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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his 15 Mar 2021, 08:00
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42% (02:00) correct 58% (02:19) wrong based on 498 sessions

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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his ability to accomplish tasks. In one study, a group of college students was outfitted with contraptions designed to administer soothing heat pulses to the students’ neck and shoulder muscles. The students were told that the pulses would enhance their performance of in-class assignments. Only half of these contraptions worked, but neither the students nor the psychologists were told which students would actually receive these pulses. This component of the experiment is often frustrated, however, because

Which one of the following selections, if it is true, completes the sentence most appropriately?


(A) frequently the faces of the students who actually receive the pulses become a little flushed.

(B) students who believe they are receiving the warm pulses do better on their class assignments.

(C) students who participate in the studies are volunteers who must be told that some of them will not receive the heat pulses.

(D) many students will not complete the experiment if the sessions last too long.

(E) many of the participating students suffer from tension headaches which readily respond to the heat pulses.
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A
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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his 22 Mar 2021, 07:15
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Bunuel
Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his ability to accomplish tasks. In one study, a group of college students was outfitted with contraptions designed to administer soothing heat pulses to the students’ neck and shoulder muscles. The students were told that the pulses would enhance their performance of in-class assignments. Only half of these contraptions worked, but neither the students nor the psychologists were told which students would actually receive these pulses. This component of the experiment is often frustrated, however, because

Which one of the following selections, if it is true, completes the sentence most appropriately?


(A) frequently the faces of the students who actually receive the pulses become a little flushed.

(B) students who believe they are receiving the warm pulses do better on their class assignments.

(C) students who participate in the studies are volunteers who must be told that some of them will not receive the heat pulses.

(D) many students will not complete the experiment if the sessions last too long.

(E) many of the participating students suffer from tension headaches which readily respond to the heat pulses.
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Official Explanation



One of the purposes of these studies, of course, is to find out whether or not students who think they are receiving the soothing heat pulses do better on their assignments than they would otherwise. If the psychologists knew ahead of time which students were receiving the pulses, they might subconsciously evaluate the students’ assignments based on the results they anticipated. Only if both students and psychologists are shielded from knowing who is receiving the pulses can the students’ assignments be graded and the results fairly tallied and analyzed. Selection (A) states that often students who receive the heat pulses become flushed in the face. This condition would be observable by both students and psychologists and would definitely frustrate one of the purposes of the experiment. Thus (A) is the correct answer. The other answer selections do not indicate how either students or psychologists would learn which students were actually receiving the heat pulses. Selection (C) is tempting, but it does not suggest that students know which of them will actually receive the pulses and which will not.
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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his Updated on: 25 Mar 2021, 00:13
Originally posted by Divya10n on 22 Mar 2021, 23:45.
Last edited by Divya10n on 25 Mar 2021, 00:13, edited 1 time in total.
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Bunuel
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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his ability to accomplish tasks. In one study, a group of college students was outfitted with contraptions designed to administer soothing heat pulses to the students’ neck and shoulder muscles. The students were told that the pulses would enhance their performance of in-class assignments. Only half of these contraptions worked, but neither the students nor the psychologists were told which students would actually receive these pulses. This component of the experiment is often frustrated, however, because

Which one of the following selections, if it is true, completes the sentence most appropriately?


(A) frequently the faces of the students who actually receive the pulses become a little flushed.

(B) students who believe they are receiving the warm pulses do better on their class assignments.

(C) students who participate in the studies are volunteers who must be told that some of them will not receive the heat pulses.

(D) many students will not complete the experiment if the sessions last too long.

(E) many of the participating students suffer from tension headaches which readily respond to the heat pulses.

Official Explanation



One of the purposes of these studies, of course, is to find out whether or not students who think they are receiving the soothing heat pulses do better on their assignments than they would otherwise. If the psychologists knew ahead of time which students were receiving the pulses, they might subconsciously evaluate the students’ assignments based on the results they anticipated. Only if both students and psychologists are shielded from knowing who is receiving the pulses can the students’ assignments be graded and the results fairly tallied and analyzed. Selection (A) states that often students who receive the heat pulses become flushed in the face. This condition would be observable by both students and psychologists and would definitely frustrate one of the purposes of the experiment. Thus (A) is the correct answer. The other answer selections do not indicate how either students or psychologists would learn which students were actually receiving the heat pulses. Selection (C) is tempting, but it does not suggest that students know which of them will actually receive the pulses and which will not.
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Hi Bunuel,
Why cant the answer be E ?E also refers to the effect of heat pulse on the students.
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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his 23 Mar 2021, 12:05
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Quote:
Bunuel
Bunuel
Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his ability to accomplish tasks. In one study, a group of college students was outfitted with contraptions designed to administer soothing heat pulses to the students’ neck and shoulder muscles. The students were told that the pulses would enhance their performance of in-class assignments. Only half of these contraptions worked, but neither the students nor the psychologists were told which students would actually receive these pulses. This component of the experiment is often frustrated, however, because

Which one of the following selections, if it is true, completes the sentence most appropriately?


(A) frequently the faces of the students who actually receive the pulses become a little flushed.

(B) students who believe they are receiving the warm pulses do better on their class assignments.

(C) students who participate in the studies are volunteers who must be told that some of them will not receive the heat pulses.

(D) many students will not complete the experiment if the sessions last too long.

(E) many of the participating students suffer from tension headaches which readily respond to the heat pulses.

