Psychologists observing a shopping mall parking lot found that, on average, drivers spent 39 seconds leaving a parkin...

Naz on August 14, 2015

Three situations are being observed: (1) when a driver is leaving a parking spot and someone is waiting for them patiently, (2) when a driver is leaving a parking spot and someone is waiting for them impatiently, i.e. lots of honking, and (3) when a driver is leaving a parking spot and no one is waiting for them.

The issue with answer choice (C) is that it does not touch upon the second situation. Even if it were true that it is considerably more difficult and time-consuming for a driver to maneuver a car out of a parking space if another car waiting to enter that space is nearby, it does not explain why it takes more time to maneuver the car if the waiting driver is impatient as opposed to patient.

Answer choice (A), on the other hand, explains that the more pressure a driver feels because others are waiting for them to perform maneuvers with their car, the less quickly they are able to perform them. It is clear to infer that one who is being honked at has more pressure on them than one who is not being honked at. Thus, answer choice (A) touches upon all three situations.

Hope that clears things up! Please let us know if you have any other questions.

@chris_va on October 1, 2019

I saw c as correct because it seemed like an increased level of impatience would cause an increased level of stress, in turn making the maneuvering more difficult based on he premise offered in choice c. I'm trying not to assume but it's tough.

avif on May 21, 2020

Thanks for the explanation. I also picked C. I didn't realize at all that the case where the driver was being honked at was part of the equation. I thought that that part was explained by making the person wait longer for honking. Therefor I thought that A wasn't warranted. After your explanation I looked back at the question and saw that the argument we are trying to weaken is theorizing about both cases. Which makes A make more sense.

Anthony-Wurst on July 12, 2021

This was very helpful. Thank you!

cglee on September 8, 2022

Interesting explanation for sure.