The field of psychology, which for decades was dominated by logical po

(A) psychology, which for decades was--no main verb
(B) psychology that was to be--'was to be' wrong usage
(C) psychology, one which has, for decades, been--fragment
(D) psychology, for decades, is one that was-past tense is wrong...for decades is mentioned..we need present perfect
(E) psychology is one that for decades has been--correct

Expert's Global Official Explanation:

Tenses + Grammatical Construction + Meaning

• The present perfect continuous tense (marked by “has/have been”) is the correct tense to refer to actions that started in the past and continue into the present.
• The simple past tense is used to refer to actions that concluded in the past.

A. Trap. This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence because “was dominated” is a verb modifier, meaning there is no active verb to act upon the subject “the science of psychology”.

B. This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence because “was to be dominated” is a verb modifier phrase, meaning there is no active verb to act upon the subject “the science of psychology”.

C. This answer choice fails to form a complete sentence because “has…been dominated” is a verb modifier phrase, meaning there is no active verb to act upon the subject “the science of psychology”.

D. Trap. This answer choice incorrectly uses the simple past tense verb “was dominated” to refer to an action that began in the past and continues into the present; please remember, the present perfect continuous tense (marked by “has/have been”) is the correct tense to refer to actions that started in the past and continue into the present, and the simple past tense is only used to refer to actions that concluded in the past.

E. Correct. This answer choice acts upon the independent subject “The science of psychology” with the active verb phrase “is one that…”, to form a complete thought, leading to a complete sentence. Further, Option E correctly uses the present perfect continuous tense verb “has been dominated” to refer to an action that began in the past and continues into the present.

E is the best answer choice.

Expert's Global Video Explanation: