Question

andrea sommese, andrea temesi, and team investigated head - tilting behavior in a group of forty dogs, which included thirty - four typical dogs from five different breeds (including enzo, a whippet) and six dogs that had previously demonstrated giftedness at learning words, all of which were border collies. the researchers recorded the dogs head - tilting behavior in response to requests to fetch a toy that had been introduced early in the study. they found that all six gifted dogs tilted their heads at least some of the time when asked to retrieve the toy by name, while the typical dogs almost never tilted their heads. after reviewing the study, a student concludes that a tendency to tilt their heads is a characteristic trait of all border collies.
14 which finding from the study, if true, would most directly challenge the students conclusion?
a most of the gifted dogs tilted their heads to the same side in each trial.
b the typical dogs that tilted their heads appeared to be processing the meaning of the requests.
c the majority of dogs in the typical group were border collies.
d the border collies successfully fetched the toy more often than the dogs of other breeds did.

Explanation:

The student's conclusion is that head - tilting is a characteristic trait of all border collies. The study has two groups: gifted dogs (6 border collies) and typical dogs (34 non - gifted, including border collies). If the majority of dogs in the typical group were border collies (Option C), and the typical dogs (which are mostly border collies) almost never tilted their heads, this directly challenges the claim that head - tilting is a trait of all border collies.

• Option A: The side of head - tilting is not relevant to whether head - tilting is a trait of all border collies.
• Option B: What the typical dogs were doing (processing meaning) does not address the trait of border collies as a whole.
• Option D: Fetching the toy is not related to the head - tilting trait conclusion.

Answer:

C. The majority of dogs in the typical group were border collies.