A researcher creates a new patience scale. A scatterplot shows that people with higher scores on the new scale also tend to score higher on an established patience questionnaire. What does this pattern support?

A news headline says, ‘New Study Proves Social Media Causes Depression.’ The article describes a survey in which people who reported more social media use also tended to report more depressive symptoms. What should a careful reader do before accepting the headline?

A company introduces a leadership-training program. Three months later, employee productivity is higher than it was before the program. During the same period, the company also hired additional staff to reduce workload. Which issue should a researcher consider?

A researcher has a theory that interruptions make it harder for people to keep information active in memory. Which statement is the best example of a testable hypothesis based on this theory?

A researcher predicts that children who receive praise for effort will spend more time trying difficult puzzles than children who receive neutral comments. The data do not show a difference between the two groups. What is the best next step in the theory-data cycle?

A student says, ‘The new planning app lowered my anxiety because I used it for two weeks and felt calmer.’ Which question would most improve the student’s reasoning?

A study finds that students who report using more self-testing while studying also tend to earn higher exam scores. Which interpretation best fits the evidence?

A researcher studies whether feedback format affects employees’ confidence using a new scheduling system. Employees receive written comments, audio comments, or video comments. In this study, what are written, audio, and video comments?

A researcher wants to measure people’s confidence in using a new home blood-pressure monitor. Which measure would be the weakest operational definition of confidence?

Researchers observe how preschool children learn the meaning of new words after hearing them in different sentence contexts. What feature most strongly suggests that this is basic research?