Question

Dr. Kid is studying the effects of sleep on a child's reading speed. She initially takes a measure of each child's reading speed. Next, she varies the amount of sleep different children get. Finally, she re-measures their reading speed. What is the independent variable in her study?

a) initial reading speed
b) post-reading speed
c) amount of sleep
d) the difference between the initial and post-reading speeds

Answer 1

c) amount of sleep

Step-by-step explanation:

Based on the scenario being described within the question it can be said that the independent variable in Dr. Kid's study would be the amount of sleep. This is because an independent variable is one which does not depend/rely on any other aspect of the experiment. Therefore in this experiment that variable is the amount of sleep because it does not depend on other aspects, even though other aspects of the experiment may depend on it.