Self-study
A study tested the performance of 70 pilots, half of whom chose to go on a reduced-calorie diet. █████ ███ ███ ███ ████ █████████ █████ █████ ██████ ███ ████ ███████ █████████ ██████ ████████ ████ ███ █████████ ████ ██████ ████ ███████ █████ ██████ ███ ███████ █████ ██ ██████████ ███ ███ ███████ ███ █████████████ █████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ █████████ ███ █████████ ██████ ██ ██ █████ ████████
"Surprising" Phenomenon
In a study, pilots who reduced their calories performed worse than pilots who didn’t diet, despite similar performance before starting the study.
Objective
Since this is an “Except” question, the correct answer won’t help explain the results of the study. In other words, we need to eliminate any answer that explains why being in caloric deficit had such a strong impact on pilots. The correct answer will either be irrelevant, or create greater confusion.
13.
Each of the following, if █████ ███████████ ██ ██ ███████████ ██ ███ █████ ███████ █████████ █████ ███████
a
Dieters often become ███████████ ████ ███████ █████ █████ ██████ ██████ ███ ███████ ████████
The dieting pilots were more concerned about their weight loss, so got distracted from flying their planes properly. This certainly contributes to an explanation.
b
Many of the ███████ █████████ ████ ███████ ███ ███████████ ████████ ███████ ██████ ███ ██████ ███ ███████ █████████ █████████████ ██ █████████ ████████
For whatever reason, many of the pilots in the study had a couple drinks beforehand. The dieters were more seriously affected by the alcohol, hence their reduced performance.
c
Reduced-calorie dieting makes ████ ██████ ████ ██████████ ██ ████████████ ███ ████████
The dieting pilots got tired during the test, hence their poor performance. This definitely helps to explain the difference.
d
Many of the ██████ █████ ██ ██ ██ ███ ████ ███████ ████ ████ ███████ █████ ███████ █████ ██████ ███████ █████ ████████ ███████
We’re not interested in why the pilots chose to diet, unless it explains their subsequent performance, which this doesn't. This doesn’t help to explain why dieting affects pilot performance.
e
Whereas alcohol has ██ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ███████ ██ ████████ █████ ██ █████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████████ ███████ ██████ ███ ███████ ██████
The dieters were operating with lower glucose levels, which interfered with their cognition. This explians why the dieters' flying abilities suffered accordingly.