Q24

[tzyc]

why is (E) the answer? I may not understand the question correctly, but it's asking about the assumption political theorists hold toward psychologist corrects??

Thank you

[noah]

why is (E) the answer? I may not understand the question correctly, but it's asking about the assumption political theorists hold toward psychologist corrects??

Thank you

It's a tricky question stem! We're asked about the political theorists--the ones discussed in the third paragraph. Specifically, what do they seem to think underlies the application of the classical theories to the civil rights movement.

This is a question for which getting your bearing pays off. Looking back at the paragraph, I see that the political theorists dismiss the application. Why? Because it trivializes the political ends and just focuses on presumed psychological issues. Also, the application boils it down too much, and lacks predictive value.

That's a lot of criticism! Let's look at the answer choices:

(A) tempting buy unsupported. There's no discussion of conflicting motivations.

(B) is out of scope. Beneficial?

(C) is tempting -- doesn't it seem like the classic theory rests on socioeconomic stress being the cause of social movements? That is the basic idea, but there's nothing about that being the ONLY cause. Furthermore, we don't hear that as a criticism from the political theorists hanging out in the third paragraph. Remember, we're asked what the author implies about those folks.

(D) is tricky. We see some tempting words--political & psychological motivations--however this answer focuses on analyzing the political ends of a movement through the psychological lens. The focus should be on analyzing the movement's cause through that lens. Another way to eliminate this answer is to notice that the political theorists are saying that the political ends are irrelevant (lines 41-42).

(E) is supported by lines 40-43, where we learn that the application trivializes the political ends and focuses on psychological issues.