According to psychoanalytic theory, people have unconscious beliefs th

Question

According to psychoanalytic theory, people have unconscious beliefs that are kept from becoming conscious by a psychological mechanism termed “repression.” Researchers investigating the nature of this mechanism observed occasions on which a patient undergoing therapy became aware of and expressed a previously unconscious belief. They found that such occasions were marked by an unusual decrease in the patient’s level of anxiety.

If the information above is true, and if the researchers’ investigation was properly conducted, then which of the following must also be true?

(A) Changes in the patient’s anxiety level during therapy can generally be used as an accurate measure of the extent to which the patient is becoming conscious of previously repressed beliefs.

(B) Even when one of a patient’s unconscious beliefs remains unconscious, researchers are sometimes able to discover this belief.

(C) If psychoanalytic theory is correct, then most conscious beliefs originate as unconscious beliefs.

(D) Researchers were able to distinguish expressed beliefs that had previously been unconscious from those that had long been conscious but that the patient had not previously expressed.

(E) Although the beliefs on which the mechanism of repression works are all unconscious, the operation of the mechanism itself is something of which patients are consciously aware.

sayantanc2k · Accepted Answer

An assumption links a premise to a conclusion. In this passage, there is no such premise-conclusion structure; it simple narrates that the scientists studied a phenomenon and observed some characteristic of the phenomenon. The fact that the scientists could observe the phenomenon depends on the fact that they are able to make the distinction - thus option D must be correct. This question is similar to the following:

There is a flying creature on the earth called bird. I saw a bird - it was using its wings to fly.
Inference: I am not blind.

There is no premise-conclusion structure in this passage. But one can infer that I am not blind because I can see (the bird).

GMATNinja · Answer

According to the passage, when a patient undergoing therapy became aware of and expressed a previously unconscious belief, the patient's level of anxiety was decreased. But this does not necessarily mean that a decrease in anxiety level is a sign that the patient has become conscious of a previously repressed belief. There could be several other reasons to explain the decrease in anxiety (perhaps the patient joined a support group, started taking medication, got involved in a social activity, etc.)

For example, say that exercise reduces stress. Does that mean we can monitor changes in a person's stress levels to measure how much that person exercises? Of course not... several other factors can affect stress levels.

Similarly, several other factors can affect anxiety levels, so we cannot monitor changes in a patient's anxiety level during therapy to accurately measure the extent to which the patient is becoming conscious of previously repressed beliefs. Choice (A) should be eliminated.

I hope that helps!

jainu · Answer

(A) Changes in the patient’s anxiety level during therapy can generally be used as an accurate measure of the extent to which the patient is becoming conscious of previously repressed beliefs.---  This is wrong because the argument never mentions about the extent of becoming conscious...  
(B) Even when one of a patient’s unconscious beliefs remains unconscious, researchers are sometimes able to discover this belief.--- this cud be right because arg mentions "researchers observed occasions on which a patient undergoing therapy became aware of and expressed a previously unconscious belief" 
(C) If psychoanalytic theory is correct, then most conscious beliefs originate as unconscious beliefs,--- no mention about the origin of the conscious beliefs . 
(D) Researchers were able to distinguish expressed beliefs that had previously been unconscious from those that had long been conscious but that the patient had not previously expressed.--- again no mention about conscious beliefs in passage 
(E) Although the beliefs on which the mechanism of repression works are all unconscious, the operation of the mechanism itself is some thing of which patients are consciously aware. --- which mechanism they are trying to refer here....it is OOS. 
hence acc to me big   B  ..

Technext · Answer

According to psychoanalytic theory, people have unconscious beliefs that are kept from becoming conscious by a psychological mechanism termed “repression.” Researchers investigating the nature of this mechanism observed occasions on which a patient undergoing therapy became aware of and expressed a previously unconscious belief. They found that such occasions were marked by an unusual decrease in the patient’s level of anxiety.

If the information above is true, and if the researchers’ investigation was properly conducted,
then which of the following must also be true?

Explanation: 
We believe that our "beliefs" are "true," for they fit our experience. They tell us what is real or not, what is possible or not, what is right and wrong, what is acceptable or not, and so on. Yet most of these beliefs are not conscious i.e., we are not really aware about them. These are  unconscious beliefs . These beliefs (whether conscious or unconscious) are specific to an individual i.e, only they are aware about it (others may just guess).
-------------------
( A ) Changes in the patient’s anxiety level during therapy can generally be used as an accurate measure of the extent to which the patient is becoming conscious of previously repressed beliefs. ---> This option is going too far in saying that it’s an ‘ accurate ’ measure.

