An investigator was interested in determining if the size of a coin influenced judgments of numerosity when people were asked to make judgments of how many coins were in a pile of coins.Fifteen subjects were asked to estimate the number of pennies in a display of 43 coins.In another condition,15 different subjects estimated the number of dimes for the same display.In the above experiment,the size of the coin is also related to its value.Value is thus a ____.
A)disturbance variable
B)confounding variable
C)matched variable
D)none of these

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The size of the coin is confounded with its value, since pennies are smaller and less valuable than dimes. This can influence judgments of numerosity, making it a confounding variable. A disturbance variable would be something unrelated to the study that affects the outcome, and matched variables are intentionally controlled to reduce variability between groups.

An Investigator Was Interested in Determining If the Size of a Coin