Question

In a laboratory, smokers are asked to "drive" using a computerized driving simulator equipped with a stick shift and a gas pedal. The object is to maximize the distance covered by driving as fast as possible on a winding road while avoiding rear-end collisions. Some of the participants smoke a real cigarette immediately before climbing into the driver's seat. Others smoke a fake cigarette without nicotine.
You are interested in comparing how many collisions the two groups have. In this study, the independent variable is

Answer 1

In this study, the independent variable is the type of cigarette smoked by the participants. Specifically, it consists of two levels: one group smokes a real cigarette containing nicotine, while the other group smokes a fake cigarette without nicotine. This variable is manipulated by the researchers to observe its effect on the number of collisions that occur during the driving simulation.