V11-26

Official Solution:

Researchers claim that analogical thinking causes scientific discoveries. They used the works of famous scientists in an attempt to prove that analogy brings about creativity and thereby changes in knowledge. They argued that distant analogies those scientists used could develop a new framework in a certain domain or even form a new domain - the more distant the analogies, the more creative the outcomes.
Which of the following statements, if true, would best support the last claim made by the researchers?


A. Analogy items are frequently used in IQ tests to measure analytical ability of a person.
B. Researchers noted low correlation between creativity and intelligence scores, which are generally derived from tests that have many analogy questions.
C. Inflexible thinking is fixed on a single plane, whereas creative thinking operates on multiple planes, creating “analogy bridges” among various planes.
D. Local analogies could be used to fill in a framework in a rather well agreed-on field.
E. People who do not think analogically sometimes come up with creative ideas.


General Approach

For GMAT Critical Reasoning questions that ask you to find the option that best supports the claim or conclusion made in the passage, it's important to first clearly understand the claim being made. In this case, the researchers claim that the more distant the analogies, the more creative the outcomes. Our job is to find the statement that, if true, would provide additional support for, or evidence of, this claim.

Correct Answer

(D) Local analogies could be used to fill in a framework in a rather well agreed-on field. This statement supports the claim. According to the researchers, distant analogies can create new domains of knowledge or new perspectives within an existing domain. If it’s indeed true that local analogies can only be used in a well-agreed-on field, then it supports the idea that distant analogies are responsible for more creative outcomes. It essentially provides the other side of the correlation mentioned by the researchers.

Incorrect Answers

(A) Analogy items are frequently used in IQ tests to measure analytical ability of a person. While this statement may be true, it does not provide any support for the claim made by the researchers. The researchers' claim is specifically about the relationship between the distance of analogies and the level of creativity, not about how analogies are used to measure analytical abilities.

(B) Researchers noted low correlation between creativity and intelligence scores, which are generally derived from tests that have many analogy questions. Similar to option A, this statement does not directly relate to the claim made by the researchers. The low correlation between creativity and intelligence scores neither supports nor refutes the claim that distant analogies lead to more creative outcomes.

(C) Inflexible thinking is fixed on a single plane, whereas creative thinking operates on multiple planes, creating “analogy bridges” among various planes. This statement, although related to creativity and analogies, does not support the researchers' claim regarding the relationship between the distance of analogies and creativity. The statement does not comment on the distance of these analogies or their impact on creativity.

(E) People who do not think analogically sometimes come up with creative ideas. This statement, if true, would actually weaken the researchers’ claim. If people who do not think analogically can also come up with creative ideas, then creativity is not necessarily linked to the use of distant analogies, contradicting the researchers' claim.


Answer: D