PrepTest 116, Section 3, Question 3
In an experiment, tennis players who were told(35 more words not shown)
The situation described above most(9 more words not shown)
- APeople do less(18 more words not shown)
- BPeople execute a(13 more words not shown)
- CPeople perform a(10 more words not shown)
- DPeople who assess(11 more words not shown)
- EPeople who think(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Being evaluated might make someone play worse, not better.
At first, I might expect players to try harder when they know their talent is being measured. But perhaps that pressure gets in the way. A player who is worrying about looking skilled might grip the racket too tightly or overthink a shot instead of simply playing.
Think about an LSAT practice test versus test day. Knowing that this score counts could make someone second-guess answers or rush in an effort to finish everything. Those are possible illustrations of pressure affecting performance, not additional findings from this experiment. Here, the fact we have is that equally skilled tennis players did better when they thought the rackets, rather than their talent, were being assessed.
What we’re looking for
The question asks which proposition this situation most closely fits. I'd look for the idea that believing your skill is under evaluation can hurt your performance. Keep that tied to what changed between the groups. We shouldn't turn one tennis experiment into proof about every person doing every kind of task.
Working the answers
- A
Both groups knew their performance would be used in an assessment. One thought the assessment concerned the rackets; the other thought it concerned the players' talent. So being watched isn't the contrast the experiment gives us. A loses the distinction between observing a performance and judging the performer's ability.
- BCorrect
This captures the relevant difference. The players who didn't think their abilities were being judged performed better than equally skilled players who did. The equipment group could focus on playing without treating the exercise as a judgment of its talent.
B states the pattern more generally than the single experiment establishes on its own. But the question asks which proposition the situation most closely fits. It does not ask us to prove a universal rule from this one result. B matches both the difference between the groups and the direction of their performance; the other choices introduce factors we weren't given.
- C
Confidence could matter, but we haven't measured it. The group told that its talent was being assessed might have been very confident, or it might not have been. Equal skill also doesn't establish equal confidence. Choosing C would require supplying information about how the players viewed their own abilities.
- D
Nobody is asked to rate their own talent, and we aren't told whether any such self-assessment is accurate. Knowing that two groups are equally skilled is different from knowing whether the players accurately understand their skill levels. D describes a relationship the experiment doesn't examine.
- E
We aren't told what the players think would please the experimenters or how hard either group tries. Better performance isn't automatically evidence of greater effort; pressure could interfere even with someone who is trying very hard. E replaces the stated comparison with a new account of motives and effort.
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