PT125.S1.P4.Q21

PrepTest 125 - Section 1 - Passage 4 - Question 21

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P1

In principle, a cohesive group—one whose members generally agree with one another and support one another's judgments—can do a much better job at decision making than it could if it were noncohesive. ███

intro topic · Cohesive group can have better decision-making than non-cohesive group
Cohesive group = members generally agree with each other and support each other's judgments.
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Causal mechanism · Group members more willing to say what they think
When cohesiveness is low, people are less willing to speak freely because of fear of social harm.
P2

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High cohesion can have risks · Can be less likely to deviate from majority opinion
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Causal mechanism · Groupthink
Members of high-cohesion group may not scrutinize others' proposals. They'll either think the proposal is good without critical thinking, or they'll suppress any doubts for the benefit of group consensus.
P3

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Factors that can lead to groupthink · Overestimating group's power and morality, closed-mindedness, pressure toward uniformity
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Requirement for groupthink · Cohesion in group is necessary, but not sufficient, for groupthink
Let's do some more research on other factors that can lead to groupthink.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
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21.

A group of closely associated ██████████ ███ ████ █ ██████████ ██████████ ████████ █████ █ ██████ ██ ████████ ██████ ██ ████████████ ████ ███████████ █████████████ ██ ███ ██ ████████ ████ ███ ███████ ████ ███ ██████ █████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ████████

a

provides evidence of ███████ ███████████ ████ ██████████ █ ████ █████ ██ ████████ ██ ███████

Not supported, because a group that has disagreements could also involve high cohesion, but without groupthink. A highly cohesive group can be one in which group members are not afraid to disagree.

13%
b

indicates that the ███████ ████████████ ███ ███████ ████ ████ █████ ██████ ██ ███████ █ ██████████ ██████

We have no reason to think groupthink played a role. That’s because groupthink involves the danger of group members forgoing critical scrutiny. A group subject to groupthink will have members who go along with the group decisions.

10%
c

provides no evidence ████ ██████████ ██████ █ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ████████

Supported, because we have no reason to think groupthink played a role. That’s because groupthink involves the danger of group members forgoing critical scrutiny. A group subject to groupthink will have members who go along with the group decisions.

68%
d

provides evidence that ██████████ ███ ███████ ████ ██ ████ ██████ ████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██ █████████ ██ ██████████

We have no reason to think groupthink played a role. That’s because groupthink involves the danger of group members forgoing critical scrutiny. A group subject to groupthink will have members who go along with the group decisions.

9%
e

indicates that the █████ ████████ █████ ████ ████ ███ ███████████████ █████████ ████ █████████ ██ ████████ ███ ███████████ ████ ██████████

Not supported, because we have no evidence from the passage that greater study of information produces better decision-making.

1%

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