A psychodynamic psychologist used an interval-level scale to measure the degree of Oedipal conflict in a large sample of elementary age boys. He then had each one, by himself, play a target-shooting game where the boy had equal opportunity to shoot at male and female targets. The psychologist calculated the percentage of time the male target was shot at and considered that a measure of degree of hostility toward father figures. He wanted to use a Pearson r to examine the relationship, if any and if positive or negative, between Oedipal conflict and hostility toward father figures. Here is the scatterplot of the results.

(a) Check the assumptions and

(b) Decide if he can proceed with the planned Pearson r.

Oedipal conflict Percentage shots at male target