PrepTest 103, Section 1, Question 20
There is strong evidence that the cause of(42 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(13 more words not shown)
- APeople who have(11 more words not shown)
- BPeople who have(10 more words not shown)
- CPeople who rate(24 more words not shown)
- DOf the many(25 more words not shown)
- EMost people who(26 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Maybe anxiety affects who goes to the doctor, rather than what causes the migraine.
Look carefully at the group in the studies. It isn't simply “people who have migraines.” It's people being professionally treated for migraines. Those are not necessarily the same group, because someone can have migraines without being in professional treatment.
Suppose more anxious people are more inclined to seek that treatment. Then a study of the treated group could find higher anxiety even if anxiety doesn't cause the headaches. The difference would arise from who enters treatment, not from the origin of the condition.
We're asked to resolve the apparent discrepancy. Why would people receiving treatment score higher on anxiety if migraines have a physical cause? My prediction is a connection between anxiety and seeking professional help.
What we’re looking for
That would let both facts stand. We don't need to dismiss the physical-cause evidence or pretend that the measured anxiety difference isn't there.
Working the answers
- A
Migraines occurring among relatives might make us wonder about some shared factor, but it doesn't explain the anxiety difference between people being treated and people not being treated. It also doesn't, by itself, prove a genetic cause. We need a connection to how the study groups differ.
- B
Headaches occurring during emotional stress doesn't explain why the professionally treated group scores higher on anxiety. It also doesn't establish that stress causes those headaches; occurring together and causing are different claims. This answer leaves the treatment-versus-no-treatment comparison unexplained.
- CCorrect
This supplies exactly the link we predicted. People who score higher on anxiety are more likely to seek professional treatment. That tendency can produce a more anxious treatment group even when the migraines themselves have a purely physical cause.
Notice that it says “more likely.” We don't need all anxious people to seek treatment or all less-anxious people to avoid it. A difference in the likelihood of seeking help is enough to explain why anxiety scores differ between the groups.
- D
Publicity about studies favoring a psychological cause doesn't tell us who seeks treatment or why the people in treatment score higher on anxiety. We could invent a story connecting the publicity with behavior, but D doesn't give us that connection. It reports which findings received attention, not an explanation of the observed group difference.
- E
This tells us how long people who start treatment tend to remain in it. It doesn't connect anxiety levels with entering or staying in treatment. The same stopping rule could apply to anxious and less-anxious patients. We still need to explain why the treatment group has higher anxiety scores.
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