A recent study reports that students who just finished playing a prosocial video game were more likely to help others than students who had played a neutral or antisocial game. For this study, what is the independent variable?

Question

a.
The students who were given the neutral or antisocial game.

b.
The helping behavior of the students.

c.
The students who were given the prosocial game.

d.
The kind of game given to the students.

Answer 1

The correct answer is:

d. The kind of game given to the students.

In this study, the independent variable is the type of game that the students played (prosocial, neutral, or antisocial), as this is what the researchers manipulated to observe its effect on helping behavior.