LSAT 103 – Section 1 – Question 20

LSAT 103 - Section 1 - Question 20

September 1998

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT103 S1 Q20
+LR
+Exp
Resolve reconcile or explain +RRE
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Sampling +Smpl
A
0%
168
B
10%
158
C
87%
165
D
1%
157
E
2%
155
136
146
155
 +Medium 147.884 +SubsectionMedium

There is strong evidence that the cause of migraines (severe recurrent headaches) is not psychological but instead is purely physiological. Yet several studies have found that people being professionally treated for migraines rate higher on a standard psychological scale of anxiety than do people not being professionally treated for migraines.

"Surprising" Phenomenon
If people undergoing migraine treatment tend to show more signs of anxiety (a psychological issue), how can it be that the cause of migraines has nothing to do with psychological factors?

Objective
The right answer will be a hypothesis that offers a difference between people who are being treated for migraines and people who are not. This difference will provide another explanation for why people who are receiving treatment tend to have more anxiety without saying that anxiety or other psychological factors cause migraines.

A
People who have migraine headaches tend to have relatives who also have migraine headaches.
(A) does not offer a difference between the groups, and is therefore not useful for explaining the apparent discrepancy.
B
People who have migraine headaches often suffer these headaches when under emotional stress.
(B) deepens the apparent discrepancy instead of helping to explain it. If people often get migraines when under emotional stress, it leads one to believe that migraines could be caused by psychological factors, which contradicts the strong evidence offered in the stimulus.
C
People who rate higher on the standard psychological scale of anxiety are more likely to seek professional treatment than are people who rate lower on the scale.
(C) offers a difference that explains why individuals being treated for migraines have more anxiety: it is not because anxiety causes migraines, but because they are more likely to seek, and therefore receive, professional treatment.
D
Of the many studies done on the cause of migraine headaches, most of those that suggest that psychological factors such as anxiety cause migraines have been widely publicized.
This does not help to explain the apparent discrepancy, as the publicized nature of certain studies does not affect those studies’ results.
E
Most people who have migraines and who seek professional treatment remain in treatment until they stop having migraines, whether their doctors consider the cause to be physiological or psychological.
(E) does not address the apparent discrepancy. The length of time or success of one’s treatment does not explain why people who receive treatment have more anxiety than those who do not.

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LSAT PrepTest 103 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

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