( B ) Even when one of a patient’s unconscious beliefs remains unconscious, researchers are sometimes able to discover this belief. ---> The words  …remains unconscious…  are problematic here. It cannot be concluded from the passage.  Rather, we can say that researchers find it (a previously  unconscious belief ) only when a patient informs them about the same (by using the following part from the excerpt: … expressed a previously …) .

( C ) If psychoanalytic theory is correct, then most conscious beliefs originate as unconscious beliefs. ---> This information cannot be concluded from the passage.

( D ) Researchers were able to distinguish expressed beliefs that had previously been unconscious from those that had long been conscious but that the patient had not previously expressed. ---> IMO, researchers can know about anyone’s belief only if they are expressed by that particular person. If the person tells/conveys (in whatever manner) the researcher that this particular belief was something that he wasn’t aware of earlier (i.e., it was an unconscious belief), only then can the researcher conclude that it was earlier an unconscious belief (and now the patient is aware/conscious about it). But if the patient thinks that a particular belief is not an unconscious belief, he would actually never express it to the researcher. He would only express those beliefs that he feels were unconscious earlier.

IMO,  the explanation mentioned above  is  the basis on which the researchers differentiate .

( E ) Although the beliefs on which the mechanism of repression works are all unconscious, the operation of the mechanism itself is some thing of which patients are consciously aware. ---> IMO, the excerpt mentioned above doesn’t look sufficient enough to conclude the  first part  of this option (that psychological mechanism works on  only  unconscious beliefs).  It may be possible that psychological mechanism works in some other cases/fields/areas too besides unconscious beliefs .

Coming to the  second part , we cannot say that patients are   aware  about how the mechanism operates. They just become aware about their previously unconscious beliefs .
-------------------

Though option  D  was my first choice, I would have marked it mainly on the basis of process of elimination.

Hope that helps.

Regards,
Technext

Hades · Answer

Straight forward Assumption

Go through each answer choice & negate... 30 second CR.

Negate D:
 (D) Researchers were  NOT  able to distinguish expressed beliefs that had previously been unconscious from those that had long been conscious but that the patient had not previously expressed.

Final Answer,  D .

priyankurml · Answer

Premise: Repression kept conscious thought from being unconscious.
Premise: Recent Research shows that decrease in anxiety reveals those unconsciousness.

I think that this should be an inference question because Assumption question must have a clear conclusion. 
 
(A) Changes in the patient’s anxiety level during therapy can generally be used as an accurate measure of the extent to which the patient is becoming conscious of previously repressed beliefs. 
 -- Too much specific "accurate measure" 
(B) Even when one of a patient’s unconscious beliefs remains unconscious, researchers are sometimes able to discover this belief. 
 -- this is nowhere mentioned. 
(C) If psychoanalytic theory is correct, then   most   conscious beliefs originate as unconscious beliefs. 
 -- Again too specific. 
(D) Researchers were able to  distinguish  expressed beliefs that had previously been  unconscious   from  those that had long been  conscious  but that the patient had not previously expressed. 
-- Yes. OA is the same
(E) Although the beliefs on which the mechanism of repression works are all unconscious,  the operation of the mechanism itself is something of which patients are consciously aware.  --  New information OOS

firasath · Answer

if you negate D, then the conclusion does not hold..

(D) Researchers were  NOT  able to distinguish expressed beliefs that had previously been unconscious from those that had long been conscious but that the patient had not previously expressed.

If researchers cannot distinguish between what was an unconscious vs a conscious one, then how do they know the patient was able to discover an unconscious belief?

When the conclusion fails with a negated assumption then that assumption must be true in order for the conclusion to be true.
Answer is D

swdatta · Answer

" unconscious beliefs that are kept from becoming conscious" are referred to as repressed beliefs. When a patient goes through therapy, the patient becomes aware of the unconscious belief and expresses them.

In order for the last claim to be true, the therapist must be able to distinguish between conscious beliefs that have not been expressed yet and unconscious belief that the patient became aware of and expressed.

tryingharder, i don't think the issue is between unconscious of conscious beliefs. The questions says the patient became aware of and expressed repressed beliefs.

nishant12600 · Answer

sayantanc2k  
Could u please take this one?
The OA (D) looks more like an assumption. Also shed light on the difference between assumption and inference with respect to this argument.

BillyZ · Answer

GMATNinja , Could you help to explain for this Inference question? I have a hard time to answer this question. Why (A) is incorrect?

rever08 · Answer

(A) Changes in the patient’s anxiety level during therapy can generally be used as an accurate measure of the extent to which the patient is becoming conscious of previously repressed beliefs.

The stimulus says that the occasions when patients become conscious of previously repressed beliefs are marked by decreased anxiety. They don’t say that the level of decrease varies directly or is correlated with the level of becoming conscious. Hence we cannot infer this from the stimulus.

