Neuroscientists distinguish organic amnesia, which has some physical

Question

Neuroscientists distinguish  organic amnesia, which has some physical cause such as an occurrence of blunt force trauma to the head, from psychogenic amnesia, which is purely psychological in origin .

(A) organic amnesia, which has some physical cause such as an occurrence of blunt force trauma to the head, from psychogenic amnesia, which is purely psychological in origin

(B) organic amnesia from psychogenic amnesia, the first of which has some physical cause such as an occurrence of blunt force trauma to the head, and the second of which is purely psychological in origin

(C) between organic amnesia, in which they have experienced some physical cause such as an occurrence of blunt force trauma to the head, and psychogenic amnesia, which is purely psychological in origin

(D) between organic amnesia, which has some physical cause such as an occurrence of blunt force trauma to the head, and psychogenic amnesia, which is purely psychological in origin

(E) between organic amnesia, in which some physical cause exists such as an occurrence of blunt force trauma to the head, and psychogenic amnesia, which is purely psychological in origin

PrashantPonde · Accepted Answer

You nailed it Carcass! The problem gives two choices "distinguish X from Y" and "distinguish between X and Y". The second one, "distinguish between X and Y', is idiomatically preferred on the GMAT, thus (A) is eliminated. (B) is wordy and awkward. (C) has pronoun "they" with no logical antecedent. (E) does not provide the appropriate parallel structure.

Carcass · Answer

I like this sentence a lottt

During the exam if you do not attack it more aggressive than normal it put you out of ttrack for sure. In this case all seems correct and the meaning doesn't help me too much this time. In this situation look at the nuances, scanning all 5 choices at time and eliminate them as soon as possible. From - generally it is used when we talk about some geographical place In which - in which a phenomenon, inside it, deep inside have no sense. Between - is needed because we want a distinction between something ( 2 things and between wants always AND, so stay on the look out, among for several things eventhough there are some exceptions) All this brainstroming lead me to D. Indeed, D is the correct answer + 1 kudos

avohden · Answer

here is the   official explanation   from kaplan

Answer D  - A quick scan reveals the two choices "distinguish X from Y" and "distinguish between X and Y". The second one, "distinguish between X and Y', is idiomatically preferred on the GMAT. Also note that (B) is wordy and awkward because it eliminates the two modifiers (the two "which" phrases) and replaces them with longer dependent clauses ("the first of which . . ." and "the second of which . . ."). Thus we eliminate (A) and (B).

Now we examine (C), (D) and (E). In choice (C), the pronoun "they" has no logical antecedent. Structurally, the antecedent would appear to be "Psychologists", but then we would have the illogical idea that psychologists have experienced blunt force trauma to the head. So we eliminate (C).

Between choices (D) and (E), (D) is better because (E) does not provide the appropriate parallel structure. (E) has the non-parallel "organic amnesia, in which . . . and psychogenic amnesia, which . . .", whereas (D) provides the parallel "organic amnesia, which . . . and psychogenic amnesia, which . . .".  Therefore (D) is correct.

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Blackbox · Answer

I beg to differ with your reasoning. Using 'and' is as meaningful as using 'from' in relation to the word 'Distinguish'. I don't think this question is representative of GMAT, especially, given the fact that options A & D have no errors in them.

Secondly, when you can distinguish A-s from B-s, the emphasis is on the A-s. You are capable of singling an A out, when you see it in a bundle of A-s and B-s. Of course, if you can do that, you can logically do the converse (B-s) too.

On the other hand, when you can distinguish between A-s and B-s, there is no such emphasis. The weight is on the act of distinguishing itself, and A-s and B-s are, so to say, equals.

In the original question, clearly the author is implying to stress that one amnesia is different from the other.

kanakdaga · Answer

Correct Idiom : " distinguish between A and B " 
Answer : D

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

The first modifier in E also has some problems that others didn't mention:

1) We can't say that some cause exists "in" organic amnesia. We'd need to say "FOR which some cause exists." 
2) It's odd to put "such as" after a verb. Since we want "such as" to provide an example of a cause, it makes more sense to have it following the word "cause," as in D.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The question is based on Idiomatic Usage and Parallelism.
The verb just before the underlined portion begins is ‘distinguish’. 
The phrase is either  distinguish X from Y , or  distinguish between X and Y .
 ‘Distinguish from’  is used when we want to show that a  certain quality differentiates X from Y . 
 E.g .: The  efficiency of XYZ car   distinguishes  it  from   all the other cars  in that segment.

‘Distinguish between’  is used when we want to  demonstrate or point out the differences between X and Y . 
 E.g .: The study  distinguishes between   commuters who use private transport  and  commuters who use public transport .

In this sentence, it is the latter meaning that is conveyed. The neuroscientists are pointing out that the two types of amnesia are different. There is no suggestion that one is superior to the other or that there is some quality that sets one or the other apart. There are modifiers to describe the cause of each.

Options A and B contain the former phrase and Options C, D, and E contain the latter. Since the meaning conveyed by the latter phrase is required, Options A and B can be eliminated.

Let us examine the options further:
In Option B, the modifiers are not placed next to their respective subjects, but have been clubbed together at the end, affecting the clarity of the sentence. So,  Option B  can be eliminated.

In Option C, the pronoun “they” refers to “Neuroscientists”, conveying the meaning that neuroscientists have experienced some……..head. The meaning thus conveyed is illogical, so  Option C  can be eliminated.

In Option E, there is a lack of parallelism in the way the two types of amnesia are described. The modifiers are not structured in a similar manner. Furthermore, the meaning conveyed by the phrase “in which some physical cause exists” is that some physical causes exists in organic amnesia. The meaning is illogical as a cause cannot exist in the thing. So,  Option E  can also be eliminated.

The only difference between A and D is that of the phrase. However, as discussed above, the meaning required by the sentence is conveyed by the phrase ‘distinguish between’, so,  Option A  can be eliminated.

Therefore, D is the most appropriate option.

Jayanthi Kumar.

shrgmat · Answer

Well said and agree. All the other ‘experts’ over here try to justify the answer after probably knowing what it is.

This explanation is on target! Kudos to you.
Not a good Qn from Kaplan

Posted from my mobile device

Crytiocanalyst · Answer

The key to cracking the question is getting the comparison correct

(A) organic amnesia, which has some physical cause such as an occurrence of blunt force trauma to the head, from psychogenic amnesia, which is purely psychological in origin
This conveys distorted meaninig and the comparison is not complete

(B) organic amnesia from psychogenic amnesia, the first of which has some physical cause such as an occurrence of blunt force trauma to the head, and the second of which is purely psychological in origin
Similar flaws as A

(C) between organic amnesia, in which they have experienced some physical cause such as an occurrence of blunt force trauma to the head, and psychogenic amnesia, which is purely psychological in origin
This asssosiates organic amnesia with psychogenic amnesia not treating them as seperate entities

(D) between organic amnesia, which has some physical cause such as an occurrence of blunt force trauma to the head, and psychogenic amnesia, which is purely psychological in origin
This nails don the meaning and the comparison is perfect

(E) between organic amnesia, in which some physical cause exists such as an occurrence of blunt force trauma to the head, and psychogenic amnesia, which is purely psychological in origin
Similar reasoning as C
Hence IMO D

VerbalBot · Answer

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Neuroscientists distinguish organic amnesia, which has some physical

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Neuroscientists distinguish organic amnesia, which has some physical

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