Question 58·Easy·Inferences
Some students say that playing music while studying helps them remember information better. To test this claim, researchers divided volunteers into two groups. One group studied a list of foreign-language vocabulary words in complete silence, while the other group studied the same list with quiet instrumental music playing in the background. When the volunteers were later given a surprise quiz on the words, the two groups’ average scores were nearly identical. These results suggest that ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For SAT Reading & Writing inference questions based on short experiments or studies, first restate the research question, then identify the key result (what actually happened), and translate that into a simple, cautious conclusion. Eliminate choices that (1) introduce ideas not tested (like different people, times, or activities), (2) claim strong effects not shown (much better or worse), or (3) turn a narrow finding into a broad rule (what everyone or teachers “should” do). The correct answer will closely match the result and stay within the limits of the data.
Hints
Focus on what was measured
Look at what the researchers actually compared in the experiment. What were the two different study conditions, and what was measured afterward?
Interpret the phrase "nearly identical"
If the two groups’ average quiz scores were nearly identical, what does that tell you about the effect of listening to quiet instrumental music during studying, at least in this study?
Watch for answers that go beyond the data
Ask yourself for each answer: does the passage give evidence for this exact claim, or is it making a broader statement (about all music, all people, or what teachers should always do) that the experiment never tested?
Step-by-step Explanation
Restate what the experiment tested
First, focus on what claim is being tested: some students believe that playing music while studying helps them remember information better. The researchers tested this by having one group study words in silence and the other group study the same words with quiet instrumental music in the background.
Understand the key result
Next, look carefully at the outcome: on a surprise quiz, the two groups’ average scores were nearly identical. This means that, in this experiment, the students with music and the students without music remembered about the same amount of information.
Decide what the results allow us to conclude
Because the scores were nearly the same, the experiment does not show an advantage for the group that listened to quiet instrumental music. At the same time, it doesn’t show that music makes memory worse, only that it didn’t lead to better quiz scores in this situation.
Match the conclusion to the best answer choice
Now choose the option that directly matches this limited conclusion: that quiet instrumental music did not lead to better memory than silence in the experiment. The only answer that says this, without adding extra claims about other types of music, long-term changes in memory, or what teachers should do, is: “listening to quiet instrumental music while studying is unlikely to improve memory more than studying in silence.”