From a Time

question 51

Essay

From a Time.com article entitled "Why Men Shouldn't Listen to Rock Music While Playing Board Games," published on December 13, 2016.
Researchers Fancourt, Burton, and Williamon wanted to find out whether different types of music would impact participants' performance on a mock-surgery game, "Operation." Many real-life surgeons listen to music while operating, so the authors were interested in whether this may actually help performance, and whether that differed by sex of the participant.
The psychologists asked male and female participants to play the mock-surgery game, "Operation," in which they needed to remove three different organs from a "patient" using tweezers. The experimenters played either rock music, classical music, or operating-room sounds. They found that the type of music made a difference on the performance of male participants, who were slower to complete the task (in seconds) while listening to rock music compared with classical music. The performance of female participants did not differ based on the type of music they listened to.
What is the difference between a manipulated and a measured variable? Indicate which variables are manipulated and which variables are measured in this study.

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Definitions:

Distressful

Causing anxiety, sorrow, or pain; experiencing emotional strain or suffering.

Major Depressive Disorder

A mental health issue involving persistent feelings of melancholy or lack of desire in engaging activities, severely impairing everyday life quality.

Feeling Isolated

The emotional state of feeling separated from others, which can result in loneliness, depression, and a sense of disconnection from social support.

Discouraged

Refers to feeling less motivated or confident about doing something, often as a result of difficulty or failure.