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Random assignment refers to the practice of using random processes to assign participants to different groups in an experiment. It's important because it helps ensure that each group is similar on all dimensions, which minimizes the impact of confounding variables.

A placebo control involves the use of inert treatments or procedures administered to the control group to resemble the experimental condition without containing the active ingredient. It's crucial in establishing the effect of the experimental treatment over and above psychological or expectational effects.

In a double-blind procedure, both the participants and the researchers are unaware of which participants are in the control or experimental group. This control type prevents bias in treatment allocation and outcome assessment, making findings more reliable.

Matching refers to the practice of pairing participants in the experimental and control groups based on certain characteristics they share. It is important because it ensures groups are equivalent on these characteristics, reducing confounding variables.

Counterbalancing is a technique used to control for the effects of the order in which tasks are presented by systematically varying the order across participants. It's important for preventing order effects from confounding the results of the study.

A single-blind procedure is when only the participants, but not the researchers, are unaware of whether they are in the control or experimental group. It's important for controlling participant expectations that could influence the outcome.

Repeated measures design involves using the same participants in all conditions of the experiment. This control technique is important because it controls for individual differences as each participant acts as their own control.

Blind measurement is the practice of measuring the outcomes of a study without the data collectors knowing the group assignments of participants. It is important to prevent collector bias from influencing the results.

Manipulation checks are tests to ensure that the independent variable was successfully manipulated and registered by the participants. They are important to validate the effectiveness of the experimental manipulation.

Random sampling is the process of selecting participants for a study from a larger population in such a way that every individual has an equal chance of being chosen. It's important because it increases the generalizability of the study results to the population.

Demand characteristics refer to cues from the experimental environment that may lead participants to guess the purpose of the study and alter their behavior according. Controlling for them is important to prevent research findings from being skewed by participant expectations.

Experimenter bias occurs when researchers' expectations influence the outcome of a study. Controls such as double-blind procedures are vital to prevent this bias from contaminating the results.

The Hawthorne effect is the alteration of behavior by study participants due to their awareness of being observed. Control techniques involve keeping participants blind to the study's hypothesis to mitigate this effect.

Attrition refers to the loss of participants during a study, which can result in non-random differences between groups. Using intention-to-treat analysis and replacing dropouts can help control for attrition biases.