A Psychologist Gives Several Personality Tests to a Group of Participants

question 47

Multiple Choice

A psychologist gives several personality tests to a group of participants. When sifting through her data, she is surprised to find that people born in the summer have a slightly higher (but statistically significant) need for Achievement than those born in the winter. She concludes that exposing children to the stimulation of the outdoors during the first few months of life (as the summer-born children were) results in a higher need for Achievement when the children become adults. What might we conclude from this?

• A) The hypothesis needs to be tested with a controlled lab study.
• B) The hypothesis has not been tested because the researcher explained the findings after seeing the results.
• C) The hypothesis is supported with these data, but probably should be replicated to see if it generalizes to other samples.
• D) The hypothesis is useless because it cannot be tested.

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Definitions:

Phrases

A collection of words that express a concept or part of a sentence.

Independent Spirit

The quality of thinking and acting autonomously, emphasizing self-reliance and distinctiveness from others.

Academic Genius

An individual who demonstrates exceptional intellectual ability in academic endeavors.

Incubation

A process of unconscious recombination of thought elements that often leads to insights and creative solutions.