Final answer:
An independent-groups design features different participants performing or experiencing one condition but not the other, dividing them into experimental and control groups to evaluate the effects of the independent variable. Therefore correct option is C
Step-by-step explanation:
The characteristic of an independent-groups design is that different participants perform or experience one condition but not the other. This means that the participants are allocated into separate groups where each group receives a different level of the independent variable. One of these groups is usually the experimental group, which is exposed to the experimental manipulation, while the other group functions as the control group and does not receive the experimental manipulation. The results from the two groups are compared to assess the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable, with the aim of maintaining all other conditions constant to control for lurking variables. Properly conducted, this design allows researchers to draw conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships.
It's crucial that the participants in different groups should be similar in characteristics, and the assignment should be as random as possible to ensure that the only systematic difference between groups is the experimental manipulation itself. Blinding can be used to prevent experimenter bias, and ideally, neither the participants nor the researchers should know who is in which group to preserve the integrity of the results.