Researcher: Research has shown that inhaling the scent of lavender

Question

Researcher: Research has shown that inhaling the scent of lavender has measurable physiological effects tending to reduce stress. It is known that intense stress can impair the immune system, making one more susceptible to illness. Therefore, it is likely that the incidence of illness among those who regularly inhale the scent of lavender is reduced by this practice.

Which one of the following is an assumption that the researcher's argument requires?

(A)  Many, if not all, of the scents that have a tendency to reduce susceptibility to illness, do so, at least in part, by reducing stress.

(B)  Some people who regularly inhale the scent of lavender would otherwise be under enough stress to impair their immune systems.

(C)  At least some people who use the scent of lavender to induce relaxation and reduce stress are no more susceptible to illness than average.

(D)  In anyone for whom the scent of lavender reduces susceptibility to illness, it does so primarily by reducing stress.

(E)  Reduced stress diminishes susceptibility to illness only for people who are under enough stress to impair their immune systems to at least some degree.

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chetan2u · Accepted Answer

Researcher: Research has shown that inhaling the scent of lavender has measurable physiological effects tending to reduce stress. It is known that intense stress can impair the immune system, making one more susceptible to illness. Therefore, it is likely that the incidence of illness among those who regularly inhale the scent of lavender is reduced by this practice.

Which one of the following is an assumption that the researcher's argument requires?

what can be the missing info-
What if the people inhaling the scent are the ones who have good healthy life and not under any stress.

(A)  Many, if not all, of the scents that have a tendency to reduce susceptibility to illness, do so, at least in part, by reducing stress. 
 the argument is about lavender reducing stress, reducing illness in return.. this doesn't do anything to it

(B)  Some people who regularly inhale the scent of lavender would otherwise be under enough stress to impair their immune systems. 
  correct... This tells us that the scent of inhaler has had effect on these people.

(C)  At least some people who use the scent of lavender to induce relaxation and reduce stress are no more susceptible to illness than average. 
 This is rather a weakener, if anything.

(D)  In anyone for whom the scent of lavender reduces susceptibility to illness, it does so primarily by reducing stress. 
 It just repeats what is in para.

(E)  Reduced stress diminishes susceptibility to illness only for people who are under enough stress to impair their immune systems to at least some degree. 
 does not touch the scent of lavender which is the heart of reasoning

B

Shrey9 · Answer

I am confused with D..
D does repeat what's in the para. isn't that what we can look for in an assumption question ?

Though B sounds more promising, but is "repeating what's stated in the para" a good/definite criteria to eliminate an answer choice ?

I mostly struggle with "85%-95% hard" difficulty questions on CR/SC... Any suggestions for improvements, will be appreciated..

Abhishek009 · Answer

Certainly , Assumption = Unstated premises of the stimulus.... Thus, the correct Answer choice must never restate the premises , hence (D) can be rejected on this ground!!!

dharam44 · Answer

Please explain why c is incorrect?

SiffyB · Answer

(C) At least some people who use the scent of lavender to induce relaxation and reduce stress are no more susceptible to illness than average.

According to the passage, there are two groups of people: one who inhale lavender's scent and others who don't.
Of those who inhale the scent, it is likely that for most, the incidence of illness decreases. (acc to the prompt)

For this to hold true, it doesn't matter what the inital incidence of illness of each group was - AS LONG AS IT IS REDUCED. Say that, initially, the people in group 2 had significantly higher incidence of illness, then after inhaling the scent, their incidence of illness decreased. Even if the incidence of illness in group 2 is higher after inhalation as compared to group 1, we are only concerned if there has been a change. - our argument will hold true.

This is a tricky option and to be able to correctly reject this option, you had to pay attention to this part of the argument:
Therefore, it is likely that  the incidence of illness  among those who regularly inhale the scent of lavender  is reduced by this practice .

egmat · Answer

The conclusion says that:

it is likely that the incidence of illness  among those who regularly inhale  the scent of lavender  is reduced  by this practice.

This means we are not to see whether those who follow the practice have lower incidence of illnesses compared to others, but whether the incidence of illnesses for people within the group would be lesser than when they do not practice inhaling lavender scent.

Option C says
(C) At least some people who use the scent of lavender to induce relaxation and reduce stress are no more susceptible to illness than average.

The conclusion, as we saw, is not comparing the group with the general population. Therefore, it does not matter whether they are more susceptible or less susceptible in comparison with the average of all people.

tkorzhan1995 · Answer

GMATNinja , could you please explain what are the triggers in the argument to show that inhaling lavender is the only way to elevate stress?

The way I read B is that inhaling lavender is the only way to elevate street. = Some people who regularly inhale the scent of lavender would otherwise be under enough stress to impair their immune systems.

