Home › GRE General Test › English › Reading Comprehension › Consider these lines: "Following the surgery, he…
Consider these lines: "Following the surgery, he lost his ability to form many types of new memories. He was able to learn new skills, but afterward he had no recollection of learning them. For example, while he might learn to use a computer, he would have no conscious memory of ever having used one." Which conclusion do the quoted lines best support?
ANew skills cannot be acquired after brain surgery of any kind
BLearning a skill does not require conscious memory of the practice
CComputer skills are stored in the same way as memories of events
DHis memory problems were limited to events from before the surgery
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Learning a skill does not require conscious memory of the practice
1. Two facts sit side by side: skills were successfully learned, and the learning episodes left no conscious trace.
2. If a skill can be gained while all memory of practicing it is absent, the skill cannot depend on that memory.
3. So the quoted lines support option B: skill learning does not require conscious memory of the practice.
4. Option A is refuted by the computer example, where a new skill was in fact acquired.
5. Option D reverses the deficit, which concerns forming new memories after the surgery, not older ones.
_Source: OpenStax Psychology 1e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 3 "Biopsychology", section 3.4 The Brain and Spinal Cord_
Related questions
Read these lines: "In general, the longer a customer stays with a company, the more that cRead these lines: "In a perfectly competitive market, firms sell their products at prices Read these lines about a market for snowboard jackets: "The equilibrium price is $80; the Read these lines: "When government takes more money from business and consumers, a phenomeRead these lines about one tool a central bank can use: "An expansionary policy stimulatesRead these lines: "A decline in GDP that lasts for two consecutive quarters (each a three-Read these lines: "If prices go up but income doesn't rise or rises at a slower rate, a giRead these lines: "Full employment doesn't actually mean 100 percent employment. Some peop