Janice is taking the SAT to meet an entrance requirement for a college. On her first attempt she scores way below average. She decides to review and then take the test again to see if she can improve her score. She then scored higher the second time she took the test. This example illustrates the possibility of ________ as a plausible rival hypothesis.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Regression artifact (or regression to the mean) is a plausible rival hypothesis in this scenario because Janice's initial score was significantly below average, and without any specific intervention other than her decision to review and retake the test, her score improved. This suggests that her first score might have been unusually low due to chance, and her second score is closer to her true ability level, illustrating regression toward the mean.

Janice Is Taking the SAT to Meet an Entrance Requirement