perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements; filled with bewilderment; "obviously bemused by his questions"; "bewildered and confused"; "a cloudy and confounded philosopher"; "just a mixed-up kid"; "she felt lost on the first day of school"
An independent variable and an extraneous variable are confounded when their effects on the dependent variable cannot be distinguished from each other Often a comparative study using a control group is used to avoid confounding variables