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Question

Difficulty: HardStrengthen

Hospital Administrator: Six months ago, our surgical recovery ward replaced standard ceiling panels with specialized acoustic dampening tiles. In the six months following the installation, patients in this ward requested 28 percent fewer doses of supplemental pain medication than patients admitted during the six months immediately preceding the renovation. However, acoustic monitoring revealed that ambient noise levels dropped by only 2 decibels—a change imperceptible to the human ear. Since this minor physical sound reduction could not account for such a marked improvement, the decline in pain medication requests was most likely the result of a placebo effect caused by patients' awareness that the hospital had upgraded the facility.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the hospital administrator's argument?

  1. A
    Although average ambient noise decreased by only 2 decibels, the acoustic tiles eliminated sudden, high-frequency sound spikes from medical monitors that previously disrupted patient sleep.
  2. B
    All post-surgical patients admitted to modern hospital recovery wards report feeling more comfortable when they believe their rooms contain up-to-date medical technology.
  3. In a separate surgical recovery unit where identical acoustic tiles were installed without the patients being informed or the alterations being visibly noticeable, requests for supplemental pain medication showed no measurable decline.Answer
  4. D
    Hospital administrators in neighboring medical centers have recently implemented comparable physical renovations in their post-operative care facilities.
  5. E
    The hospital administrator has consistently prioritized non-pharmacological interventions to manage post-surgical patient recovery over the past five years.

Answer

The finding that an unannounced and visually unnoticeable installation of identical acoustic tiles in another unit produced no decline in pain medication requests.
The correct choice reinforces the causal conclusion by demonstrating a negative control. When the physical tiles are present but patient awareness is absent, the reduction in pain medication requests does not occur. This rules out the rival explanation that the physical properties of the tiles were responsible and confirms that patient awareness was the necessary factor producing the outcome.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus argument structure and identify the conclusion and premises.
The premises state that pain medication requests fell by 28 percent after acoustic tiles were installed, but measured sound reduction was an imperceptible 2 decibels. The conclusion is that the decline was caused by a psychological placebo effect stemming from patients' awareness of the upgrade.
Strengthening an argument requires identifying the core causal claim linking the evidence to the conclusion.
2
Identify the primary vulnerability or logical gap in the argument.
The author concludes that awareness (placebo) caused the improvement solely because overall decibel reduction was imperceptible, overlooking potential unmeasured physical benefits of the tiles and assuming without proof that awareness was the operative factor.
A strong strengthener must validate the proposed causal link or rule out the physical presence of the tiles as the direct cause.
3
Evaluate the answer choices to isolate the statement that best bridges this gap.
Showing that installing identical tiles without patient awareness failed to produce any decrease in pain medication isolates the variable of awareness, demonstrating that the physical tiles alone were insufficient to cause the effect.
Applying the method of difference confirms that the effect occurs only in the presence of the hypothesized cause.

Key Concept

Strengthening Causal Claims via Controlled Comparison
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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