humtum0 wrote:
Doctors in Britain have long suspected that patients who wear tinted eyeglasses are abnormally prone to depression and hypochondria. Psychological tests given there to hospital patients admitted for physical complaints like heart pain and digestive distress confirmed such a relationship. Perhaps people whose relationship to the world is psychologically painful choose such glasses to reduce visual stimulation, which is perceived as irritating. At any rate, it can be concluded that when such glasses are worn, it is because the wearer has a tendency to be depressed or hypochondriacal.
Each of the following, if true, weakens the argument EXCEPT:
(A) Some people wear tinted glasses not because they choose to do so but because a medical condition of their eyes forces them to do so.
(B) Even a depressed or hypochondriacal person can have valid medical complaints, so a doctor should perform all the usual objective tests in diagnosing such persons.
(C) The confirmatory tests were not done for places such as western North America where the usual quality of light differs from that prevailing in Britain.
(D) Fashions with respect to wearing tinted glasses differ in different parts of the world.
(E) At the hospitals where the tests were given, patients who were admitted for conditions less ambiguous than heart pain or digestive distress did not show the relationship between tinted glasses and depression or hypochondria.
Source: Another Gmat Forum
There seems to be some confusion here so lets try and break it down:
First of all, I read the question stem: Each of the following, if true, weakens the argument EXCEPT:
So we are looking for four options that weaken the argument (to whatever extent, but they must weaken it)
In a weaken question, we focus on the conclusion of the argument. That is what we have to weaken.
Conclusion: when such glasses are worn, it is because the wearer has a tendency to be depressed or hypochondriacal.A strong generic statement. "When people wear tinted glasses, it means they have a tendency to be depressed". Notice that the tests cited in the argument talk about Britain only. But the conclusion derived is generic and applicable to people around the world.
(A) Some people wear tinted glasses not because they choose to do so but because a medical condition of their eyes forces them to do so.Weakens the conclusion. When people wear tinted glasses, it could be because they have an eye condition, not because they are depressed.
(B) Even a depressed or hypochondriacal person can have valid medical complaints, so a doctor should perform all the usual objective tests in diagnosing such persons.Does not weaken the conclusion about why people wear tinted glasses.
Just says that depressed people could also have valid medical complaints.(C) The confirmatory tests were not done for places such as western North America where the usual quality of light differs from that prevailing in Britain.Weakens the conclusion. The conclusion doesn't say that this is the case only in Britain. It implies that this is the general theory applicable to the whole world. But people in other places e.g. NA, could be wearing tinted glasses, due to poor light quality.
(D) Fashions with respect to wearing tinted glasses differ in different parts of the world.Weakens the conclusion. People may be wearing tinted glasses in different parts of the world because it is fashionable to do so. Not because they are depressed.
(E) At the hospitals where the tests were given, patients who were admitted for conditions less ambiguous than heart pain or digestive distress did not show the relationship between tinted glasses and depression or hypochondria.Weakens the conclusion. It says that only one group of people (those who had ambiguous conditions) showed a relation between glasses and depression. Other people did not.
Answer (B).
Hi Karishma , Arent you leaving open the possibility that the Light quality in North America could be stronger stimuli for depression and hypochondria.
You are assuming that Light quality in North America is less stimulating to Depression and wish to check whether People are out there still wear tinted eye glasses . If they are , then they could be wearing for reasons other than that the light stimulates depression .
What if the Light is more stimulating towards depression ? In that case , people wearing glasses doesnt prove anything.
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