The four researchers below are all conducting research on how people learn paired associates. Which of them is most clearly drawing an inference about a cognitive process?
A) Dr. Andrade tells some people to repeat each pair out loud several times, and these people perform better than people not told to repeat pairs. He concludes that oral repetition facilitates learning.
B) Dr. Barnard tells some people to form a visual image of each pair, and these people remember more pairs correctly than subjects not told to form images. She concludes that visual imagery facilitates learning.
C) Dr. Carrera records the brain waves of people studying paired associates and subjects quietly meditating. She observes that there are different patterns of brain waves for the two activities.
D) Dr. Davis compares how similarly twins and pairs of unrelated children learn paired associates. Finding greater similarity in the performance of twins, he concludes that learning ability is influenced by heredity.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Dr. Barnard is testing the hypothesis that visual imagery facilitates learning, and draws an inference about the role of cognitive processes (specifically, visual imagery) in learning paired associates. The other researchers are making observations or comparisons, but are not making direct inferences about cognitive processes.

The Four Researchers Below Are All Conducting Research on How