Why did the researchers describe the result as a 'lead' and not a rule?

A small study asked two groups of students to learn a list of word pairs in the evening. One group slept normally that night. The other stayed awake all night. Both groups then had two normal nights of sleep, and three days after learning, both were tested. The group that had slept on the first night recalled noticeably more pairs. The researchers concluded that sleep soon after learning plays a special role in fixing new memories, rather than sleep in general being good for recall. They cautioned that the sample was small and made up entirely of young adults, so the result should be treated as a lead for larger studies rather than as a rule.

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: A. The sample was small and consisted only of young adults

  1. Step 1: The passage gives two cautions about the sample. Step 2. A small, uniform sample limits how far the result can be generalised. Answer: small, young sample. Why not the others: The other reasons are not given in the passage.

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