Question

Grace is conducting a study in which she is comparing a violent video game to a nonviolent video game. She measures participants' feelings of aggression after they play the games, and she finds that the violent game made participants feel more aggressive compared to the nonviolent game. Participants also reported that the violent game was more frightening than the nonviolent game. In this example, which variable may act as a confound?

Answer 1

The factor of fear from the violent video game is a potential confound in Grace's study because it could independently affect feelings of aggression, apart from violence.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the study conducted by Grace comparing feelings of aggression after playing a violent video game versus a nonviolent one, the factor of fear induced by the violent game may act as a confound. This is because the increased fear reported by participants could independently contribute to the feeling of aggression, rather than the aggression being solely the outcome of the violence portrayed in the game. It is important to isolate this variable to accurately assess the impact of violence on aggressive feelings.