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14 Aug 2025, 08:50
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Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.
Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?
A. Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
B. Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
C. Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
D. Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
E. Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding
Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?
A. Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
B. Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
C. Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
D. Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
E. Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding
14 Aug 2025, 08:50
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Official Solution:
Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.
Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?
A. Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
B. Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
C. Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
D. Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
E. Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding
Note that this is the "most helpful" question type, which means that multiple answer choices may be helpful but your job is to pick the most helpful one, so just picking a helpful answer choice is not sufficient.
Option A: Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
Incorrect. This option concerns long-term job retention, while the hypothesis is about short-term performance improvements caused by a shift in perception. Information about retention does not help evaluate whether the perception change caused the productivity gains.
Option B: Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
Correct. If the workers who received the message became more focused and reduced distractions, that behavioral change could explain the performance improvement. This directly addresses whether a change in self-perception caused the observed effect, making it highly useful in evaluating the hypothesis.
Option C: Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
Incorrect. The argument already assumes both groups were comparable at baseline since they were chosen at random. Unless there is specific reason to believe otherwise, this information does not help evaluate whether the perception shift led to better performance.
Option D: Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
Incorrect. Satisfaction with pay is unrelated to the argument. The hypothesis is about how perceiving work as cognitively demanding and important affects task performance, not how it affects attitudes toward compensation.
Option E: Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding
Incorrect. General beliefs about clerical work in the population are outside the scope of the argument. The hypothesis concerns how a specific change in the participants’ perception affected their behavior and performance, not public opinion.
Answer: B
Researchers studying workplace productivity randomly assigned clerical workers to two equal groups. One group was told that their tasks, though routine, were cognitively demanding and vital to the company's operations. The other group received no such message. Over the following month, the first group showed a significant increase in typing speed and error reduction, despite working the same number of hours under identical conditions. The researchers hypothesized that the performance gains were caused by the workers' increased perception of their work as mentally engaging and important.
Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the researchers’ hypothesis?
A. Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
B. Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
C. Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
D. Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
E. Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding
Note that this is the "most helpful" question type, which means that multiple answer choices may be helpful but your job is to pick the most helpful one, so just picking a helpful answer choice is not sufficient.
Option A: Whether clerical workers who perceive their jobs as important are more likely to remain in their positions long term
Incorrect. This option concerns long-term job retention, while the hypothesis is about short-term performance improvements caused by a shift in perception. Information about retention does not help evaluate whether the perception change caused the productivity gains.
Option B: Whether those in the first group changed their time spent on personal distractions after receiving the message
Correct. If the workers who received the message became more focused and reduced distractions, that behavioral change could explain the performance improvement. This directly addresses whether a change in self-perception caused the observed effect, making it highly useful in evaluating the hypothesis.
Option C: Whether both groups were equally likely to have prior experience in clerical tasks
Incorrect. The argument already assumes both groups were comparable at baseline since they were chosen at random. Unless there is specific reason to believe otherwise, this information does not help evaluate whether the perception shift led to better performance.
Option D: Whether the workers in the first group reported greater satisfaction with their pay after receiving the message
Incorrect. Satisfaction with pay is unrelated to the argument. The hypothesis is about how perceiving work as cognitively demanding and important affects task performance, not how it affects attitudes toward compensation.
Option E: Whether routine clerical tasks are commonly perceived as cognitively undemanding
Incorrect. General beliefs about clerical work in the population are outside the scope of the argument. The hypothesis concerns how a specific change in the participants’ perception affected their behavior and performance, not public opinion.
Answer: B
