document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=320293>Question 320293</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> Which of the following is TRUE about the standard deviation of a normal distribution?   <BR>\n" );
document.write( "A.  The standard deviation is the line of symmetry of the normal curve. <BR>\n" );
document.write( "B.  The graph of the normal curve is higher or taller when the standard deviation is larger. <BR>\n" );
document.write( "C.  The standard deviation does not influence the graph of a normal distribution. <BR>\n" );
document.write( "D.  The standard deviation describes how much of the data are spread out and affects the line of symmetry. <BR>\n" );
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document.write( "</I><HR><TABLE width=100%><TR><TD><B><A HREF=http://www.algebra.com/>Algebra.Com's</A> Answer #229427 by </B><A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=Theo><B>Theo(13342)</B></A><img src=\"/images/stars/stars-13.gif\" alt=\"\" >&nbsp;<A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=Theo><IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/aboutme-small.gif BORDER=0 alt=\"About Me\" VALIGN=MIDDLE></A>&nbsp;<IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/cgi-bin/show-face.mpl?user=Theo><BR>You can <A HREF=\"/cgi-bin/embed-solution.mpl?show=1&solution=229427\">put this solution on YOUR website!</A><BR><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> Answer is B as far as I can see.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "The standard deviation tells you what percentage of the scores are a certain value.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "That would be represented by the area under the curve.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "If your x-axis are the scores and your y-axis are the percentage of the scores that are a certain value, then the following is true:\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "A smaller standard deviation will have more of the scores closer to the mean which means the curve will be higher and narrower.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "A larger standard deviation will have more of the scores further away from the mean which means the curve will be lower and wider.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "That fits selection B the best.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "The standard deviation does not affect the line of symmetry in a normal distribution.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "That is always in the middle regardless of how fat or skinny the curve is.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "The line of symmetry is the mean of the distribution when the distribution is normal.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "A distribution of scores with a smaller standard deviation might be represented by a curve where 90% of the scores are at the mean.  Since the area under the curve cannot be greater than 100%, this means that there's only 10% of the curve to represent the remaining scores.   That makes a very tall and narrow curve.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "A distribution of scores with a larger standard deviation might be represented by a curve where 50% of the scores are at the mean.   Since the area under the curve cannot be greater than 100%, this means that there's 50% of the curve to represent the remaining scores.  That makes a shorter and wider curve.\r<BR>\n" );
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document.write( "The mean will always be in the middle of the normal distribution so the symmetry of the curve is not changed, only the shape.  50% of the scores will still be below the mean and 50% of the scores will still be above the mean.\r<BR>\n" );
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