Below there is a unified story, or anecdote, broken up into lettered sections (a, b, c, d, etc.). In which section of the anecdote is a hypothesis tested and falsified?

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This question asks us to identify which section of the anecdote tests a hypothesis and then falsifies it, so I will examine each option in turn to see whether it presents a testable hypothesis and a subsequent falsification.
Option 1: "You wake up one morning, feeling very normal, and then shuffle into the bathroom and look in the mirror. You see Ella Fitzgerald's reflection staring back at you." This moment describes a surprising perceptual result, but it does not present a test of a specific hypothesis about the transformation nor a deliberate falsification attempt. It reads more like the initial observation than a hypothesis-testing step.
Option 2: "You are aware that your friend Joaquim... has been experimenting with personality transfers, and you guess that, while you slept, he put your personality into Ella Fitzgerald's body." Here, the narrator hypothesizes a possible mechanism (personality transfer into another body) and makes an inference about what might have happened. However, there is no described action specifically undertaken to test this hypothesis and falsify it within this option alone; it’s more of a speculative setup.
Option 3: "You know that on Joaquim's method of performing personality transfers, if X's personality is transferred into Y's body, then Y's personality must also be transferred into X's body; thus, you reason that if Joaquim is indeed behind your sudden transformation, then Ella Fitzgerald's personality would be in your body." This option articulates a testable prediction derived from the method (reciprocal transfer). It explicitly proposes a testable consequence, but the option itself does not describe performing the test or observing the outcome; it’s a logical deduction rather than an execution of the test.
Option 4: "You call Ms. Fitzgerald's house, but when she answers the phone, she insists that she still has her usual body." This is an observational assertion about another person’s body, used to challenge the hypothesis of a body swap. It is not a direct test of the hypothesis via experimentation or falsification; it’s more of a declarative counter-evidence, not an explicit experimental test.
Option 5: "Forlorn, you return to the drawing board, howling as you go, \"Who could be responsible for this attack upon decency?\"" This is an emotional reaction and a rhetorical question, not a hypothesis, test, or falsification step. It does not engage in any firm hypothesis testing.
Option 6: "You start searching through your house for clues, and you discover a life-size poster of Ella Fitzgerald with the face cut out." This is a clue discovery rather than an experimental test of a hypothesis about body swapping; it provides evidence that could influence beliefs but doesn’t describe testing a specific hypothesis and falsifying it.
Option 7: "You conjecture that you do not have Ella Fitzgerald's body at all; someone, you think, has merely taped her picture on your face. And you think you know who: it is your friend Pafnutzius..." Here the narrator forms a hypothesis about the external artifice (a taped picture) and even identifies a suspect. Yet there is no described action that tests this hypothesis and falsifies it in this moment; it’s more of a speculative hypothesis with a proposed culprit.
Option 8: "You reason that if you do just have a picture taped to your face, then you will be able to discover that by simply going back into the bathroom and trying to pull it off." This sentence explicitly states an experimental plan to test the hypothesis (that a picture is taped to the face) by attempting to remove it in the bathroom. It directly connects hypothesis testing with a planned falsification action.
Option 9: "You run back into the bathroom, rip the picture from your face, and see that, indeed, you still have your own body. Wheeling around, you see Pafnutzius glaring evilly at you. \"You see,\" she says, \"it is I who perpetrate this wave of sin against the decency that you so irrationally adore.\"" This is the actual falsification outcome: the test (pulling off the picture) shows the hypothesis was false, as the body remains unchanged, followed by the conclusion attributed to the antagonist. This is the concrete testing and falsification moment.
Across these options, the ones that describe hypothesizing and then performing a test to falsify the hypothesis are option 8 (the testing plan) and option 9 (the actual test and falsification result). The strongest, explicit instance of testing a hypothesis and falsifying it is captured in option 9, where the test is carried out and the hypothesis is falsified by the observed outcome. The other options contribute to the narrative or propose hypotheses without describing a genuine falsification step, or describe emotional or evidentiary aspects rather than a test-to-falsify sequence.

CRITICAL THINKING & COMP PHIL 1600-02 (90212) Midterm Exam 2, Section VIII (Corresponds to Homework Set XX)

Below there is a unified story, or anecdote, broken up into lettered sections (a, b, c, d, etc.). In which section of the anecdote is a hypothesis tested and falsified?

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