An increase in a country’s population may contribute to the rate of technological progress because a larger population
a. forces the capital stock to be spread more thinly.
b. forces natural resources to be spread more thinly.
c. brings with it more scientists, inventors, and engineers.
d. brings with it more favorable recognition from other countries.

b. forces natural resources to be spread more thinly.

Explanation:

Population growth puts pressure on the use of natural resources as these are scarce resources and must be used rationally. As the population increases, more natural resources will be demanded and this may cause problems in the exploitation and use of these resources. Technology allows resources to be better exploited, that is, it focuses on resource productivity. Thus, if a particular natural resource was used in a production unit, technology can make these resources double. In other words, technology allows the resource to be more loosely spread.

there is an explationation of this on a site called crash   course world history 1

answer; overt behavior;