Identify the dependent and independent variables on the following scenario: a researcher is studying the effect of sleep on academic performance, thinking that less sleep will lead to lower grades. she has some people sleep six hours per night, some people sleep three hours per night, and some people sleep as much as they want. she then monitors academic behavior during english and math classes among participants.

And independent variable (IV) is a variable that is not dependant on something else. a dependant variable (DV) depends on something else.

in this situation the IV is the amount of sleep. The DV would be the academic behavior. if it was in a chart it would be like this

        X                                             Y
amount of sleep                 academic behavior 
        6                                              ?
        3                                              ?
as much as they want                     ?

What story are you talking about exactly?