However, I don't see triggers in the argument that inhaling lavender is the only way to elevate stress.

ddtDDT · Answer

Given the conclusion is
"it is likely that the incidence of illness among those who regularly inhale the scent of lavender is reduced  by this practice ", I think we should clearly understand that we do not have to care about "it does so primarily by reducing stress". The reason why lavender can reduce the incidence of illness is not relevant.

unraveled · Answer

Researcher: Research has shown that inhaling the scent of lavender has measurable physiological effects tending to reduce stress. It is known that intense stress can impair the immune system, making one more susceptible to illness. Therefore, it is likely that the incidence of illness among those who regularly inhale the scent of lavender is reduced by this practice.

Which one of the following is an assumption that the researcher's argument requires?

(A)   Many, if not all, of the scents  that have a tendency to reduce susceptibility to illness, do so, at least in part, by reducing stress.  - WRONG. Lavender scent is just one case that can't used for generalizing.

(B)  Some people who regularly inhale the scent of lavender would otherwise be under enough stress to impair their immune systems.  - CORRECT.

(C)  At least some people who use the scent of lavender to induce relaxation and reduce stress  are no more susceptible to illness than average .  - WRONG. Seems it's trying to claim that may be in future susceptibility to illness permanently, though using this is extreme, decreases for people whole inhale than who don't. 'No more' is extreme.

(D)  In anyone for whom the scent of lavender reduces susceptibility to illness, it does so  primarily by reducing stress .  - WRONG. Is it so? If it not so the case then what? Either direction is possible.

(E)  Reduced stress diminishes susceptibility to illness only for people who are under  enough stress  to impair their immune systems to at least  some degree . - WRONG. What is meant by two highlighted text? What degree they stand to?

Answer B.

gurugmat · Answer

D.   In anyone for whom the scent of lavender reduces susceptibility to illness, it does so primarily by reducing stress. 
 
This option suggests that the primary mechanism of lavender’s effect on illness is stress reduction. However, the argument does not require this to be the primary mechanism; it only requires that stress reduction plays a role. Hope this helps.

gurugmat · Answer

B. Some people who regularly inhale the scent of lavender would otherwise be under enough stress to impair their immune systems.

This assumption is required for the argument because if none of the people inhaling lavender are stressed enough to impair their immune systems, the practice of inhaling lavender would not make any difference in terms of reducing illness. For the conclusion to hold, it must be the case that at least some individuals who inhale lavender are experiencing enough stress that would otherwise impair their immune systems, meaning that lavender’s stress-reducing effects would help prevent illness for them. This assumption directly connects lavender’s stress-reduction effects to a reduction in illness. That's why B is correct.

Raman109 · Answer

Understanding the argument -  
 Researcher: Research has shown that inhaling the scent of lavender has measurable physiological effects tending to reduce stress. - Claim/Premise. Inhaling the scent of lavender --> reduces stress.

It is known that intense stress can impair the immune system, making one more susceptible to illness. - Premise.  
 Intense stress (not normal stress) --> impairs the immune system --> more susceptible to illness.

Therefore, it is likely that the incidence of illness among those who regularly inhale the scent of lavender is reduced by this practice. - Conclusion 
 In people who regularly inhale the scent of lavender, the incidence of illness is reduced. But that would only happen if the stress is high enough to impair the immune system. There may be a case of a person who inhales the scent of lavender but whose stress is very low, which would mean his/her immune system may not have been impaired and if thats not impaired then they may not have an incident of illness. So these people are out of scope. We need a missing premise that would connect "high enough stress in these people that would impair the immune system."

Which one of the following is an assumption that the researcher's argument requires? - finding a missing premise or a minimum condition or an assumption.

(A) Many, if not all, of the scents that have a tendency to reduce susceptibility to illness, do so, at least in part, by reducing stress. - The mechanism by which they do it is out of scope. We need to know whether they have a stress high enough to impair the immune system.

(B) Some people who regularly inhale the scent of lavender would otherwise be under enough stress to impair their immune systems. -ok

(C) At least some people who use the scent of lavender to induce relaxation and reduce stress are no more susceptible to illness than average. - comparison with the average is out of scope.

(D) In anyone for whom the scent of lavender reduces susceptibility to illness, it does so primarily by reducing stress.  - But is the stress high enough to impair the immune system? Out of scope.  
 
(E) Reduced stress diminishes susceptibility to illness only for people who are under enough stress to impair their immune systems to at least some degree. - First this option has nothing to do with Lavender which is required for the argument. Second this option says that if your stress level is high enough to impair your immune system then only reducing stress will reduce illness. Doesn't make sense. Reducing stress in general is anyway good to reduce illness. This is out of scope.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Researcher: Research has shown that inhaling the scent of lavender

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Researcher: Research has shown that inhaling the scent of lavender

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