Answer: 'facilitation; improves'.
Explanation: Social facilitation is a phenomenon that happens when an individual performs better in the presence of others than they do when alone. Social facilitation was first described in 1898 when the presence of an audience was shown to enhance bicycle racers' performance. Later research, on the other hand, showed that this effect only applied to well-known or easy tasks.
When an individual is skilled in performing the job, the presence of others can lead to better performance. In contrast, when an individual is less experienced, it can lead to worse performance. Research on social facilitation began in the early 1900s with psychologists investigating the impact of the presence of others on simple tasks, such as working on a puzzle.
The original findings of Triplett (1898) led to a substantial amount of research, with the majority of the research in the area focusing on the impact of the audience on performance. However, over the years, various experiments conducted by psychologists led to the conclusion that social facilitation can be attributed to the strength of dominant responses, i.e. when we are in the presence of others, our dominant response tends to be more powerful than in solitude. Therefore, the correct option is: (a) 'facilitation; improves'.