Berkeley Verbal explanations are confusing

[ayang55]

I've been practicing the Berkeley Review Verbal passages for a few weeks now and there will be times where the explanation for why one answer is more correct than the other seems very subjective.

 

For example, one passage (Diagnostic set 1, passage 5) talked about scientific experiments in which meditation was shown to have actual physiological effects. One question (Q27) provided new information stating that methods other than meditation can also produce the same physiological effects, and then asked for the closest analogy.

 

I chose "sexual arousal by a number of stimuli normally not considered to be erotic, such as fetishes, has been observed in a small but significant number of people", based on the reasoning that both meditation and other methods are able to produce a change in the body despite not normally being associated with having the ability to do so.

 

The correct answer was "morphine is a universally effective pain-killer, because it binds to receptor sites in the brain that also bind endogenous morphine-like molecules", based on the reasoning that both morphine and meditation are exogenous stimuli that induce universal physiological responses in natural endogenous systems.

 

To me this seems like a very arbitrary line of reasoning, and is arguable. I've also had the same problems with other questions in TBR. I understand that many people don't like TBR verbal review, but I don't want to take the risk of blaming my problems on the study material.

 

Has anyone else had this problem with TBR, or any other verbal material in general? I often seem to apply a line of reasoning that is different from the official explanation, and the official explanation doesn't convince me that my method was faulty. I've been keeping a log of questions I get wrong (type of question, why I got it wrong, tip for next time), but even when I apply this knowledge (including all the tips I get from premed101 and studentdoctor forums) to new questions I still seem to get them wrong.

 

Is it TBR? Is it me?

 

Sorry for the long post, I'm just getting a little frustrated. I hope I can get some advice that will help me and other people here too.

[goodyearkl]

Switch to EK 101 for VR. Most people prefer it. BR is EXCELLENT for physics though.

[ayang55]

Right, although I wanted to start with BR so I don't burn through all the practices too quickly, and to ease into the mindset for verbal. I plan to do TBR --> EK --> TPR --> AAMC. It's just now I'm doubting if starting with the worst material will actually be a disadvantage.

[goodyearkl]

Right, although I wanted to start with BR so I don't burn through all the practices too quickly, and to ease into the mindset for verbal. I plan to do TBR --> EK --> TPR --> AAMC. It's just now I'm doubting if starting with the worst material will actually be a disadvantage.

 

Yeah, don't. I'd be shocked if you get through all of them. Use the other three.

[ayang55]

Thanks, but the only other worry is that this is my second time studying for verbal, and I've already done all the questions from EK, TPR, and AAMC before. TBR is the only new source of questions. I still remember some of the passages from EK and it might affect how well I do/how well I score.

[Borborygmi]

I also find verbal frustrating .

 

However, I actually agree with Berkeley's reasoning here.

 

The question stem is asking for something other than meditation (ie: another external stimuli--or use whatever language you want) that elicits a physiological response. It's basically a 2x2 question (if they use this terminology in Berkeley).

 

The answer you chose is only partly correct. Yes, sexual arousal meets the criteria of the first part of the question - external stimuli/stimuli/similar thing to meditation. However, the second part of the option does not meet the criteria of a physiological response. "A significant number of people" is irrelevant.

 

Their correct answer meets both criteria. Morphine is ingested -- stimilu/something external. And it "binds to receptor sites in the brain that also bind endogenous morphine-like molecule." Therefore, the exogenous opioid, morphine, must produce physiological effects since it binds to the same receptor as something that already exists endogenously. This fulfills the 2x2 criteria for the correct answer.

 

Long-winded response, sorry. Hope that helps.

[ayang55]

Thanks s3lf, this was exactly the type of response I was looking for!

 

However, the way I understood it was that "fetishes = external stimuli" and "sexual arousal...observed = physiological response", so I'm still a bit confused about the explanation.

 

Maybe I'm just nitpicking a single question, but I'd really like to improve my logic whenever possible.

 

Thanks!

[Borborygmi]

I just did this passage in TBR a few minutes ago.

 

I'll break down why I chose C for this question and not any of the other options:

 

Here is the full question stem:

The author says the relaxation response can be elicited by methods other than TM; examples are hypnosis, biofeedback, and electrical stimulation of a

certain area of the hypothalamus. The CLOSEST analogy to this would be to say that:

 

- Before answering this question--revisit the passage. The key terms here are "relaxation response" which you should be able to immediately jump to the final paragraph of the passage where this is discussed. The second piece of information in the question stem is "hypothalamus."

- When you revisit the passage, here is the key sentence: "These changes

collectively, very similar to the ones achieved by 65 stimulating an area of the hypothalamus in test animals, we call the relaxation response"

- Again, we see hypothalamus and that it's stimulated. So, we want some sort of answer that fits this. So looking at the options...

 

 

- Not A: you can immediately take away this answer because nowhere in the passage is immune response explicitly discussed and it has nothing to do with the brain. (If you correctly answered question no. 1, then this should also be an answer choice that can be quickly removed).

- Not B: Sure, you have a stimulus like sexual arousal, but nowhere is the brain, hypothalamus, or relaxation response discussed. I would actually call this answer choice a distractor. It appears to be partly correct and you could spend time extrapolating what it means. If you have to spend any time extrapolating or adding anything to an answer choice, it is probably incorrect unless the other answer choices are very obviously incorrect. I would probably not immediately eliminate this answer choice and move on.

- Yes, C: morphine is "universally effective" and the brain is mentioned. Once you see this response, it seems like a better and more complete option than B. I would remove B and move on to D.

- Not D: this is another quickly removed option. Flashes of light are never discussed in the passage. Also, it is only "some people" that experience this while "others do not" which doesn't really fit the criteria for the relaxation response (both human and animals).

 

Hopefully that helps a bit more. Also, who knows if I have hindsight bias. It's certainly possible. I did get the other questions for this passage correct, although only four questions for a passage was a little weird to me.

[ayang55]

First of all thanks for taking the time to do the questions and type this out

 

I can see where you're coming from, and I can see how choice C makes sense now:

- morphine and other drugs = meditation and other methods

- universally effective pain-killer = relaxation response

- binds to receptor sites in the brain = activating hypothalamus

- that also bind endogenous morphine-like molecules = natural physiological activation of hypothalamus

 

And using this logic, choice B isn't as complete:

- sexual arousal = relaxation response

- by number of stimuli normally not considered to be erotic = meditation and other methods

 

So C is better than B because it's contains more of the entire train of idea.

 

I'll have to work on my reasoning more in the future.

 

Thank you very much for guiding me through it!