Studies conducted by environmental psychologist Dr. Elena Rodriguez and her research team examined the relationship between urban design and community...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Studies conducted by environmental psychologist Dr. Elena Rodriguez and her research team examined the relationship between urban design and community social dynamics. Their investigations revealed that pedestrian-friendly neighborhood features—including walkable streets, accessible parks, and community gathering spaces—play an essential role in promoting regular resident interactions. Additionally, the researchers found that frequent social contact activates trust-building mechanisms, psychological processes that encourage neighbors to engage in collective community activities. Neighborhoods that lack pedestrian-friendly design elements would therefore likely show _______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
less interest among residents in local governance participation.
weakened ability to organize community-wide initiatives.
greater resident focus on individual rather than shared concerns.
reduced neighborhood pride and place attachment.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Studies conducted by environmental psychologist Dr. Elena Rodriguez and her research team examined the relationship between urban design and community social dynamics.' |
|
| 'Their investigations revealed that pedestrian-friendly neighborhood features—including walkable streets, accessible parks, and community gathering spaces—play an essential role in promoting regular resident interactions.' |
|
| 'Additionally, the researchers found that frequent social contact activates trust-building mechanisms, psychological processes that encourage neighbors to engage in collective community activities.' |
|
| 'Neighborhoods that lack pedestrian-friendly design elements would therefore likely show _______' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Research shows that pedestrian-friendly neighborhood design promotes social interactions, which build trust and lead to collective community activities.
Argument Flow: The passage presents research findings in a clear cause-and-effect chain: pedestrian-friendly design leads to more resident interactions, these interactions activate trust-building processes, and trust encourages collective community engagement. It then asks us to infer what would happen in neighborhoods lacking these design features.
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 passage establishes this chain: pedestrian-friendly design leads to interactions leads to trust leads to collective activities
- If we remove the first element (pedestrian-friendly design), we should logically see the opposite effects downstream
- The right answer should reflect a reduction in collective or community-wide activities, since that's the end result mentioned in the passage
less interest among residents in local governance participation.
- This focuses specifically on local governance participation
- While governance could be considered collective activity, it's too narrow and specific
- The passage discusses collective community activities broadly, not governance specifically
weakened ability to organize community-wide initiatives.
- This directly connects to collective community activities from the passage
- Community-wide initiatives are exactly the type of collective activities mentioned
- Follows the logical chain: no design features leads to no interactions leads to no trust leads to weakened ability to organize collectively
greater resident focus on individual rather than shared concerns.
- The passage doesn't discuss individual versus shared concerns
- This choice introduces a concept not supported by the text
reduced neighborhood pride and place attachment.
- Pride and place attachment aren't mentioned or implied in the passage
- The research focused on interactions and collective activities, not emotional connections to place