What was the average humility score for participants in the control group according to the researchers' findings?

• A. It exceeded 4.0.
• B. It was exactly 3.5.
• C. It was above 2.0 but below 3.0.
• D. It did not exceed 3.5.

Answer: (D)

The question tests how to interpret results that report an upper bound for a mean. When researchers say the average humility score “did not exceed 3.5,” they’re giving an upper limit: the control group’s mean is at most 3.5. So the best description of the finding is that the average did not exceed 3.5.

Why this fits better than the other options: the result isn’t stating a value higher than 3.5, so anything implying the mean exceeds 3.5 is inconsistent. It also isn’t specifying an exact value; the bound-style phrasing is about the limit, not a precise figure. The option describing the mean as between 2.0 and 3.0 is more specific than the reported bound and would only be correct if the exact mean fell in that range, which isn’t indicated by the bound.