Gary's son Sam is learning to drive.Each night,Gary takes Sam out in the family car for driving lessons.Gary notices that Sam improves more in lessons in which Gary is extremely critical.In fact,the more critical Gary is,the more Sam improves.After Sam gets his driver's license,Gary's wife Chrissy tells him that every time Gary was critical of Sam,she took him out so he could improve before his next lesson with his father.What was the problem with Gary's initial interpretation of Sam's improvement?
A) Parsimonious problem
B) Nonrepresentative sample problem
C) Generalizability problem
D) Third variable problem

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Gary's initial interpretation failed to account for the third variable, which was Chrissy taking Sam out for additional practice. This additional practice was the actual reason for Sam's improvement, not Gary's criticism.

Gary's Son Sam Is Learning to Drive