Question

read this challenging test item carefully. the primary objective of the dawes act was to - a promote cultural assimilation of american indians b turn american indian reservations into corporate farmland c end warfare between american indians and the u.s. military d promote american indian investment in private industry staar u.s. history 2016 #9 examine thinking read what each student thinks. then answer the question. lucia thinks... i dont know what it covered, but if its called an act, it was some government thing, like a law. so congress must have thought it would be good for the country. lets see... rodrigo thinks... i dont know who dawes was, much less what kind of act he put on. but act probably doesnt mean like in a play. lots of words have more than one meaning. i wonder how many i can think of... which student is likely to do better on this item, and why?

Explanation:

Lucia is approaching the question in a more productive way. She recognizes that an "act" is likely a government - related law (a correct assumption as acts are often laws passed by Congress). She then starts to reason about the purpose of the act in a way that is relevant to answering the question. Rodrigo, on the other hand, is getting distracted by trying to figure out the meaning of "act" in a non - relevant way (thinking about the word "act" as in a play) and is not focused on the task of answering the multiple - choice question about the Dawes Act.

Answer:

Lucia is likely to do better. She makes a relevant assumption about the nature of an "act" (as a government law) and starts to reason towards answering the question, while Rodrigo is distracted by non - relevant word analysis.