Logic Breakdown

Passage Summary: Talking to a therapist changes your brain's chemicals, which helps you get better. Because of this, the author thinks we'll eventually be able to just use medicine to get the same results.

Conclusion: Doctors will eventually be able to use drugs to treat psychological disorders just as effectively as talk therapy.

Reasoning: Talk therapy works by inducing chemical changes in the brain that correspond to behavioral improvements.

Analysis: The author assumes that the chemical changes caused by talk therapy are the primary or only reason it works. There is a significant gap between 'talk therapy causes chemical changes' and 'drugs can replicate those specific changes perfectly.' To make this argument hold water, we must assume that the method of delivery—talking versus a pill—doesn't matter as long as the chemical result is the same. Look for an answer that suggests the effectiveness of the treatment is tied strictly to the chemical outcome rather than the process of the therapy itself.

Passage Stimulus

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4.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Correct Answer
B
B is required. Negation test: if improvements from talk therapy are not solely through chemical changes (i.e., other mechanisms are essential), then directly altering neurochemistry may not be as effective as talk therapy, undermining the conclusion that drugs can match therapy’s effectiveness.
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