Question

Dr. Ford wants to test the hypothesis that room color can affect memory. To test this, he randomly assigns 10 students to a condition where they study a written passage while seated in a room that is painted a lilac color. The other 10 students study the passage while seated in an identical room that is painted bright orange. After both groups studied the passage for 1 hour, they were given a multiple-choice test over the material. Dr. Ford then calculated how many questions the students in both groups got right. In Dr. Ford's study, the dependent variable is the_

Answer 1

The dependent variable is the students’ memory (measured by the test results).

Step-by-step explanation:

In Dr. Ford’s hypothesis, room color is the independent variable, while students' memory is the dependent variable, because color influences the memory, not vice versa.

Dr. Ford chooses to measure memory in a multiple-choice test over the material. Thus, the test result represents the ‘memory of students', or in other words how much detail from the written passage they were able to remember. If Dr. Ford, would choose to study how room color effects students’ mood, the letter would be a dependent variable in this scenario.