Question

A study of preschool children looked at the impact of watching fast-paced cartoons on executive functioning. Half of the children were assigned to watch sponge bob square pants in a room alone. The other half were assigned to draw for the same amount of time while sitting at a table with other children. The researcher mistakenly introduced a confounding variable, which in this case was:

Answer 1

The presence of other children during the drawing activity is a potential confounding variable, as it introduces a social component, which could independently affect executive functioning in comparison to children watching SpongeBob alone.

Step-by-step explanation:

The study you mentioned aimed to determine the impact of watching fast-paced cartoons on the executive functioning of preschool children.

A possible confounding variable introduced by the researcher can be the social setting. One group of children watched SpongeBob SquarePants alone, while the other group was involved in an activity (drawing) surrounded by other children.

This difference in setting introduces variations in social interaction, which could affect the children's executive functioning independently of the fast-paced cartoon, potentially skewing the study's results.

Due to the presence of other children in one condition and not the other, results related to executive function might be confounded by the social component rather than the viewing content alone.