Question

In experiment 1, the researchers randomly assigned participants into either the no spinner, spinner, or spinner present conditions while they watched a video about baking bread. they measured learning using fill-in-the-blank questions about the video content. because our ability to learn new information is dependent on prior knowledge, every participants' test performance will be related to their complex and unique experiences. is prior knowledge a confound in this experiment?

a. Yes. because priorknowledge is an extraneous-variable that has not been controlled for.
b. Yes, because people with more prior knowledge may be less distracted by the fidget spinner.
c. No. becruse there 1 mo-systematic celationship-betweenprior knowledge and condition.
d. No, because extraneous variables cannot become confounds.

Answer 1

Prior knowledge is indeed a confound in this experiment because it is an uncontrolled extraneous variable that can significantly affect participant performance.

Step-by-step explanation:

Is prior knowledge a confound in this experiment? The answer is a. Yes, because prior knowledge is an extraneous variable that has not been controlled for. In experiments, it's crucial to manipulate an independent variable while controlling for extraneous variables to assess a cause-and-effect relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable. Prior knowledge can certainly influence the ability to learn new information, which in this case is the participant's performance on fill-in-the-blank questions about video content, and can thus act as a confound if not properly controlled.

Moreover, in sound experimental design, it is necessary to account for potential lurking variables to ensure that if there are observed differences between the experimental groups, these differences are indeed due to the manipulation of the independent variable. The assumption is that random assignment of participants to different conditions spreads out the lurking variables evenly, but when such variables are as pervasive and impactful as prior knowledge, special strategies may be needed to control for them.