14. Researchers have argued that our ability to taste sweet flavors is best when the food is placed on the front of our tongues. To test this theory, a researcher randomly selects 20 males and 20 females. The researcher places a sweet food on the front of the males’ tongues and on the sides of the females’ tongues. The researcher then measures the participants’ perception of the sweet flavor. In this study, gender is a(n) variable.

a. independent

b. dependent

c. confounding

d. control