In a 2016 study, Eastern Washington University psychologist Amani El-Alayli found that, among the study participants who experienced frisson (a...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

• In a 2016 study,
  • Eastern Washington University psychologist Amani El-Alayli found that,
    • among the study participants
      • who experienced frisson
        • (a physiological response akin to goosebumps or getting the chills)
      • while listening to music,
    • there was one personality trait
      • that they scored particularly high on [?]
        • openness to experience.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's read from the beginning to understand what this is about:

• In a 2016 study, Eastern Washington University psychologist Amani El-Alayli found that...
  • So we have a researcher who discovered something in a study.

What did she find?

• 'among the study participants who experienced frisson (a physiological response akin to goosebumps or getting the chills) while listening to music'
  • This narrows down which participants we're talking about -
  • the ones who got chills or goosebumps while listening to music.
• 'there was one personality trait that they scored particularly high on'
  • Among these participants, there was one personality trait they all scored high on.
  • This introduces the existence of a trait but doesn't name it yet.

This is where we have the blank. Let's look at the choices:

• Choice A: high. On (period, new sentence)
• Choice B: high on; (semicolon)
• Choice C: high on (no punctuation)
• Choice D: high on: (colon)

To see what works here, let's read what comes after the blank and understand what it's saying!

• 'openness to experience'
  • This is the name of the personality trait they scored high on.
  • It's answering the question: "Which personality trait?"

Now let's understand the complete picture:

• The sentence says: 'there was one personality trait that they scored particularly high on [?] openness to experience'
  • The structure is:
    • First part: introduces that there was ONE personality trait (but doesn't name it)
    • Second part: identifies WHICH trait it was - openness to experience

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The first part makes a general statement about "one personality trait"
• The second part gives us the specific information - it names what that trait is
• These two parts have a special relationship:
  • The second part identifies or specifies what was mentioned in the first part
• This is exactly when we use a colon:
  • to introduce specific information that identifies something mentioned more generally

So we need Choice D: high on:

The colon signals to the reader: "Here comes the specific identity of what I just mentioned generally."

Grammar Concept Applied

Using a Colon to Introduce Specific Information

A colon is used when you make a general statement and then want to provide specific information that identifies, explains, or lists what you just mentioned. The pattern is:

General statement: specific information

Example 1:

• General: The study revealed an important finding
• With colon: The study revealed an important finding: meditation reduces stress by 30%.
• "an important finding" = general mention
• "meditation reduces stress by 30%" = specific identification of what that finding is

Example 2:

• General: She had one goal in mind
• With colon: She had one goal in mind: winning the championship.
• "one goal" = general mention
• "winning the championship" = specific identification of what that goal is

In our question:

• General statement: "there was one personality trait that they scored particularly high on"
• Colon introduces: openness to experience (the specific identification of which trait)

The colon tells the reader: "I just mentioned something generally - now I'm going to tell you specifically what it is."