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- Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:00 am
#32456
Complete Question Explanation
Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (D)
The length of this stimulus is daunting. However, the content is a very manageable fact set that funnels you down to a clear prephrase.
The author discusses hypnosis, and the word choice foreshadows the author’s doubts about the truth of claims that hypnosis can increase a person’s power of recall. We are told that a recent study “illuminates the supposed connection between hypnosis and the increased power of recall.”
In the study, test subjects listened to a long piece of instrumental music with which they were unfamiliar. Then subjects were then placed under hypnosis. While under hypnosis, half of the subjects were asked to recall parts of the music they had heard. The other half was asked to recall parts of “the film they had just viewed.” Despite the fact that they had not just viewed a film, these subjects were as “equally confident and detailed in their movie recollections” as were the other subjects in their descriptions of the music they had actually heard.
The question stem identifies this is as a Must Be True question. While we do not know whether the subjects’ descriptions of the music piece were accurate, we know the descriptions of the movie were inaccurate, since those people had not just seen a movie. We can infer that for the subjects who “recalled” details of the movie they had not actually seen, hypnosis did not increase their recall of actual facts, but rather suggested a false memory.
Answer choice (A): This answer choice goes too far. We can infer from the stimulus only that the claims regarding the connection between hypnosis and the power of recall appear to be overstated.
Answer choice (B): This is a tempting answer choice, because we know that half of the subjects “recalled” a false memory. However, we do not know whether the other half of the subjects, who were asked to recall details about unfamiliar music they had just heard, did so accurately. It may be the case that hypnosis does increase recall, even though those under hypnosis are also susceptible to suggestion and the planting of false memories.
Answer choice (C): As with answer choice (B), while we know false memories were reported by half of the subjects, we do not know whether the other half, who were asked about the music, reported false memories.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice, because it is a very restrained statement of the inference described above. Although we do not know about the accuracy of the music related memories, we know that the details about the “movie” recalled by half of the test subjects depended on the suggestion provided by the researchers.
Answer choice (E): Although the stimulus dealt with both visual and auditory memory, the visual memory portion was not about memory at all, but rather the susceptibility of those under hypnosis to the power of suggestion.
Must Be True. The correct answer choice is (D)
The length of this stimulus is daunting. However, the content is a very manageable fact set that funnels you down to a clear prephrase.
The author discusses hypnosis, and the word choice foreshadows the author’s doubts about the truth of claims that hypnosis can increase a person’s power of recall. We are told that a recent study “illuminates the supposed connection between hypnosis and the increased power of recall.”
In the study, test subjects listened to a long piece of instrumental music with which they were unfamiliar. Then subjects were then placed under hypnosis. While under hypnosis, half of the subjects were asked to recall parts of the music they had heard. The other half was asked to recall parts of “the film they had just viewed.” Despite the fact that they had not just viewed a film, these subjects were as “equally confident and detailed in their movie recollections” as were the other subjects in their descriptions of the music they had actually heard.
The question stem identifies this is as a Must Be True question. While we do not know whether the subjects’ descriptions of the music piece were accurate, we know the descriptions of the movie were inaccurate, since those people had not just seen a movie. We can infer that for the subjects who “recalled” details of the movie they had not actually seen, hypnosis did not increase their recall of actual facts, but rather suggested a false memory.
Answer choice (A): This answer choice goes too far. We can infer from the stimulus only that the claims regarding the connection between hypnosis and the power of recall appear to be overstated.
Answer choice (B): This is a tempting answer choice, because we know that half of the subjects “recalled” a false memory. However, we do not know whether the other half of the subjects, who were asked to recall details about unfamiliar music they had just heard, did so accurately. It may be the case that hypnosis does increase recall, even though those under hypnosis are also susceptible to suggestion and the planting of false memories.
Answer choice (C): As with answer choice (B), while we know false memories were reported by half of the subjects, we do not know whether the other half, who were asked about the music, reported false memories.
Answer choice (D): This is the correct answer choice, because it is a very restrained statement of the inference described above. Although we do not know about the accuracy of the music related memories, we know that the details about the “movie” recalled by half of the test subjects depended on the suggestion provided by the researchers.
Answer choice (E): Although the stimulus dealt with both visual and auditory memory, the visual memory portion was not about memory at all, but rather the susceptibility of those under hypnosis to the power of suggestion.
