Consider an experiment in which participants watch various types of TV programs and are then observed while playing a physical game to determine the number of aggressive acts they commit. In this example, the dependent variable would be the ____.
A) gender of the participants
B) game played by the participants
C) type of TV programming watched
D) number of aggressive acts observed

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The dependent variable is the variable that is expected to be affected by the independent variable. In this case, the independent variable is the type of TV programming watched, and the dependent variable is the number of aggressive acts observed during the physical game. Therefore, the correct choice is D, the number of aggressive acts observed. The gender of the participants and the game played by the participants are not the variables that are being studied, so they are not the dependent variable. The type of TV programming watched is the independent variable, and not the dependent variable.

Consider an Experiment in Which Participants Watch Various Types of TV