"in one set of experiments described in the textbook, some 4- to 7-year-old boys were told that boys in general are good at a particular game, whereas others were told that a particular boy was good at it. the boys who were told that boys in general were good at the game "felt less happy and less competent, liked the game less, [and] were less persistent" (cimpian, 2013, p. 272). the passage in quotations makes reference to variables."

dependent

Explanation:

The experiment is trying to find out the how the attitude of the boys changes when they are told that they are good at it.

In any experiment to find out the relation between two variables it is observed that change in which variable causes a change in the other variable.

The variable which changes irrespective of the other variable is called the independent variable.

The variable which changes because of the change in the independent variable is called the dependent variable.

Here, the independent variable is what the boys were told before playing the game and the dependent variable is their performance.

Hence, the passage in quotations makes reference to the dependent variable.