A question about a study's conclusion tests what a comparison between groups can show. Read the sentence with the blank to see what the researchers are trying to explain. Then name what each group received, what happened in each group, and what both groups shared. A factor shared by both groups can't explain their difference, so predict the smallest conclusion the results support. Wrong choices often name a possible cause that the study didn't test.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look at what each group studied. What changed between the lists, and what stayed the same?
- Hint 2
Compare the groups' recall after the break. What did the researchers change that could be linked to the difference in recall?
Step-by-step
Use the difference between the groups
Step 1Map the groups
One group studied a grocery list arranged by category, while the other studied the same items in random order. Since the blank asks what may affect recall, what difference did the researchers test? The groups saw the same items in different arrangements. This lets us compare how people remember the material without changing the words they learned.
- Step 2
Compare recall
How did recall differ? After the same 30-minute break, the category group remembered significantly more items than the random-order group. The group with categories recalled more, even though the items and delay were the same. A feature shared by both groups can't explain this gap, so the result points to the difference in how the lists were presented.
- Step 3
Draw the smallest conclusion
What is the smallest conclusion this supports? may be influenced by asks for a possible effect, not a guaranteed one. The organization of the information when first learned names what differed between the lists, which fits the recall result. Choice B.