Dr. Elena Rodriguez, a behavioral researcher, sought to examine whether modifications to testing environments could influence student stress responses...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Dr. Elena Rodriguez, a behavioral researcher, sought to examine whether modifications to testing environments could influence student stress responses during standardized assessments. Rodriguez's team organized several examination sessions using the same test materials. Certain sessions were conducted in conventional classroom spaces with artificial lighting and rigid desk arrangements. Alternative sessions were held in adapted environments that included either sunlight exposure with moveable furniture, or background music paired with scent diffusers. Rodriguez's research group found that participants in sessions with sunlight exposure and moveable furniture demonstrated markedly reduced stress indicators compared to those in conventional classroom spaces. This evidence indicates that ________
Which choice most logically completes the text?
participants in conventional classroom spaces exhibit elevated stress because such environments generally contain less sunlight exposure than adapted environments possess.
implementing sunlight exposure and moveable furniture arrangements can assist in decreasing participant stress during standardized assessment situations.
examination sessions more frequently feature sunlight exposure than moveable furniture or scent diffusion components.
merging sunlight exposure, moveable furniture, and scent diffusion constitutes the optimal method for reducing participant stress during evaluations.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Dr. Elena Rodriguez, a behavioral researcher, sought to examine whether modifications to testing environments could influence student stress responses during standardized assessments." |
|
| "Rodriguez's team organized several examination sessions using the same test materials." |
|
| "Certain sessions were conducted in conventional classroom spaces with artificial lighting and rigid desk arrangements." |
|
| "Alternative sessions were held in adapted environments that included either sunlight exposure with moveable furniture, or background music paired with scent diffusers." |
|
| "Rodriguez's research group found that participants in sessions with sunlight exposure and moveable furniture demonstrated markedly reduced stress indicators compared to those in conventional classroom spaces." |
|
Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Dr. Rodriguez's research demonstrates that specific environmental modifications (sunlight exposure with moveable furniture) can significantly reduce student stress during standardized testing.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes Rodriguez's research question about environmental effects on test stress, describes her experimental design comparing conventional classroom setups against two types of modified environments, then presents the key finding that one specific modification combination (sunlight plus moveable furniture) produced notably lower stress levels than conventional setups.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The evidence specifically showed that participants in sessions with sunlight exposure and moveable furniture had "markedly reduced stress indicators" compared to conventional classroom spaces
- So the correct answer should:
- Focus on these two specific environmental features (sunlight exposure and moveable furniture)
- Connect them to stress reduction during testing situations
- Avoid overgeneralizing beyond what the study actually tested and found
participants in conventional classroom spaces exhibit elevated stress because such environments generally contain less sunlight exposure than adapted environments possess.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims conventional spaces cause elevated stress because they have "less sunlight exposure than adapted environments"
- Makes it sound like sunlight exposure alone is the key factor
- Ignores that the successful condition required BOTH sunlight exposure AND moveable furniture
implementing sunlight exposure and moveable furniture arrangements can assist in decreasing participant stress during standardized assessment situations.
✓ Correct
- States that implementing sunlight exposure and moveable furniture can help decrease stress during standardized assessments
- Matches exactly what the evidence showed: these two specific modifications together led to "markedly reduced stress indicators"
- Stays within the bounds of what was actually tested and proven
examination sessions more frequently feature sunlight exposure than moveable furniture or scent diffusion components.
✗ Incorrect
- Makes a claim about how "frequently" different features appear in examination sessions
- The passage says nothing about frequency or how common these different setups are
- Shifts focus away from the stress-reduction findings to irrelevant frequency claims
merging sunlight exposure, moveable furniture, and scent diffusion constitutes the optimal method for reducing participant stress during evaluations.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims that combining sunlight exposure, moveable furniture, AND scent diffusion is the optimal method
- The study never tested this three-way combination
- The evidence only supports the effectiveness of sunlight exposure with moveable furniture, not the addition of scent diffusion