A group of researchers conducts a study to determine if children's performance is affected by the presence of other children. First, the children are taken to a room with no other children and timed while they complete a puzzle. Later, the same children are taken to a room with four other children and timed while they complete a similar puzzle. In this study, the length of time it takes to complete the puzzle would be ___________________________.

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In this study, researchers are measuring how long it takes for children to complete a puzzle under two conditions: alone in a room and with four other children in the room. The researchers are observing the outcome that may change depending on the condition, which is the duration to complete the puzzle.
Option 1: 'an extraneous variable' — An extraneous variable is a factor other than the independent variable that could influence the outcome and confound results. Here, the focus is on the variable that is intentionally varied and measured, not an uncontrolled nuisance factor. So this is not the best label for the measured outcome.
Option 2: 'the dependent variable' — The dependent variable is the outcome that researchers measure and expect to change as a result of the manipulation of the independent variable. Since time to complete the puzzle is what changes across conditions (alone vs. with peers), this accurately describes the measured outcome.
Option 3: 'a control variable' — A control variable is something kept constant across conditions to prevent confounding effects. The description doesn’t indicate a variable that’s being held constant; rather, time is the variable being observed, so this isn’t the correct designation for the measured outcome.
Option 4: 'the independent variable' — The independent variable is the factor deliberately changed by the experimenter to observe its effect. In this study, the presence of other children is the manipulated condition, but the variable being measured (time) is the dependent variable. Therefore this label would apply to the factor being manipulated, not to the outcome itself.
Overall, the time to complete the puzzle is the dependent variable because it is the outcome that is measured and expected to vary with the experimental condition (presence vs. absence of other children).

PSY 1001 (001) Final Exam/Exam 4

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