The question says, "The author’s characterization of stealing thunder in the passage is based at least partly on both..."
(D) says, "informal observations of nontrial uses of techniques analogous to stealing thunder and controlled studies of lawyers’ courtroom behavior"
The problem with (D) is that it deals with a study involving actual trials (controlled studies of lawyers' courtroom behavior). However, in lines 11 and 12 in the text we're told that "no empirical research has directly tested the effectiveness of stealing thunder in actual trials," so we have textual support to directly contradict (D). Additionally, none of the nontrial techniques analogous to stealing thunder that were mentioned in the passage were informal; the "psychological research" mentioned in line 22 and the "psychological experiments" mentioned in line 29 were both formal observations, so the first part of (D) is also descriptively inaccurate. Thus, we can get rid of this answer choice.
(E) says, "research that was not directly concerned with legal proceedings and research in which subjects participated in simulated trial situations"
The "research that was not directly concerned with legal proceedings" describes the psychological research (line 22) and psychological experiments (line 29) well. The psychological research discussed in lines 22 to 25 deals with people revealing information in general settings, and the study mentioned in lines 33 to 36 involves comparing information and different commodities. None of this research directly deals with legal proceedings. The "research in which subjects participated in simulated trial situations" describes the simulated trial situations mentioned in lines 11 to 15. These line references all point to studies that the author uses to provide support for her conclusion. (E) has strong textual support from the passage, so it's our correct answer.
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