When a person responds the same way to just about every item on a rating scale, this respondent is engaging in

Correct option is C

Nondifferentiation

It refers to response biases that can occur in surveys or questionnaires, particularly when using rating scales (like Likert scales).

Let's analyze each option:

1. Telescoping: This is a memory bias where people tend to remember events as having occurred more recently (forward telescoping) or longer ago (backward telescoping) than they actually did. It's related to recall accuracy, not a pattern of consistent responses across a scale.

2. Satisficing: This term, coined by Herbert Simon, describes a decision-making strategy that aims for a satisfactory or "good enough" result, rather than an optimal solution. In the context of surveys, "satisficing" refers to respondents giving answers that are adequate but not necessarily thoroughly thought out or accurate, often due to a lack of motivation or cognitive effort. This can manifest as respondents quickly selecting options without careful consideration, which could lead to repetitive responses, but it's a broader concept than just always picking the same option.

3. Nondifferentiation: This is the most direct and accurate term for the behavior described. Nondifferentiation, also known as "straight-lining" or "response set," occurs when a respondent gives the same answer to almost every question on a rating scale, regardless of the content of the question. This could be due to:

Lack of motivation: The respondent might be bored, fatigued, or simply not invested in providing accurate answers.
Acquiescence bias: Tendency to agree with all statements (e.g., always choosing "Strongly Agree").
Disacquiescence bias: Tendency to disagree with all statements (e.g., always choosing "Strongly Disagree").
Extreme responding: Always choosing the highest or lowest point on the scale.
Central tendency bias: Always choosing the middle option. In all these cases, the respondent is failing to differentiate their responses based on the individual items.
4. Optimizing: In survey research, "optimizing" refers to the ideal cognitive process a respondent would undertake to provide an accurate answer. This involves comprehending the question, retrieving relevant information, forming a judgment, and then mapping that judgment onto the response options. It's the opposite of satisficing and does not describe a pattern of repetitive responses.

Given the description "responds the same way to just about every item on a rating scale," the phenomenon is best described as a failure to differentiate responses.