SAT #11 Reading (Question 20)

Question

Based on the description of Wegner's fourth experiment, what is the most likely explanation for the findings for the largest single group of participants represented?

Answer 1

Answer Choice D is the correct answer because the largest single group of participants represented in the graph refer to those who “remember nothing,” and, in the discussion of the four experiments Wegner performed (Paragraph 5), there’s no mention of participants who remembered nothing. Because we have no evidence about this group, Answer Choice D, “there is not enough information to determine the cause of the results for those participants,” makes the most sense. Answer Choices A, B and C are incorrect because, while they may be plausible explanations for the group represented, we have no evidence in the Passage to support one over the other.

How to solve this? The Question asks, “Based on the description of Wegner’s fourth experiment, what is the most likely explanation for the findings for the largest single group of participants represented in the graph?” To solve this, we should first go back to the graph, find the largest group represented, and then determine what the Passage says about it.

Going back to the graph, we see that the column for the group who “remembered nothing” is the largest single group represented. Because the Question asks specifically about Wegner’s fourth experiment, we should go back to the Passage to the paragraph where these experiments are described (Paragraph 5). In this paragraph, however, and even the following discussion about conclusions, we see that nothing is mentioned about the group who “remembered nothing,” which means that we can’t make any claims about them and should expect our answer choice to reference this.

Answer Choice A says that the participants in the group “focused on remembering the folder locations,” which is incorrect because we have no evidence to support it. Answer Choice B is incorrect because we also have no evidence that the participants in the group “attempted to remember the statements and folder locations.” Answer Choice C is also incorrect because, although it might be plausible, there’s no evidence that the participants in the group “did not attempt to remember any specific pieces of information.” Answer Choice D says that “there is not enough information to determine the cause of the results for those participants,” which most closely matches our own answer, so we should choose Answer Choice D as our correct answer for this question.