A finding question about results that change over time tests whether new evidence supports an explanation. Read the researchers' proposal, and split it into parts to separate the earlier result from what they think caused the later result. Then predict what that cause would change. Supporting evidence must show how the proposed cause leads to the result for the groups named. A finding can mention the right topic without showing that one thing caused another.
Hints
- Hint 1
Reread the researchers' proposal in the last sentence. Split it into what they say about the diagrams and what they say about practice.
- Hint 2
Compare the immediate quiz with the later test. Look for the change in the groups' score gap that the proposal needs to explain.
- Hint 3
How could a follow-up experiment tell you whether practice caused the change in the groups' score gap?
Step-by-step
Test whether practice closed the gap
Step 1Separate the results from the proposal
The immediate quiz showed that participants who viewed the version with omitted diagrams scored lower. After the practice period, the two groups performed similarly. What does the proposal say explains the change? The diagrams mattered, but practice with feedback made up for their absence, so the finding must explain why the earlier gap disappeared.
- Step 2
Predict a test of the cause
How can a follow-up test whether practice compensated for the initial disadvantage? We need to change practice access and compare how the two lesson groups respond, rather than only show that practice helps students in general. If practice made up for the missing diagrams, losing access should hurt that group more and reveal the disadvantage again. A gap that returns without practice would connect practice to the later similar scores.
- Step 3
Set aside findings that miss the link
Which findings show practice compensated for the initial disadvantage? Associated with higher test scores doesn't rule out other differences among participants, such as motivation. Accuracy on the next practice question isn't the final test gap. When decreases were approximately the same size, removing feedback shows no extra harm to the missing-diagram group. None directly shows practice closing the gap.
- Step 4
Use the change in practice access
The finding beginning Withholding access to the practice questions changes practice access and compares both lesson groups. The missing-diagram group loses more, creating a score gap that isn't there with full access. Without practice, the initial disadvantage caused by the missing diagrams remains, which shows practice made up for the drop in scores caused by missing diagrams. Choice B.