PrepTest 110, Section 2, Question 4
For newborns of age four to six weeks(46 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- ABabies more easily(14 more words not shown)
- BA mother's voice(9 more words not shown)
- CBabies associate the(9 more words not shown)
- DOften only a(8 more words not shown)
- EDiscomfort in newborns(8 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
The babies react differently depending on whose voice they hear. That suggests they can tell their mother's voice apart from other voices.
Keep the situation specific. These babies are four to six weeks old, and their mothers have been their primary caregivers. They temporarily stop crying at the sound of their mother's voice, even though someone else's voice doesn't have the same effect. I would expect the explanation to involve recognizing that particular voice and responding to it differently.
What we’re looking for
We're asked what is most reasonably supported, so we don't need to invent a broad theory of infant development. I'd look for something close to the observed response.
Working the answers
- A
Recognizing a voice doesn't tell us how easy learning it was. The babies might have heard their mothers far more often than other people, giving them more opportunities to learn. We aren't given a comparison of learning difficulty. The different response is the evidence we have.
- B
We have no timeline of everything a baby learns to recognize. Even if the baby recognizes the mother's voice by four to six weeks, something else could have been recognized earlier. “First” adds a claim the passage doesn't support.
- CCorrect
The mother's voice temporarily stops the discomfort-related crying, while other voices don't. Since the mother is the primary caregiver in the described cases, it is reasonable to infer a connection between that familiar caregiver's voice and relief from discomfort.
This develops our initial observation about recognizing the voice: the baby responds as though the voice is associated with comfort. It doesn't mean the sound supplies food or permanently removes whatever caused the discomfort. The observed effect is a temporary halt in crying.
- D
Other people's voices not stopping the crying doesn't mean other people cannot provide comfort. Someone else might be able to feed the baby, for example. The passage compares the effect of voices; D expands that into a restriction on who can provide comfort by any means.
- E
We aren't given a comparison with feeding the baby or addressing the source of discomfort in another way. A temporary pause in crying at a voice doesn't establish the best method of relief. E changes evidence that something has an effect into a claim that it outperforms the alternatives.
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