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

Question

The field of  psychology, which for decades was  dominated by logical positivist empiricists, who maintain that the truth is unitary and observable under sufficiently controlled conditions.

(A) psychology, which for decades was
(B) psychology that was to be
(C) psychology, one which has, for decades, been
(D) psychology, for decades, is one that was
(E) psychology is one that for decades has been

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zhanbo · Answer

My answer is  (E) . It took me 54 seconds.

(A) Not a sentence. If we remove relative clause, what remains is
The field of psychology
Also, "for decades" is a signal to use perfect tense.

(B) Not a sentence.

(C) Not a sentence

(D) "for decades" is a signal to use perfect tense.

(E) It is a well-constructed sentence, and it uses perfect tense ("has been").

Singh997 · Answer

IMO E is the answer.

The reason being, the sentence's part wherein it specifies 'maintain that...' shows that the sentence is in present tense. Hence, the logical conclusion that can be construed is that of option (E).

debjit1990 · Answer

(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

Bunuel · Answer

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.

Bunuel · Answer

Expert's Global Video Explanation:

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

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

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