Final answer:
The observation of a higher room temperature correlating with lower student performance exemplifies a negative correlation, which indicates that as one variable increases, the other decreases. This is opposite to a positive correlation, where both variables move in the same direction. The correct option is A.
Step-by-step explanation:
The observation that the higher the room temperature, the lower the student performance would be an example of a negative correlation. This is because as one variable (room temperature) increases, the other variable (student performance) decreases. In general, a negative correlation indicates that the variables move in opposite directions. An easy way to remember this is to consider that a negative correlation suggests an inverse relationship between the two variables being compared.
As contrasted with a positive correlation, where variables move in the same direction, or increase and decrease together, a negative correlation means that one variable could increase while the other decreases. The correlation coefficient, represented by 'r', measures the strength and direction of this relationship. A negative correlation would have a correlation coefficient between -1 and 0.
For example, the warmer the classroom, the more that student performance may drop, showing a negative correlation. It is important to note that correlation does not imply causation. While a correlation coefficient can indicate the relationship between two variables, it does not necessarily mean that one variable is the cause of the other's change.