(B) Even when one of a patient’s unconscious beliefs remains unconscious, researchers are sometimes able to discover this belief.

Not relevant to the given statements. Whether there are other mechanisms of identifying unconscious beliefs is out of scope.

(C) If psychoanalytic theory is correct, then most conscious beliefs originate as unconscious beliefs.

Again, not relevant. All we can say is that people can be made to express some unconscious beliefs through therapy. We cannot say that all conscious beliefs originate as unconscious.

(D) Researchers were able to distinguish expressed beliefs that had previously been unconscious from those that had long been conscious but that the patient had not previously expressed.

The given stimulus tells us that the researchers have been able to make people express their unconscious beliefs through therapy. A valid point here is – how do researchers know that the beliefs being expressed by the patients are unconscious beliefs and not merely conscious beliefs that the patients did not express previously? Since the stimulus says, “Researchers investigating repression observed occasions on which a patient undergoing therapy became aware of and expressed a previously unconscious belief” and we have to take the statement to be true, it means they were able to distinguish between unconscious beliefs and conscious but unexpressed beliefs. Hence (D) is the answer.

(E) Although the beliefs on which the mechanism of repression works are all unconscious, the operation of the mechanism itself is something of which patients are consciously aware.

Focus on the first part of this option. The statements in the stimulus tell us that repression keeps unconscious beliefs unconscious. They don’t tell us whether repression works on conscious beliefs or not – perhaps it keeps people from expressing conscious beliefs or perhaps it doesn’t work on conscious beliefs at all – the statements don’t say. We cannot say that the beliefs on which repression works are ALL unconscious. Hence we cannot infer this. Not the answer.

The correct answer is (D).

shahul. · Answer

what is the conclusion of this argument?
How to identify what the qn stem requires? i.e what should I look for ? an assumption, inference or conclusion?
Also, elaborate on the qn stem types possible in "must be true" questions
TIA

GMATNinja · Answer

This passage does not have a conclusion. Instead, we are given a series of facts and must find an answer choice that must be true if all of the given facts are true. This is similar to questions that ask, "If the statements above are true, which of the following can properly/logically be inferred/concluded..." With such inference questions, as with any CR passage, you must pay close attention to the details and to the language/modifiers used by the author (see the "It’s all about the modifiers" section in the Ultimate CR Guide for Beginners for more information). Then, it's simply a matter of using process of elimination to cross off answer choices that do not necessarily have to be true. Check out my earlier post in this thread for more help: https://gmatclub.com/forum/according-to ... l#p1898296

SnorLax_7 · Answer

Hi  MartyMurray   KarishmaB   DmitryFarber   GMATNinja

if I understand Option D correctly then it is stating that Researchers distinguished X(uncon.) from Y(cons.) thats why they were able to correlate X with unusual decrease in Anxiety, so kind of GAP we found here though there is no conclusion. Is my understanding of Option D correct ? or if its a pure inference question how can we deduce D from the question stem ?

I had a tough time accepting option D as answer considering this is Inference type of question.

Kindly can you help and elaborate option D ?

Thanks !

DmitryFarber · Answer

This doesn't rely on the part about anxiety. In fact, the entire solution rely just relies on the second sentence of the text. Still, although this isn't an Assumption-based question, it does have a bit of that feel, in that the correct answer basically eliminates an objection that would otherwise derail the findings reported by the researchers. In short, the researchers reported that someone expressed a previously unconscious belief. But how do they know it had been unconscious? What if it was just something the patient refused to admit out loud before? However, we're told to treat all of the information as true. If that's so, then the researchers did in fact determine that the beliefs were unconscious. That means there must be some way to tell! If there weren't, then either the information would be wrong (the beliefs weren't really previously unconscious) or the investigation was improperly conducted (they just guessed that the beliefs were unconscious without doing anything to confirm). That's really the whole solution.

ChiranjeevSingh · Answer

Passage Analysis

According to psychoanalytic theory, people have unconscious beliefs that are kept from becoming conscious by a psychological mechanism termed "repression."

This first sentence introduces a concept from a specific field, psychoanalytic theory. Let's break it down. It establishes three key elements:

Unconscious beliefs : These are beliefs that a person holds but is not aware of.  
   Repression : This is the name given to a "psychological mechanism." What does this mechanism do?  
   Function of Repression : Its job is to act as a barrier, keeping these unconscious beliefs from entering the person's conscious awareness. So, repression is a process that maintains the unconscious status of certain beliefs.

Researchers investigating the nature of this mechanism observed occasions on which a patient undergoing therapy became aware of and expressed a previously unconscious belief.

This sentence shifts from theory to an actual investigation. "Researchers" are studying "this mechanism" (repression). What did they observe during this study? They observed specific "occasions" during therapy. What defines these occasions?

