Final answer:
The elevated plus maze measures anxiety behavior in animals, quantified by the time spent in open versus closed arms. Explanatory and response variables in an associated experiment are scent and time to complete the maze with two treatments: floral-scented and unscented masks.
Step-by-step explanation:
The elevated plus maze is commonly used to measure anxiety-related behavior in animals, primarily in rodents. The construct that the maze measures is anxiety, and this is usually quantified by the amount of time an animal spends in the open arms versus the closed arms of the maze. When an animal is placed in the maze, it has to choose between the innate drive to explore a new environment (open arms) and the fear of being in an elevated and unprotected space (closed arms). An animal that spends more time in the open arms is considered to have lower levels of anxiety.
Regarding the information provided with solution 1.21, the response variable is the time it takes to complete the maze, while the explanatory variable is the scent (either floral-scented or unscented). The two treatments being the presence of a floral scent or the absence of scent, impact the maze completion time, potentially affecting the animals' behavior in the maze due to the scent, which does not directly measure anxiety but can influence the behavior being interpreted as such.