Official Explanation



One of the purposes of these studies, of course, is to find out whether or not students who think they are receiving the soothing heat pulses do better on their assignments than they would otherwise. If the psychologists knew ahead of time which students were receiving the pulses, they might subconsciously evaluate the students’ assignments based on the results they anticipated. Only if both students and psychologists are shielded from knowing who is receiving the pulses can the students’ assignments be graded and the results fairly tallied and analyzed. Selection (A) states that often students who receive the heat pulses become flushed in the face. This condition would be observable by both students and psychologists and would definitely frustrate one of the purposes of the experiment. Thus (A) is the correct answer. The other answer selections do not indicate how either students or psychologists would learn which students were actually receiving the heat pulses. Selection (C) is tempting, but it does not suggest that students know which of them will actually receive the pulses and which will not.

Hi Bunuel,
Why cant the answer be E ?E also refers to the effect of heat pulse on the students.
Show more

Even i have the same issue.
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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his 22 May 2023, 07:33
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Hi,

To those that are asking why E could not be the answer. I had the same doubt but on careful reading of the E:

(E) many of the participating students suffer from tension headaches which readily respond to the heat pulses

The students may respond favourably or unfavourable to the heat pulses; We just don't know. Also, the crux of the passage is in how an aspect can "frustrate" the experiment i.e. evaluating the effects of attitude on ability. Regardless, of how many students react to the heat pulses does not create any bias in evaluating results and thus does not "frustrate" the parameters of the experiment.

Maybe, heat pulses can later be studied on their effect on students but their mere existence does not create any visible bias in the experiment. However, (A) creates a visible bias as has been explained in OA and this bias can frustrate / break the objectivity in the experiment.

Also, the contraption works on 50% so even if "many" students face tension headaches, what if this "many" fall in the other 50% category where the contraption does NOT work. So you see that there are too many variables to factor with (E) and hence, cannot be the option.

Hope this helps.
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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his 23 May 2023, 09:33
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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his ability to accomplish tasks. In one study, a group of college students was outfitted with contraptions designed to administer soothing heat pulses to the students’ neck and shoulder muscles. The students were told that the pulses would enhance their performance of in-class assignments. Only half of these contraptions worked, but neither the students nor the psychologists were told which students would actually receive these pulses. This component of the experiment is often frustrated, however, because

Which one of the following selections, if it is true, completes the sentence most appropriately?

(A) frequently the faces of the students who actually receive the pulses become a little flushed. - CORRECT. POE helps. But flushed faces must confuse students and psychologist alike, so that bias, if any, is not there.

(B) students who believe they are receiving the warm pulses do better on their class assignments. - WRONG. This should not frustrate rather prove the point.

(C) students who participate in the studies are volunteers who must be told that some of them will not receive the heat pulses. - WRONG. The very nature on which the experiment depends is destroyed by this choice.

(D) many students will not complete the experiment if the sessions last too long. - WRONG. Issues with "many". Also, not completing is out of picture.

(E) many of the participating students suffer from tension headaches which readily respond to the heat pulses. - WRONG. Two red text are problems that this option suffers from. Many may stand for(2 or 3 students, or for half of the students) those for whom these contraptions didn't work and equally for those for whom these contraptions worked. Ready response for whom is also a big question.

Answer A.
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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his 25 Oct 2024, 06:52
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Why would I care about them being identifiable by the flush on their faces... they can still accompish their task. I am grading it on their ability to complete it which is an objective measure (e.g. CLEAN THE HOUSE) - how does my face being flushed matter affect my ability/evaluation of the task.... answer is B for me. If those without think they do better, then it defeats the purpose of this experiment.
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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his ability to accomplish tasks. In one study, a group of college students was outfitted with contraptions designed to administer soothing heat pulses to the students’ neck and shoulder muscles. The students were told that the pulses would enhance their performance of in-class assignments. Only half of these contraptions worked, but neither the students nor the psychologists were told which students would actually receive these pulses. This component of the experiment is often frustrated, however, because

Which one of the following selections, if it is true, completes the sentence most appropriately?

(A) frequently the faces of the students who actually receive the pulses become a little flushed. - CORRECT. POE helps. But flushed faces must confuse students and psychologist alike, so that bias, if any, is not there.

(B) students who believe they are receiving the warm pulses do better on their class assignments. - WRONG. This should not frustrate rather prove the point.

(C) students who participate in the studies are volunteers who must be told that some of them will not receive the heat pulses. - WRONG. The very nature on which the experiment depends is destroyed by this choice.

(D) many students will not complete the experiment if the sessions last too long. - WRONG. Issues with "many". Also, not completing is out of picture.

(E) many of the participating students suffer from tension headaches which readily respond to the heat pulses. - WRONG. Two red text are problems that this option suffers from. Many may stand for(2 or 3 students, or for half of the students) those for whom these contraptions didn't work and equally for those for whom these contraptions worked. Ready response for whom is also a big question.

Answer A.
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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his 25 Oct 2024, 22:51
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einstein801

B doesn't show something that would "frustrate" the experiment. It describes the idea that the experimenters are trying to test--can you do better on a task if you merely think you are receiving helpful pulses? In other words, can your outlook affect your performance? If B is true, that wouldn't mess up the experiment, it would simply confirm that the answer to the question is yes.

As for A, keep in mind that we have no idea what the task in question is, or how objective the evaluation is. All we need to know is that the experiment is intended to be "double-blind," in that neither the subjects nor the experimenters know who is in the treatment group and who is in the control group. If there's a giveaway, that messes up this aspect of the experimental design, causing trouble for the experiment.
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Psychologists have studied the impact a person’s attitude has on his 07 Feb 2026, 04:16
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