Irene wants to examine the effect of a defendant's appearance on the judgment of guilt for a crime. She has participants read an identical account of the crime except for the defendant's appearance. A group of high school students receive the description of an attractive defendant, while a group of senior citizens receive the description of an unattractive defendant. Both groups are then asked to rate the defendant's guilt on a seven-point scale. A major cause for confusion in Madison's experiment is the _____.
A)manipulation of appearance
B)measure of guilt
C)description of the crime
D)age of the participants

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The age of the participants is a potential confounding variable in this experiment because different age groups may have different attitudes and biases towards attractiveness and guilt. For example, the high school students may be more likely to be influenced by the appearance of the defendant due to their greater emphasis on physical appearance in their social lives, while senior citizens may be more likely to base their judgment on other factors such as the severity of the crime or the defendant's past criminal history. Therefore, the age variable may affect the results and make it difficult to draw clear conclusions about the effect of appearance on judgments of guilt.

Irene Wants to Examine the Effect of a Defendant's Appearance