Thanks for your questions, @Tjzuerich and @Advaith. This is a Parallel Reasoning question. Let's first be sure we understand the reasoning in the stimulus itself.
The researcher explains that since the vast majority of one's dreams bear no resemblance whatsoever to real events that follow those dreams, it is unreasonable to believe that one has extrasensory perception solely on the basis of having had several vivid dreams about events that did, in fact, happen after those dreams.
Answer choice (D) follows an identical reasoning structure: because most people who take aspirin do not die prematurely, it is unreasonable to conclude that aspirin is dangerous solely because a number of people who die prematurely take aspirin.
Answer choice (A) is different because there, a scientific link is actually established through testing of the drug (albeit only on a small number of patients for now). Notice how neither the facts in the stimulus nor those in answer choice (D) establish such a scientific link.
Hope this helps, please let us know if you have any additional questions.
erojasFebruary 10, 2018
Can you please explain why C is incorrect?
jamesioMay 4, 2018
i second the above, i chose C.
MehranMay 7, 2018
Hi @erojas, @jamesio, thanks for your posts.
As noted in our prior post, the stimulus states that since "the vast majority of one's dreams bear no resemblance . . . it is unreasonable to believe that one has ESP *solely* on the basis of having had several vivid dreams . . ."
Answer choice (C) is wrong for a number of reasons. First, it says "many" rather than a "majority" (notice how (D) says "most"). Second, it says "several factors are known to be relevant" whereas both the stimulus and correct answer (D) identify just *one* possible cause (dreaming, or taking aspirin).
Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
Ashley-TienJuly 2, 2018
I am having alot of issues with parallel reasoning questions; when I read the stimulus, I had no idea what it was saying and the answer choices all sounded correct. Could you explain what the reasoning structure is?
MehranJuly 3, 2018
Hi @Ashley-Tien, thanks for your post. Totally understandable; parallel reasoning questions are tricky for many, and do indeed require you to get a lock on the reasoning in the stimulus before you look at the answer choices. Otherwise, all the answers start to look the same, and you lose a lot of precious time trying to make sense of them.
At the 30,000 foot level, this is a stimulus about cause and effect vs. sequence of events. Some people have vivid dreams about events; then, some time after these dreams, the events actually occur. But just because the dreams come before the events does not mean that the dreams cause the events.
Answer choice (D) parallels this reasoning. A lot of people take aspirin, and then die prematurely. But just because this happens does not mean aspirin is dangerous (causes death).
Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any additional questions.
