194k views
5 votes
Who would be exhibiting normal behavior under the statistical definition of abnormality?

a.
A U.S. President (one of forty-three men)
b.
A Nepalese speaker (approximately 30,000,000 people on earth)
c.
A person with an IQ above 115 (almost 16% of the population)
d.
A resident of the United States with a motor vehicle (for every 1,000 residents, there are approximately 800 motor vehicles)

User Birdie
by
8.4k points

1 Answer

4 votes

Final answer:

A person with an IQ above 115, which is about 16% of the population, would be exhibiting normal behavior under the statistical definition of abnormality because this falls within the typical statistical range (c).

Step-by-step explanation:

Under the statistical definition of abnormality, normalcy is usually defined by what is statistically average or typical within a given population. In this context, to answer who would be exhibiting normal behavior, we need to consider the distribution percentages of different characteristics in the given populations. Considering this, a person with an IQ above 115 would be seen as exhibiting normal behavior, given that approximately 16% of the population falls into this category, which is within two standard deviations from the mean IQ score.

According to the statistical definition of abnormality, the person exhibiting normal behavior would be c. A person with an IQ above 115. This is because an IQ score above 115 falls within one standard deviation above the mean, which is considered average. The majority of people have IQ scores between 85 and 115, and only about 2% of the population has an IQ score above 130, which is considered superior.

Therefore, out of the given options, a person with an IQ above 115 would be exhibiting normal behavior according to the statistical definition of abnormality.

User Itay Gal
by
8.1k points