Question

identifying and manipulating variables
directions read each of the scenarios below carefully and answer the questions that follow.
scenario 1
dr. wang, a doctor in a large medical practice with two waiting rooms, has noticed that patients who wait in room a show greater anxiety than those who wait in room b. the rooms are about the same size and are decorated identically. both rooms have televisions that can be controlled by waiting patients. room a is across from the lab where patients have medical tests performed, while room b is across from the receptionist’s desk.

1. what is the dependent variable in the description above?

1. what independent variables can you identify?

1. if you were dr wang, how might you experiment to find the cause of the patients’ raised anxiety in room a?

scenario 2
tom and juanita conducted an experiment to test the effect of age on the difference threshold in children age five and under. tom and juanita created a test that included cards mounted with 12 pairs of paint chips of the same color, but of various shades. the difference between the first pair of paint chips was fairly obvious, but the difference between each subsequent pair decreased. the last few pairs of paint chips seemed almost identical. the process that tom and juanita used was to show the pairs to a child and to note the smallest amount of difference the child could detect when asked to identify the darker chip in each pair. they tested three children from each of these age groups: two year olds, two-and-a-half year olds, three year olds, three-and-a-half year olds, four year olds, four-and-a-half year olds, and five year olds.

1. what is the dependent variable in tom and juanita’s experiment?

Explanation:

Scenario 1

1.

The dependent variable is what is being measured or observed. Here, Dr. Wang is observing patients' anxiety levels, which depend on the room they wait in. So the dependent variable is patients' anxiety.

Independent variables are factors that might cause a change in the dependent variable. The room's location (A vs B, with A across from lab and B from reception) is a factor that could influence anxiety. Also, though rooms are decorated same, the TV control by patients might be a factor, but the main identifiable independent variable here is the waiting room's location (or the waiting room itself as a condition).

To find the cause, we can manipulate variables. For example, swap the rooms' functions (temporarily have room A across from reception and room B across from lab) and see if anxiety levels change. Or control the TV usage, but the key is to test the location factor. So one way is to switch the activities outside the rooms (e.g., have non - lab activities outside room A and lab activities outside room B) and measure anxiety again.

Answer:

Patients' anxiety

2.