题目
Psychologists spent three months training volunteers in a meditation technique that centers on minimizing distractions, while other volunteers received no training. Then all the volunteers were asked to pick out numbers from a stream of distracting letters that appeared on a video screen. The volunteers who had undergone meditation training were much better than the others at detecting the numbers. The psychologists concluded that practicing the concentration required by the meditation technique improves overall focus and attention.
In order to assess the strength of the psychologist's argument, it would be most helpful to know which of the following?
选项
A.By what specific methods the psychologists trained the volunteers in the meditation technique
B.What proportion of the numbers the volunteers who had undergone the meditation training were able to detect
C.Why the psychologists tested only one meditation technique that centers on minimizing distractions
D.How much time elapsed between volunteers' meditation training and their participation in the number-detection activity
E.To what extent the volunteers' belief in the meditation technique's effectiveness influenced their performance when attempting to pick out the numbers
解析
心理学家花了三个月的时间训练志愿者一种**专注于减少干扰**的冥想技巧,而其他志愿者没有接受任何训练。随后,所有志愿者都被要求从视频屏幕上出现的一连串干扰字母中**找出数字**。接受过冥想训练的志愿者在识别数字方面比其他人表现得“好得多”。心理学家得出结论:**练习冥想技巧所需的专注力,能提高整体专注力和注意力**。
为了评估心理学家论点的力度,了解以下哪一项最有帮助?
- **核心论点**:练习冥想技巧所需的专注力,能提高整体专注力和注意力。
- **论据**:接受冥想训练的志愿者,在“从干扰字母中找数字”的任务中,表现远优于未训练的志愿者。
- **正确答案方向**:需验证“志愿者表现优异,是否真的由‘冥想训练提升了专注力’导致,还是存在其他干扰因素(如志愿者对‘冥想有效性’的信念,间接影响了表现)”。
- **选项A**:心理学家训练志愿者冥想技巧的**具体方法**。
分析:论点关注“冥想训练是否能提升专注力”,而非“训练方法是什么”。即使知道方法细节,也无法判断“训练是否真的提升了专注力”,与论点力度评估无关。
- **选项B**:接受冥想训练的志愿者,能识别出**多少比例的数字**。
分析:论据已明确“训练组表现好得多”,“具体识别比例”不影响“训练是否提升专注力”的判断(我们需要的是“训练组 vs 未训练组”的**相对表现**,而非训练组的**绝对比例**)。因此,该选项无法评估论点力度。
- **选项C**:为什么心理学家**只测试了一种**专注于减少干扰的冥想技巧。
分析:“测试的技巧数量”不影响“该技巧是否能提升专注力”的结论(即使只测试一种,只要实验设计合理,仍可得出结论)。因此,该选项与论点评估无关。
- **选项D**:志愿者的冥想训练和数字识别活动之间**间隔了多长时间**。
分析:“间隔时间”不影响“训练是否提升专注力”的核心逻辑(除非时间过长导致效果消失,但题目未体现“时间”是关键干扰因素)。因此,该选项无法评估论点力度。
- **选项E**:志愿者对“冥想技巧有效性”的信念,在多大程度上影响了他们**识别数字时的表现**。
分析:若志愿者的信念(如“认为冥想有用,所以更努力/更自信”)导致表现优异,而非“冥想本身提升了专注力”,则论点会被**削弱**;若信念对表现无影响,则论点更**可靠**。因此,了解“信念的影响程度”能有效评估论点力度,符合要求。
综上,正确答案为\(\boldsymbol{E}\)。