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Complete Question Explanation

Resolve the Paradox-X. The correct answer choice is (C)

The study indicates that watching violence on TV and being disciplined in school are correlated in school-age children. The four incorrect answer choices will successfully explain the correlation, typically by showing that one event has caused another. The correct answer choice will either make the issue even more confusing, or have no explanatory effect.

Answer choice (A): If watching violence on TV leads to boredom with schoolwork, then no wonder children who watch violent progams are more frequently disciplined in school. Because this answer choice establishes a causal link between witnessing violence on TV and being disciplined in school, the statistical relationship described in the stimulus is thereby explained and the answer choice is incorrect.

Answer choice (B): If parents who watch violent programs with their children end up legitimizing antisocial behavior, it isn’t surprising that their children are more frequently disciplined in school. Because this answer choice establishes a causal link between watching violence on TV and being disciplined in school, it explains the statistical relationship described in the stimulus and is therefore incorrect.

Answer choice (C): This is the correct answer choice. The statistical relationship described in the stimulus has to do with how children, not parents, react to violence on TV. The parents’ reaction is inconsequential and has no explanatory function in the stimulus.

Answer choice (D): If children mimic what they learn from watching violent programs on TV, little wonder they are more likely to be disciplined in school. Because this answer choice establishes a causal link between witnessing violence on TV and being disciplined in school, the statistical relationship described in the stimulus is thereby explained and the answer choice is incorrect.

Answer choice (E): While this answer choice presents a correlation that seems irrelevant at first, we need to examine its implications a bit more closely. If parents who do not allow their children to watch violence on TV are also careful about other aspects of their children’s behavior, it is reasonable to suspect that such children are better behaved and less likely to be disciplined than other children. By comparison, children who watch more violence on TV would be more likely to be disciplined.

Because this answer choice establishes a causal link between not witnessing violence on TV and not being disciplined in school, the statistical relationship is thereby explained and the answer choice is incorrect.

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