PrepTest 134, Section 4, Question 14
Passage A  Evolutionary psychology has taught us to(499 more words not shown)
Passage A(246 more words not shown)
Passage B(261 more words not shown)
The approaches toward evolutionary psychology(13 more words not shown)
- AThe author of(20 more words not shown)
- BThe author of(18 more words not shown)
- CThe author of(19 more words not shown)
- DThe author of(17 more words not shown)
- EThe author of(18 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Start with the clear contrast: A uses evolutionary psychology to explain altruism, while B is skeptical of how such explanations are reached. I expect A to be the more favorable of the two. The answer still needs to describe what they differ about accurately.
Working the answers
- A
B is very interested in the reasoning: it asks what would make an evolutionary explanation decisive and considers alternative motives. We can't rank A as more interested in logical implications merely because A is more favorable to the theory.
- BCorrect
A works within the evolutionary framework and proposes how empathy could help spread genes. B challenges the move from a behavior's evolutionary benefit to an explanation of the behavior. That makes A more committed to the framework's principles, just as our favorable-versus-skeptical prediction suggested.
- C
This reverses the contrast. B raises other interests that might explain an action, including caring about a child for the child's own sake.
- D
Evolutionary psychology isn't the whole theory of evolution. B questions this way of explaining human motives; it doesn't reject evolution generally.
- E
B criticizes the psychologists' explanations, not their personal motives for offering them. Calling the reasoning questionable doesn't establish that the psychologists themselves have bad intentions.
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