Two hundred randomly selected subjects were asked, Have you ever awak

Question

Two hundred randomly selected subjects were asked, “Have you ever awakened, seemingly paralyzed, with a sense of a strange presence in the room?” Forty percent answered yes. A randomly selected control group of 200 different subjects in the same study were asked simply if they remembered ever waking up seemingly paralyzed. Only 14 percent of the control group answered yes.

Which one of the following statements is most supported by the information above?

(A) Experiencing a sense of a strange presence in a room in some way causes subjects to feel as though they are paralyzed.

(B) The number of subjects who had awakened with a sense of a strange presence in the room was greater in the first group than in the control group.

(C) If the reports of the first group of subjects were accurate, approximately 60 percent of them had never awakened with a sense of a strange presence in the room.

(D) At least some of the randomly selected subjects of the study gave inconsistent reports.

(E) The tendency of subjects to report a recollection of an event can sometimes be increased by suggesting circumstances that accompanied the event.

Aham56 · Accepted Answer

There are two groups.

The first is a random selection of 200 students. This group is asked whether they have woken up to a sense of being paralysed  with  a strange presence in the room. Forty percent answer 'yes'.

A second group, different from the first, is asked whether they have woken up to a sense of being paralysed. Only 14 percent answer 'yes'.

(A) Experiencing a sense of a strange presence in a room in some way causes subjects to feel as though they are paralysed.
Two problems with this choice. Firstly, It says subjects, referring to all, when only 40 percent reported that they did. Even if the 40% that did, did so truthfully and correctly, this does not apply to all the subjects. Secondly, the causality can be the other way around. The paralysis may be causing them to feel a strange presence.

(B) The number of subjects who had awakened with a sense of a strange presence in the room was greater in the first group than in the control group.
We cannot infer this as the second group was not asked about a strange presence.

(C) If the reports of the first group of subjects were accurate, approximately 60 percent of them had never awakened with a sense of a strange presence in the room.
The first group was asked whether they woke up feeling both paralysed  and  sensing a strange presence in the room. More than 40% could have woken up with a sense of just a strange presence in the room without the paralysis.

(D) At least some of the randomly selected subjects of the study gave inconsistent reports.
There is no basis to infer this as they are two independent groups.

(E) The tendency of subjects to report a recollection of an event can sometimes be increased by suggesting circumstances that accompanied the event.
 This seems to be the case between the two groups. The first group were asked about paralysis with another factor, a strange presence in the room compared to the second group who were only asked about the paralysis. The first group reported a greater number than the second justifying this choice. The choice also uses the word 'sometimes' which can be supported by this example and does not make a generalisation, as in choice A.

desertEagle · Answer

Argument :
First group: 40% responded that they were" awakened, seemingly paralyzed, with a sense of a strange presence in the room” 
Control group: 15% responded that they were awakened seemingly paralyzed

Question Type: 
Inference - It seems that when people were told that there was strange presence, more people responded to be awakaned, seemingly paralysed.

(A) Experiencing a sense of a strange presence in a room in some way causes subjects to feel as though they are paralyzed. -  Distortion - far fetched -- Incorrect
 
(B) The number of subjects who had awakened with a sense of a strange presence in the room was greater in the first group than in the control group. --  Nothing has been said about awaking with a sense of a strange presence in the room about the control group. They were both asked different questions. --> Incorrect

(C) If the reports of the first group of subjects were accurate, approximately 60 percent of them had never awakened with a sense of a strange presence in the room. -->  "Never" is an extreme word. May be some did not remember or didnot feel like responding. --> Incorrect
 
(D) At least some of the randomly selected subjects of the study gave inconsistent reports. -->  Same subjects were not asked both questions as per question. --> out of scope --> Incorrect

(E) The tendency of subjects to report a recollection of an event can sometimes be increased by suggesting circumstances that accompanied the event. -->  This seems like what can be inferred. -->  CORRECT

zhanbo · Answer

I chose  (E) .

This is an  inference / Must be true / Most supported   question. There is no argument / conclusion, just fact sets.

The use of scientific terms such as "randomly selected" and "control group" indicates that the research method is not at fault. We know the fact that:
In the first group, 40% answers "Yes" to "Have you ever awakened, seemingly paralyzed, with a sense of a strange presence in the room?"
In the control group, 14% answers ”Yes" to "Have you ever awakened, seemingly paralyzed?".

The disparity is significant, but the questions used are also quite different.

(A) The causation relationship is not established in the experiments. It is also super difficult to establish causation relationship.

(B) No subject is asked the question "Have you ever awakened with a sense of a strange presence?". So this statement is not supported.

(C) If the reports of the first group of subjects were accurate, approximately 60 percent of them had not awakened,  seemingly paralyzed  and sensing a strange presence in the room. This statement does not mention "seemingly paralyzed".

(D) Cannot be supported since questions are different. Even if the question is exactly the same, there might be other explanations.

(E) Because we trust that the tests are sound, this is an insight we can defend.

BTW, this question can also be presented as "Resolve the paradox" question, and the answer is likely the same.

EnglishAgast · Answer

Hello,

I am trying to understand how are ???Two hundred randomly selected subjects??? and ???A randomly selected control group of 200 different subjects in the same study??? are same? Pls could someone help explain? Thank you!

unraveled · Answer

The two groups are not same, they are different and it's clearly mentioned. 
One is a randomly selected subjects of 200 people and the other is a selected control group of another 200 people.

There is not similarity between the two.

EnglishAgast · Answer

Hello  unraveled  , thank you. I chose (B) for the wrong reason.

My reasoning was, when the former 200 people were asked, they were able to recall with the additional evidence. When the latter (same) 200 were asked without supporting evidence, they were less able to recall.

I sensed this doesn’t fit right.

Two hundred randomly selected subjects were asked, Have you ever awak

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Two hundred randomly selected subjects were asked, Have you ever awak

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