Psychologist: In an experiment

Answer choices

1. A

   Out of Scope2% picked this

   The business managers in the experiment were different from each other in both the speed at which they processed information and in

   Differences between individual managers in the study are irrelevant to the argument's logic. The argument compares what happens when managers drink normal amounts of coffee versus extra coffee. Whether the managers differed from each other in baseline abilities does not affect whether extra coffee impairs overall management ability. The argument could hold whether the managers were identical or wildly different in their individual capacities.

   2%
2. B

   Out of Scope10% picked this

   Drinking less coffee than usual would not impede a manager’s overall management ability as much as would drinking

   The argument is about what happens when managers drink more coffee than usual. What happens when they drink less coffee is a different question entirely. The conclusion could be true regardless of whether drinking less coffee helps, hurts, or has no effect. Negating this answer -- even if drinking less coffee impeded management ability just as much -- would not destroy the conclusion that extra coffee impairs management ability.

   10%
3. C

   Out of Scope17% picked this

   There is no other factor that is more important to successful business management than either speed of processing information

   This answer is tempting because it addresses other factors in management. But it says no other factor is more important than speed or integration -- it does not say anything about whether extra coffee affects those other factors. The argument's gap is not about the relative importance of factors but about whether coffee improves other factors enough to offset the integration loss. Even if speed and integration are the two most important factors, a modest improvement in a third factor could still offset the integration loss. The answer would need to address coffee's effect on other factors, not just their importance ranking.

   17%
4. D

   Correct67% picked this

   In the experiment, drinking more coffee than usual did not have beneficial effects on overall management ability that outweighed the reduction in

   Why this is right

   Apply the negation test: what if drinking more coffee did have beneficial effects on overall management ability that outweighed the reduction in integration? Then the conclusion -- that extra coffee impairs overall management ability -- would collapse. The conclusion depends on there being no offsetting benefits large enough to overcome the integration loss. This answer directly addresses the argument's gap: it rules out the possibility that extra coffee improves other management skills enough to produce a net positive effect. Without this assumption, the argument cannot move from "integration got worse" to "overall ability got worse."

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

   67%
5. E

   Out of Scope4% picked this

   The amount of coffee one drinks is the most important factor influencing the speed at which

   Whether coffee is the most important factor affecting processing speed is irrelevant. The argument already establishes as experimental fact that extra coffee increased processing speed. The argument does not need coffee to be the primary driver of speed -- it only needs to know the consequences of the observed speed increase and integration decrease on overall management ability. This answer supports a premise that is already established rather than bridging the gap to the conclusion.

   4%