In an experiment, one group of volunteers was shown words associated

Explanation

In an experiment, one group of volunteers was shown words associated with money, such as "salary," whereas another group was shown neutral words. Afterward, individuals in both groups solved puzzles unrelated to money. Those who had been shown words associated with money were much less likely to request or offer help with the puzzles. The researchers concluded from this evidence that preoccupation with money makes people less cooperative.

Which of the following is an assumption the researchers' reasoning requires?

The researchers' conclusion is the following:

preoccupation with money makes people less cooperative

The support for the conclusion is that, volunteers "who had been shown words associated with money were much less likely to request or offer help with the puzzles."

We see that the conclusion is about "preoccupation with money" whereas the evidence is about "shown words associated with money." So, the correct answer will likely somehow connect being shown words associated with money with preoccupation with money.

A At least some of the volunteers were preoccupied with money before being shown the words.

The researchers don't need to assume that volunteers were preoccupied with money before being shown the words. After all, their reasoning is that people were caused to become preoccupied with money by their being shown the words. So, regardless of whether some volunteers were preoccupied with money before being shown the words, the researchers have reason to believe that the people shown the words were preoccupied with money.

Eliminate.

B Being shown the neutral words did not cause the volunteers to become preoccupied with subjects other than money.

This choice is tricky because we could reason that, if it's not true, then the other volunteers were also preoccupied and thus that there wasn't really any difference between the states of mind of the volunteers in the two groups and the results don't show what the researchers believe they do.

However, there's a key detail we need to notice to see that this choice doesn't work: the conclusion is about the effect of being "preoccupied with money" specifically, not just "preoccupied."

So, even if the other volunteers were preoccupied with subjects other than money, they theoretically weren't preoccupied with money. Thus, even if this choice is not true, the difference believed by the researchers to exist still existed, and thus the evidence still supports the conclusion.

Eliminate.

C Most of the volunteers who were shown neutral words requested or offered help with the puzzles.

The passage says, "Those who had been shown words associated with money were much less likely to request or offer help with the puzzles." So, there was a clear difference between the behavior of those shown words associated with money and those shown neutral words.

That difference exists regardless of whether "Most of the volunteers who were shown neutral words requested or offered help with the puzzles." After all, even if under half of the volunteers shown neutral words requested or offered help, it's still the case that those who had been shown words associated with money were much less likely to request or offer help, and that difference between the two groups is what supports the conclusion, not the extent to which volunteers who were shown neutral words requested or offered help.

So, this argument does not depend on this choice.

Eliminate.

D Most of the volunteers in both groups succeeded in solving the puzzles, either with or without help.

The conclusion is based on the actions of volunteers involving requesting or offering help. Whether the volunteers solved the puzzles is irrelevant. After all, regardless of whether they solved the puzzles, the extent to which they requested or offered help still could have been affected by preoccupation with money.

Eliminate.

E The volunteers who were shown neutral words were, on average, less preoccupied with money while solving the puzzles than the other volunteers were.

In analyzing the argument we saw that the evidence is about being volunteers being shown words associated with money while the conclusion is about preoccupation with money. So, the researchers must have assumed that being shown words associated with money is connected with preoccupation with money.

Another way of looking at the reasoning is that the researchers must have assumed that those not shown words associated with money were not preoccupied with money.

In general, the researchers must have assumed that there was a difference between the levels of preoccupation with money of the volunteers who had been shown words associated with money and those who had been shown neutral words.

So, we can see that the researchers must have assumed what this choice says, that the volunteers who had been shown neutral words were less preoccupied with money than the others. After all, if they were not less preoccupied with money, then the evidence would not support the conclusion.

The correct answer is (E).