Which type of distribution has a higher percentage of small deviations from the mean?

The characteristic of a leptokurtic distribution is that it has a higher peak and fatter tails compared to a normal distribution. This implies that a larger proportion of data points are found close to the mean (small deviations), while still allowing for a significant number of extreme values. In practical terms, a leptokurtic distribution often indicates more frequent observations near the average due to its sharp peak, indicating that small deviations from the mean are more common than in other types of distributions.

Conversely, a mesokurtic distribution, which refers to the typical normal distribution, does not have the same pronounced peak and fat tails; it has a moderate level of kurtosis that results in a more balanced spread of values around the mean. A platykurtic distribution is characterized by a lower peak and thinner tails, indicating fewer observations around the mean and more spread out values. When evaluating the normal distribution, it serves as a baseline comparison but does not exhibit the heightened prevalence of small deviations from the mean as observed in a leptokurtic distribution.

Thus, the identification of leptokurtic as the correct answer stems from the inherent relationship between the shape of the distribution and the concentration of values around the mean.