Billy has trouble sitting still in class,so his teacher implements a program in which she praises Billy for staying in his seat.Billy's sitting behavior increases,and the teacher concludes her praise was responsible.The teacher does not realize Billy has started taking medication that causes fatigue.The medication would be an example of a(n)__________ variable.
A) independent
B) extraneous
C) dependent
D) behavioral

Question

Billy has trouble sitting still in class,so his teacher implements a program in which she praises Billy for staying in his seat.Billy's sitting behavior increases,and the teacher concludes her praise was responsible.The teacher does not realize Billy has started taking medication that causes fatigue.The medication would be an example of a(n)__________ variable.​
A) ​independent
B) ​extraneous
C) ​dependent
D) ​behavioral

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The medication is an extraneous variable, meaning it is a variable that could impact the behavior being studied but is not intentionally manipulated by the researchers. In this case, the teacher did not account for the medication and therefore cannot conclude that her praise is solely responsible for the increase in Billy's sitting behavior. The independent variable is what the researchers intentionally manipulate (in this case, it would be the presence or absence of praise), the dependent variable is the behavior being measured (sitting behavior), and the behavioral variable is not relevant to this scenario.

Billy Has Trouble Sitting Still in Class,so His Teacher Implements