practice trials received. Each rat receives an increasing number of trials, as one trial is given per day. The dependent variable is the number of wrong turns (errors) the rats make on a trial. As time, and number of practice trials, increases, the number of errors decreases. Theoretically, an internal state of “learning” intervened between the independent and dependent variables. It was this state that caused the errors to decre dhbyfug asygtfoasieg uyaiwt 6q3597q4673576365q36-98 acsent, and they must be correlated.

See also

• Covariate
• Confounding
• Behaviorism

References

• Shaughnessy J.J., Zechmeister E. & Zechmeister J. (2006). Research Methods in Psychology (7th ed., pp.51-52). New York: McGraw Hill.

• Tolman, E. C. (1938). The Determiners of Behavior at a Choice Point. Psychological Review, 45, 1-41.

• Tolman, E. C. and C. H. Honzik. (1930). Degrees of hunger, reward and nonreward, and maze learning in rats. University of California Publications in Psychology, 4, 241-275.

External links

Online text of "The Determiner of Behavior at a Choice Point"