1) The condition that exists when there is a functional relation between a performance and a particular event or independent variable. For example, if a child usually or consistently asks for ice cream while driving past the local ice cream stand, the response, requesting ice cream, is "controlled" by the antecedent event, passing the ice cream stand.

2) Control, as in experimental control. to have eliminated alternative explanations for the results of an experiment by eliminating or holding constant extraneous or confounding variables.