Scenario
Psychologists designed an experiment to test the effects of fast-tempo background music on concentration and focus. They recruited a sample of 40 university students and asked them to complete two proofreading tasks. Both tasks involved reading a 300-word academic text and finding as many grammatical errors as possible within a 3-minute time limit.
Each participant completed both tasks:
The order in which they completed the tasks was counterbalanced.
Question
Identify one potential extraneous variable in this experiment. Explain how this variable might have influenced the results of the study.
Practise AQA A Level Psychology Scientific processes with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 689 questions, matched to the AQA A Level Psychology (7182) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.