Standard deviation is the average variation of scores from the

• A. highest to the lowest.
• B. mean.
• C. lowest to the highest.
• D. median.

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the concept of standard deviation: It is a measure of the amount of variation or dispersion in a set of values.
2. Recognize that standard deviation is not about the average variation from the highest to the lowest score, but rather how much individual scores differ from the mean.
3. Recall that the mean is the average of all scores in a dataset, calculated by summing all the scores and dividing by the number of scores.
4. Identify that the standard deviation is calculated by taking the square root of the variance, which is the average of the squared differences from the mean.
5. Clarify that the correct term related to standard deviation is 'mean,' as it is the central point from which deviations are measured.