Video games mindless? “Playing video games not so mindless.” This was the headline of a news report14 about a study that concluded that young adults who regularly play video games demonstrated better visual skills than young adults who do not play regularly. Sixteen young men volunteered to take a series of tests that measured their visual skills; those who had played video games in the previous six months performed better on the tests than those who hadn’t played.

a. What are the explanatory and response variables?

b. Was this an observational study or an experiment?

Explain.

c. Specify a potential lurking variable. Explain your reasoning.