PT66.S2.Q04 - traditional "talk" therapy

Comments

• nye8870 Alum ⭐

  August 2016 1749 karma

  I think that's about right in so far as "pharmacologically intervening in the brain's chemistry" would entail "chemical changes in the brain" taking place. But using the tried and true method of applying the negation test to ac (B) should help. The negation of (B) states: It is possible that some improvements in a patient's behavior produced by talk therapy occur by means other than chemical changes in the brain's neurochemistry. This does wreck the argument that pharmacological intervention can do the same thing because the possibility would be open that some other thing is contributing towards patients' level of success. If a negated answer choice ruins the argument then the ac Must be correct.
• stcaitmokyu Free Trial Member

  August 2016 68 karma

  Thanks, can I ask what the tried and true method is?
• Ron Swanson Alum Member Inactive ⭐

  August 2016 1650 karma

  @stcaitmokyu
  
  The "tried and true" method for Necessary Assumption questions is negating the answer choices. If you negate an answer choice, and that negation completely destroys the argument, that's the correct answer because it shows that the answer choice must be true. Remember a necessary assumption by nature must hold if the conclusion is valid.
  
  Let's look in the context of this question... In the stimulus it says that "talk therapy" produces chemical changes in the brain that correspond with certain improvements in behavior. The argument then concludes that based on this, physicians will be able to improve patients behavior "AS EFFECTIVELY" with pharmacological intervention (prescription drugs) as with traditional talk therapy.
  
  Now what if there's another aspect to talk therapy aside from changing the chemistry of the brain that leads to improvements? For example, what if the act of physically discussing your problems helps facilitate positive changes in a patient's behavior. Couldn't that hinder a physicians ability to treat psychological disorders with pharmacological intervention "AS EFFECTIVELY" as traditional talk therapy?
  
  That's exactly what answer choice B seeks to address. Answer choice B rules out possible alternative pathways to improvement like I mentioned above. So, when applying the negation method, answer choice B leaves open the ambiguity for hypothetical like the one I described above. That's why you can confidently select B as the correct answer, because it plugs up a potential hole in the argument.
  
  Hope that helps!
• stcaitmokyu Free Trial Member

  August 2016 68 karma

  Thank you!