Self-study
When adults toss balls to very young children they generally try to toss them as slowly as possible to compensate for the children's developing coordination. ███ ██████ ███████ ████ ████ ███████ █████ ██████████ █████████████ ████████ ████████ ████ ██ ██████ ████ ████████ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ █ ██████ ██████
"Surprising" Phenomenon
Why do children find it easier to catch balls when they are thrown faster?
Objective
Any hypothesis explaining this phenomenon must state a difference between balls thrown slowly and balls thrown at high speeds. This difference must result in children more easily catching balls thrown at high speeds.
12.
Which one of the following, ██ █████ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ███ ████ █████ ████████ ████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ █ ██████ ██████
a
Balls thrown at █ ██████ ██████ ██████ █████ ██████ ██ █ ██████ ██████ ███████ ███████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ███████ ███ ████████ ██ ███████ ███ █████████████
This explains why children have an easier time catching faster balls. Because the high speed triggers different regions in the brain, they catch fast balls using a different mechanism than they use to catch slow balls.
b
Balls that are ██████ ████ ██████ ████ ██ ████ █ ██████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ████ ██████ ████ ███ ████ ████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ███ █████ ███████ ███
This deepens the mystery. If balls tossed slowly are less likely to be obscured, children should catch them more easily.
c
Adults generally find ██ ██████ ██ █████ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ██████ ████ █████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ █ ██████ ██████
This refers to adults, not children. It is not implied that the catching abilities of adults are aligned with or opposite those of children.
d
Children are able ██ ████ █████ ████ ██ ███ ██████ ████ ████ ████████ ████ ████ █████ ████ ████ ████ ████ █████ ███ ████ ████ ████ ███████
This refers only to children’s ability to throw balls accurately, not to catch them. It does not explain why children find balls easier to catch when they are coming in faster.
e
There is a █████ ██ ███ ████ ███ █████ ███ ██ ██████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████ ███ ████████ █████ ██ ████ ████ ██████████ ██ ████████ █████
This limit does not explain why children more easily catch faster balls in general. It introduces a separate phenomenon at higher speeds, without explaining the phenomenon at hand.