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.
689 exam-style questions on AQA A Level Psychology Scientific processes. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.