Arash wants to examine the relationship between stress and eating when someone is on a diet. He recruits an equal number of male and female participants to respond to a questionnaire about their eating habits, their typical mood, and their overall anxiety levels. Arash ensures half of his male participants and half of his female participants are on a diet and the other half are not. After the questionnaire, all participants are randomly assigned to complete one of two tasks. Half of the participants solve a difficult math problem in front of a group of math professors within a certain time limit. The other participants solve a simple arithmetic problem in a waiting area alone, with no time limit. After they perform the task, all participants are asked to complete one more questionnaire about their stress level while sitting next to a box of Timbits. Arash tells the participants to help themselves to the Timbits, and secretly counts how many Timbits the participant actually eats.
-What is the independent variable in Arash's study

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The independent variable in this study is the task difficulty, as Arash is interested in examining the relationship between stress and eating when someone is on a diet, and the task difficulty is the manipulation that is being used to induce stress. The gender of the participants and their eating habits are controlled variables, as Arash has ensured an equal number of male and female participants and half of them are on a diet and half are not. How many Timbits the participant eats is the dependent variable, as it is being measured to see if there is a relationship between stress and eating behavior.

Arash Wants to Examine the Relationship Between Stress and Eating