Final answer:
The control group is the group that does not receive the experimental treatment and serves as a baseline for comparison.
Step-by-step explanation:
The group that is used as a baseline for comparison and does not receive the experimental treatment is called the control group. In an ideal scientific experiment, the control group and the experimental group go through all phases of the experiment, but the only difference is that the experimental group is exposed to the experimental manipulation, while the control group is not. The researcher then measures the changes in the dependent variable in each group. The control group serves as a basis for comparison to determine the effect of the experimental treatment.