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- Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:27 pm
#31412
Complete Question Explanation
The researchers in this stimulus hypothesized that emotion noticeably affects how singing sounds, and they conducted a study to test that hypothesis. At the end, they concluded that they were correct, because the researchers could usually tell from recordings alone when parents were singing to their children and when they were not. We are asked to strengthen their reasoning, so we want to find an answer that supports the claim that emotion has a noticeable effect on singing. As with any strengthen question, that means we want new, additional info that adds to the weight of the evidence.
Answer A: As this answer makes no connection between noticeable differences in singing and the emotional component of that singing, it does nothing to help that claim.
Answer B: This answer brings up irrelevant information - the knowledge of the singing parents makes no difference, unless we help this answer by adding even more info like "and they tried really, really hard to fool the researchers but the researchers could still tell the difference." We never want to pick an answer that requires outside help like that, and without such help this answer does nothing for us.
Answer C: This could be very attractive if you aren't careful to note the key word "displayed" and realize that our hypothesis is not about a display of emotion but about a noticeable difference in the sound of the singing. It makes no difference that the parents smiled, or cried, or blushed, etc., unless that somehow affected the sound of the singing in some noticeable way. Since this answer tells us nothing about a difference in the sound of the singing, it doesn't help the researchers' hypothesis.
Answer D: This is the correct answer. Here we have new and helpful information that further supports the hypothesis. If it is true that emotion creates involuntary physical effects on the vocal cords and lungs, that could help explain why singing with emotion sounds noticeably different than singing without emotion. This answer gives us a good scientific explanation for the difference in sound produced by the parents, and so helps our researchers.
Answer E: What the parents believe is not relevant or helpful. A belief is not new evidence of an actual effect. Even if they did not believe, the researchers still heard the difference, and we need new info to help support the claim that emotion is the cause.
The researchers in this stimulus hypothesized that emotion noticeably affects how singing sounds, and they conducted a study to test that hypothesis. At the end, they concluded that they were correct, because the researchers could usually tell from recordings alone when parents were singing to their children and when they were not. We are asked to strengthen their reasoning, so we want to find an answer that supports the claim that emotion has a noticeable effect on singing. As with any strengthen question, that means we want new, additional info that adds to the weight of the evidence.
Answer A: As this answer makes no connection between noticeable differences in singing and the emotional component of that singing, it does nothing to help that claim.
Answer B: This answer brings up irrelevant information - the knowledge of the singing parents makes no difference, unless we help this answer by adding even more info like "and they tried really, really hard to fool the researchers but the researchers could still tell the difference." We never want to pick an answer that requires outside help like that, and without such help this answer does nothing for us.
Answer C: This could be very attractive if you aren't careful to note the key word "displayed" and realize that our hypothesis is not about a display of emotion but about a noticeable difference in the sound of the singing. It makes no difference that the parents smiled, or cried, or blushed, etc., unless that somehow affected the sound of the singing in some noticeable way. Since this answer tells us nothing about a difference in the sound of the singing, it doesn't help the researchers' hypothesis.
Answer D: This is the correct answer. Here we have new and helpful information that further supports the hypothesis. If it is true that emotion creates involuntary physical effects on the vocal cords and lungs, that could help explain why singing with emotion sounds noticeably different than singing without emotion. This answer gives us a good scientific explanation for the difference in sound produced by the parents, and so helps our researchers.
Answer E: What the parents believe is not relevant or helpful. A belief is not new evidence of an actual effect. Even if they did not believe, the researchers still heard the difference, and we need new info to help support the claim that emotion is the cause.