Psychologists today recognize childhood as a separate stage of life wh

Question

Psychologists today recognize childhood as a separate stage of life which can only be understood in its own terms, and they wonder why the Western world took so long to see the folly of regarding children simply as small, inadequately socialized adults.Most psychologists, however, persist in regarding people 70 to 90 years old as though they were 35 year olds who just happen to have white hair and extra leisure time. But old age is as fundamentally different from young adulthood and middle age as childhood is—a fact attested to by the organization of modern social and economic life. Surely it is time, therefore, to acknowledge that serious research into the unique psychology of advanced age has become indispensable.

Which one of the following principles, if established, would provide the strongest backing for the argument?

(A) Whenever current psychological practice conflicts with traditional attitudes toward people, those traditional attitudes should be changed to bring them in line with current psychological practice.

(B) Whenever two groups of people are so related to each other that any member of the second group must previously have been a member of the first, people in the first group should not be regarded simply as deviant members of the second group.

(C) Whenever most practitioners of a given discipline approach a particular problem in the same way, that uniformity is good evidence that all similar problems should also be approached in that way.

(D) Whenever a society’s economic life is so organized that two distinct times of life are treated as being fundamentally different from one another, each time of life can be understood only in terms of its own distinct psychology.

What if the society’s economic life is NOT so organized? Is the argument concerned with the society’s economic life?

(E) Whenever psychologists agree that a single psychology is inadequate for two distinct age groups, they should be prepared to show that there are greater differences between the two age groups than there are between individuals in the same age group.

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

(A) No. First, there is no discussion in the passage of conflicts between current psychological practices and traditional attitudes. Second, this choice is too strong since it concludes that  every  traditional attitude should be changed whereas the passage discusses only one issue: the psychology of advanced age.

(B) No. Although older people (the “second group”) were previously middle-aged (the “first group”), the principle espoused in this choice does not establish that each group has its own distinct psychology.

(C) No. The author states that “ Most psychologists, however, persist in regarding people 70 to 90 years old as though they were 35 year olds …. ” Yet she argues against this approach.

(D) Yes. The author is tacitly appealing to this principle when she states, “ But old age is as fundamentally different from young adulthood and middle age as childhood is— a fact attested to by the organization of modern social and economic life . Surely it is time, therefore, to acknowledge that serious research into the unique psychology of advanced age has become indispensable. ”

(E) No. This is irrelevant.

nishantmba · Answer

Only D & E are left as A B C do not talk about age group. I choose D because the psychologist has already given a solution in E but you have to research to get a solution for D.

sobby · Answer

As usual LSAT tough question :

Most important to note: "a fact attested to by the organization of modern social and economic life"..D only favor that

Mahmud6 · Answer

(D) Whenever a society’s economic life is so organized that two distinct times of life are treated as being fundamentally different from one another, each time of life can be understood only in terms of its own distinct psychology.

What if the society’s economic life is NOT so organized? Is the argument concerned with the society’s economic life?

What if the society’s economic life is NOT so organized? Is the argument concerned with the society’s economic life?

GMATWhizTeam · Answer

Hi 1. The question stem “ Which one of the following principles, if established, would provide the strongest backing for the argument ?” clearly asks us to imagine “if” something was true. “ Whenever ” and “if” are equated as same. For example: If it rains, Mr X carries an umbrella = Whenever it rains, Mr X carries an umbrella. 2. “ But old age is as fundamentally different from young adulthood and middle age as childhood is—a fact attested to by the organization of modern social and economic life .” The above excerpt clearly implies that one’s psychology when one is young and one’s psychology when one is old is different. This fact is supported by “organization of modern social and economic life”. Now the Conclusion is: Surely it is time, therefore, to acknowledge that serious research into the unique psychology of advanced age has become indispensable. We have to support that “serious research into the unique psychology of advanced age” is required. Why? Because the psychology of each age has to be studied in its own setting. Thus, if the setting is = Whenever a society’s economic life is so organized that two distinct times of life are treated as being fundamentally different from one another , Then = each time of life can be understood only in terms of its own distinct psychology. Hope this helps

VerbalBot · Answer

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Psychologists today recognize childhood as a separate stage of life wh

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