A "previously unconscious belief" enters the patient's awareness ("became aware of").  
  The patient then verbalizes this newly conscious belief ("expressed" it).

In other words, "repression" ceased to work on a belief of the patient.

They found that such occasions were marked by an unusual decrease in the patient's level of anxiety.

This is the finding of the research. What did they find?

They found a strong correlation. "Such occasions" refers directly back to the moments described in the previous sentence - the surfacing and expression of a previously unconscious belief.

What are these moments "marked by"? An "unusual decrease" in anxiety. This means that when the event (a repressed belief becoming conscious and being expressed) occurred, a specific, noticeable outcome (a drop in anxiety) also occurred.

Please note that the finding states the occurrence of two things together; the finding does not say that one is the cause of the other.

Deconstructing the Question

If the information above is true, and if the researchers' investigation was properly conducted, then which of the following must also be true?

The question asks for an  inference . We must accept everything in the passage as 100% true. The phrase "if the researchers' investigation was properly conducted" is important. It means we must take the research itself to be valid. Our goal is to find an answer choice that is a consequence of the information and the validity of the research method.

The gist of the passage is: Researchers identified Event X (a repressed belief becoming conscious and being expressed) and found it was always accompanied by Outcome Y (anxiety drop).

Options Evaluation

(A) Changes in the patient's anxiety level during therapy can generally be used as an accurate measure of the extent to which the patient is becoming conscious of previously repressed beliefs.

Incorrect.    This option proposes that anxiety level is a "general" and "accurate measure" of the "extent" to which beliefs are surfacing. There are three key issues with this statement:

Extent : The passage describes a binary event (a belief surfaces or it doesn't), not a scale or degree. This option's reference to "the extent" introduces a concept of magnitude not supported by the passage.  
   Accurate Measure/Causality Reversal : The passage suggests that a belief surfacing is associated with anxiety drop. This option says that an anxiety drop can be used to accurately measure if a belief has surfaced. A patient's anxiety could decrease for many other reasons, so a drop in anxiety need not be an  accurate  sign that a repressed belief has become conscious.  
   Generalization : The researchers observed a correlation in specific, controlled settings. To say this can "generally be used" as a measure is a broad generalization that isn't necessarily true outside of the specific context of their study.

Thus, this option goes far beyond what the passage supports.

(B) Even when one of a patient's unconscious beliefs remains unconscious, researchers are sometimes able to discover this belief.

Incorrect.    This option discusses beliefs that  remain  unconscious, saying that researchers have methods to find them even if the patient never becomes aware of them. The entire research method described is based on observing what happens precisely  when  a belief ceases to be unconscious. The passage offers no information about how researchers might study beliefs that stay hidden. Therefore, this statement is not supported by the passage.

(C) If psychoanalytic theory is correct, then most conscious beliefs originate as unconscious beliefs.

Incorrect.    This option makes a statement about the origin of "most conscious beliefs," suggesting the majority of things we are aware of believing started out as repressed beliefs. The passage does not support this. The phrase "most conscious beliefs" refers to a majority (>50%) of all conscious beliefs. The passage, however, only discusses a specific subset of beliefs—those that were once unconscious and became conscious during therapy. It says nothing about the proportion of these beliefs relative to all conscious beliefs.

(D) Researchers were able to distinguish expressed beliefs that had previously been unconscious from those that had long been conscious but that the patient had not previously expressed.

Correct.    This option says the researchers could tell the difference between a newly surfaced,  previously unconscious  belief and a long-held,  already conscious  belief that the patient was just saying for the first time. In short, the researchers had a valid method for identifying the specific type of belief they were studying.

This  must be true . The entire research finding depends on this ability. The researchers concluded that "such occasions"—the surfacing of a repressed belief—were linked to a drop in anxiety. If they couldn't distinguish a genuinely repressed belief surfacing from a simple confession of a known secret, their research would be invalid. They would be mixing two different types of events and couldn't be sure which one was associated with the anxiety drop. For the investigation to be "properly conducted," this distinction is a necessary condition.

(E) Although the beliefs on which the mechanism of repression works are all unconscious, the operation of the mechanism itself is something of which patients are consciously aware.

Incorrect.    This option says that while the beliefs are unconscious, the  process  of repression is conscious, meaning patients are aware that their mind is actively repressing things.

The passage provides no information about the patient's awareness of the repression  mechanism . The mechanism is described as keeping beliefs  unconscious , which strongly suggests the mechanism itself might operate outside of conscious awareness. In any case, the passage is silent on this point, so we cannot conclude it  must be true .

According to psychoanalytic theory, people have unconscious beliefs th

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According to psychoanalytic theory, people have unconscious beliefs th

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