An experimenter had one group of participants eat ice cream that was packaged in a red carton, whereas another group of participants ate the same flavor ice cream from a green carton. Participants then indicated how much they liked the ice cream by rating the taste on a 1 5 scale. The independent variable in this experiment was the:
a. ice cream ratings.b. gender of the participant.c. color of the carton.d. flavor of the ice cream.