Whats the difference between a Control, Independent Variable, and Dependent Variable?

Ice
Cream
Does
Melt

Individual
Change
* Dependent *
Measure

The independent variable is the thing in the experiment that you change e.g. change what time you do an experiment to see if time affects memory

The dependent variable is the thing that the independent variable should have an effect so you should measure it e.g. the number of words remembered on a memory test

The control is what you compare to e.g. In Bowlby's case study the control group is the group that were the same age and sex as his participants but had not stolen.