Identifying Confounds

A researcher conducts a study to determine whether smiling affects students’ interest in the
course material. In her 8am Physiological Psychology course, she never smiles while teaching.
In her 9am Physiological Psychology course, she smiles often while teaching. At the end of the
semester, she gives students a questionnaire to assess the extent to which students liked the
course material. The results showed that the 9am class liked the course material more than the
8am class.

1. What is the independent variable?

Teacher’s smile
2. What is the dependent variable?

Students interests in course material

3. What is the confounding?

Timing of the class

4. How could the confounding be fixed?

Teach two classes at the same time, that is, 8 a.m. in two different semesters with the same
course

A researcher is interested in the effects of cocaine on learning. A group of rats is randomly

assigned to receive either cocaine or a non-harmful saline solution. The rats are taught how to
run a maze. The cocaine rats need to be reared away from the control group rats, so they are
handled and taught by one experimenter, and the control group rats are handled and taught by
another experimenter. The results showed that the control group rats learned how to run the
maze more quickly than the cocaine rats.

5. What is the independent variable?

Drug condition (cocaine, saline)

6. What is the dependent variable?

The speed with which rats learn to run a maze

7. What is the confounding?

There were two different experimenters for two groups of rats.

8. How could the confounding be fixed?

Same experimenter should train both groups of rats.