Logical Reasoning

PT140 · S1 · Q8 Many uses have been claimed

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

  • Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one

  • Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step

  • 81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Start practicing free

Many uses have been claimed for hypnosis, from combating drug addiction to overcoming common phobias.

Information

In a study, subjects listened to a long, unfamiliar piece of instrumental music.

Once hypnotized, half the people were asked to remember parts of the musical piece and half were asked to describe scenes from the movie they had just seen (they hadn't seen a movie).

Both groups were equally confident and detailed in their recollections.

Evaluate

It feels like the correct answer will want to synthesize these research results. What does it mean that both groups are equally confident and detailed, even though one group is seemingly pulling from true memories (they did hear a piece of music, so when they're asked about it, they're answers might be legit) while the other group is seemingly pulling from 'false' memories (they didn't see a movie, so they're answers about the movie seem like confident, detailed lies).

Maybe we could say something like, when you're hypnotized you're equally confident and detailed whether you're accessing 'true' memories or 'false' memories.

Goal

Hard to say what to expect. Let's just pick the most provable answer we can find.

8.

Which one of the following statements is most supported by the information above?

  1. Many of the claims made

    Too Strong: many

    One claim made on behalf of hypnosis seems to be that "supposedly hypnosis leads to an increased power of recall". We could probably say that this claim is undermined by the results of this study. Half the subjects "remembered" scenes from a movie they never saw, so that doesn't sound like improved recall. "Many" doesn't have a precise quantitative beginning, but it's safe think "at least 5". One example is definitely not enough to justify "many". America has only had one President who was a reality TV star, and so it would be untrue for us to say "Many US Presidents have been reality TV stars".

    4% picked this

  2. Hypnosis cannot significantly increase a

    Too Strong: cannot

    We definitely have some evidence that hypnosis's connection to recall is weird. It seems to have created false memories in the people who were asked about the movie they hadn't seen. But it's still possible that certain forms of hypnosis, in certain circumstances could significantly increase a person's power of recall. Maybe hypnosis has the power to elicit harder-to-reach "true" memories, if a person is asked the right sort of question (and it has the power to elicit "fake" memories, if a person is asked a misleading sort of question). If no other answer had better support, then we could call this the Most Supported answer because it has some support, but it's hard to say just from this one study that hypnosis cannot do [ _____ ] .

    8% picked this

  3. Recalling events under hypnosis inevitably

    Too Strong: inevitably

    This falls into the same bucket as (C). We know that within this study, some false memories were created, but it's too strong to say from this one study that this always happens; it's inevitable; it cannot be otherwise.

    10% picked this

  4. Correct

    What people recall under hypnosis

    Why this is right

    This is more softly-worded then other answers, so it's easier to support. Do we have any evidence that suggestion can play a role or have an effect on what people recall under hypnosis? Sure! People recalled scenes from a films they never saw. Since they didn't see any film, the question posed by the researchers suggested to them that they had seen a movie. It may even be that the music piece they heard suggested certain emotions or feelings that the hypnotized people recalled as though they were scenes from a movie. If what hypnotized people recalled wasn't affected in any way by suggestion, then it would be pretty unthinkable that people who were asked about the movie would start talking about a movie they never saw. There is an annoying aspect of this answer to me that may have troubled some students --- is it improper to say that you're recalling something, if it's a false memory? It almost feels like this answer should have been written as "what people claim to recall under hypnosis". But given how extreme the other contenders are and how soft and provable the wording here is, this is still our safest pick.

    Skill tested: Most Supported · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    74% picked this

  5. Visual memory is enhanced more

    Unsupported Comparison

    This study only featured hypnotized subjects trying to remember auditory memories. There were no visual memories they were being tested on recalling. We couldn't possibly support such a sweeping broad comparison from this one study that hypnosis has more effect on visual memory than on auditory memory.

    4% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill
LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free