PrepTest 104, Section 1, Question 14
Critic: Many popular psychological theories are poor theories(41 more words not shown)
The statement about the relative(18 more words not shown)
- AIt is used(6 more words not shown)
- BIt is used(7 more words not shown)
- CIt is used(15 more words not shown)
- DIt is used(15 more words not shown)
- EIt is used(21 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Does a theory have to be elegant to be useful? I would want to know whether it is accurate and whether it helps, not just whether its explanation feels tidy.
The critic concedes that these popular psychological theories are inelegant and leave the psyche mysterious, but then says those shortcomings aren't really important. Why? The therapies tend to work better than those based on their more scientific rivals.
I can still question that defense. Producing a useful result doesn't automatically establish that a theory's explanation is true. We might also wonder exactly what the critic means by “more scientific.” But we can understand the move without resolving either concern: the critic gives practical success as a reason not to let the earlier criticisms decide the matter.
What we’re looking for
The question asks for the role of the therapeutic-success claim. My prediction is evidence supporting “this is not really important.” The results are supposed to outweigh the stated drawbacks.
Working the answers
- A
The success claim doesn't disprove the criticisms. A theory could remain inelegant and fail to explain the psyche while a therapy based on it still helped patients. The critic says the shortcomings aren't important, not that evidence of them has been shown false.
- BCorrect
The considerations against the theories are their inelegance and lack of explanatory success. Their better therapeutic results are introduced to override those considerations—to say, in effect, that the practical benefit matters more here.
That is why “override” fits better than A's “disprove.” The critic can accept both the shortcomings and the successful results, then give the results greater weight.
- C
Better therapeutic outcomes don't establish better scientific explanations. The critic even calls the rivals more scientific. This answer turns success in treatment into an explanatory advantage the argument doesn't claim.
- D
The critic treats therapeutic success as important enough to outweigh these particular drawbacks. That doesn't identify the most important aspect of all scientific theories. There could be other considerations the critic values even more. D expands this comparison into a general ranking we aren't given.
- E
The critic doesn't retract the claim that these theories fail to dispel the mystery. Their therapies could work while their explanations remained weak. E would use the results to rehabilitate explanatory power; the actual argument uses them to say that the acknowledged explanatory shortcomings aren't decisive.
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