A psychologist wanted to see if people are more prone to seek the company of others when anxious than when calm.He randomly assigned half of his subjects to an anxiety group and then told them that,as part of the study,they would receive electric shocks.He did not frighten the other group of subjects.Finally,he recorded how many subjects in each group chose to be "tested" in a group setting and how many chose to be "tested" alone.What was the independent variable in this study?
A)tendency to desire the company of others
B)level of shock
C)level of anxiety
D)the anxious group

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The independent variable is the factor being manipulated or controlled by the researcher, in this case, the level of anxiety. The psychologist randomly assigned half of his subjects to an anxiety group, and this is the variable that is being manipulated in this study. The level of shock is not being manipulated but rather used as a tool to induce anxiety in the anxious group, and the tendency to desire the company of others is the dependent variable that is being measured.

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