Can we recall information better when we are not anxious? A cognitive psychologi

Question

Can we recall information better when we are not anxious? A cognitive psychologist hypothesized that we tend to remember things better when we are calm than when we are anxious. A group of college students were asked to read a detailed report about a traffic accident. The next day the students returned to take a test over information they had read. The students were randomly assigned to either an anxious group or a control group. Students in the anxious condition were told that their performance on the recall test would determine whether they would be entered into a raffle to win $1,000. Students in the control condition were not told anything.

The results showed that on average students in the control condition recalled 80% of the facts about the traffic accident whereas students in the anxious condition recalled 70%. A t-test showed that this difference was statistically significant. The researcher concluded that anxiety reduces memory.

1a) what was the independent variable?

A) recall performance

B) low traffic vs high traffic conditions

C) randomized groups

D) anxious vs not anxious conditions

1b) What was the dependent variable?

a) amount of traffic

b) recall perfomance

c) amount of money

d) anxiety scores

Explanation / Answer

Independent variable is the variable which is free to take values and dependent one is the variable about which we are making conclusion (it depends on independent variable).

Hence

1a) Independent variable is

D) anxious vs not anxious conditions

1b) Dependent variable is

b) recall perfomance

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