A study examining the relationship between humor and memory compares memory performance scores for one group presented with humorous sentences and a second group presented with nonhumorous sentences.The participants in both groups consist of a mixture of males and females.In this study,gender (male/female)is a(n)________ variable.
A)independent
B)dependent
C)extraneous
D)confounding

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Gender is not being manipulated or controlled in this study, so it is not an independent variable. Memory performance scores are the outcome of interest, so gender is not a dependent variable. Gender is not related to either the independent variable (humorous vs. nonhumorous sentences) or the dependent variable (memory performance), so it is not a confounding variable. However, since the study is not specifically examining gender differences, gender is an extraneous variable that is not the focus of the study but may still influence the results.

A Study Examining the Relationship Between Humor and Memory Compares