Question

devine et al. are interested in assessing whether active versus passive play causes a preference for sweet or salty foods in toddlers. they assign groups of children to either an active play, passive play, or no play group and record their food choices when presented with a variety of sweet and salty foods. in this study, ____ is the independent variable and ____ is the control group.

• type of play; no play
• no play; type of play
• food choice; no play
• active play; passive play

Explanation:

To solve this, we recall:

• Independent Variable (IV): The factor manipulated by the researcher. Here, the "type of play" (active, passive, no play) is manipulated.
• Control Group: The group with no manipulation (used for comparison). The "no play" group is not exposed to active/passive play, so it’s the control.

Now, analyze options:

• Option 1: "type of play" is IV (manipulated), "no play" is control (no manipulation) → matches.
• Option 2: Reverses IV and control → incorrect.
• Option 3: "food choice" is the dependent variable (measured), not IV → incorrect.
• Option 4: "active play" and "passive play" are levels of IV, not IV/control → incorrect.

Answer:

A. type of play; no play