Dr. Applesmith conducts a study in which he manipulates the light in a room while assessing participants' performance on a counting task. In this example, the light is the _____, and the performance on the counting task is the _____.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The independent variable is what the researcher manipulates, which in this case is the light in the room. The dependent variable is what is being measured, which is the participants' performance on the counting task. The other choices are incorrect because the light is not an extraneous variable (an uncontrolled variable that might affect the results) and the counting task is not the independent variable (it is being affected by the manipulation of the light).

Dr Applesmith Conducts a Study in Which He Manipulates the Light