A mathematical model

Recall that a mathematical model is a model framed in terms of mathematical stuff such as formulas. In contrast, a statistical model is a mathematical model based on data.

In this exercise, you'll use a toy mathematical model of outcomes on student tests. The model is implemented as a function, test_scores(), which takes the following inputs:

acad_motivation: a number from -3 to 3 indicating the level of academic motivation
relig_motivation: a number from -3 to 3 indicating the level of religious motivation
school: either "public" or "private" to indicate whether the student attends public or private school

You'll start simply by using the test_scores() function to produce outputs for various levels of the inputs. Use the function like this (copy and paste into the console):

test_scores(school = "private", 
            acad_motivation = 1, 
            relig_motivation = 3)

Which of these statements is true?

Possible Answers

When both academic and religious motivation are zero, private schools have higher scores than public schools.
The score is higher when academic motivation is 1 and religious motivation is 2, compared to when academic motivation is 2 and religious motivation is 1.
Public schools have higher scores than private schools when religious motivation is -2 and academic motivation is 2.

Exercise

A mathematical model

Instructions

Possible Answers