Psychologist: The best way to recall a certain word or name that one is having trouble remembering is to occupy one'...

Victoria on August 8, 2019

Hi @Julie-V,

Happy to help! Let's start by going through the passage.

The psychologist is arguing that "the best way to recall a certain word or name that one is having trouble remembering is to occupy one's mind with other things."

Why? Because "often the more we strive to remember a certain word or name that we can't think of, the less likely it becomes that the word will come to mind."

The principle underlying this argument is that when trying to accomplish a specific task, it is helpful to occupy the mind with other things because the more we focus on the task, the less likely it is that we will accomplish it successfully.

Answer choice C argues that, after a serious mistake, we should "continue on confidently as though all is well." This is because focusing on the mistake can be distracting and the mistake can be overcome by succeeding in new challenges. While the suggestion to pretend the mistake never happened because it can be distracting is similar to the passage, this answer choice is basing its argument on the principle that the best way to solve a problem is to pretend that there is no problem because it will increase the possibility that you will succeed at other things which will diminish the importance of the initial problem.

Answer choice E is arguing that to cope with sorrow or grief, we should focus on "those who are experiencing even greater hardship" because this will make our own sorrow or grief feel more bearable by comparison. This answer choice is not arguing that we should focus on other because it will distract us from thinking of our own sorrow or grief thereby increasing the ease of overcoming it. Rather, this answer choice is arguing that we should focus on others because it will diminish our own sorrow or grief.

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any further questions.