Despite overall physiological bilateral symmetry, many species exhibit lateralized biases, i.e., preferences for right- or left-oriented behavior. Whe...
GMAT Reading Comprehension : (RC) Questions
Despite overall physiological bilateral symmetry, many species exhibit lateralized biases, i.e., preferences for right- or left-oriented behavior. When approaching prey, for example, some predator species favor their right eye; some prey species respond more quickly when their left eye detects a predator. Similar behavioral asymmetries occur in humans. Most notable is right- and left-handedness; less notable is the tendency to turn right when entering a room. Paul Farnsworth found that more successful students tended to choose seats near the front, a little to the right. He argued that external factors such as teacher location might have affected this lateral bias. But it is now known that processing differences between the two brain hemispheres can also contribute to behavioral asymmetries.
George Karev found that when presented with a movie theater seating diagram, right-handed people were more likely than left-handed people to choose a seat on the right, facing front. But he hypothesized that, since the right hemisphere processes visuospatial and emotional information, the people who chose right-side seats did so because that would put the screen in their left visual field, optimizing information flow to the right hemisphere.
Although the right hemisphere is thought to be dominant in processing emotion, some evidence suggests that the left hemisphere plays a role. The valence model proposes that the left and right hemispheres process positive and negative emotion respectively, while the approach-withdrawal model posits that the left hemisphere processes emotion expressed in approach behavior and the right hemisphere processes emotion expressed in withdrawal behavior.
Victoria Harms and colleagues suggested that since a paper seating plan was used in the theater-seating studies by Karev and others, the exhibited preference might be due simply to handedness: people choose the same side of the paper as their favored hand. Consequently, the Harms research was designed to study choices in an actual movie theater. Also, hoping to distinguish between various explanations, they studied seating choices for comedies (presumed to contain positive emotional content), dramas (presumed to contain negative emotional content), and documentaries (presumed to have balanced emotional content). They found significant—though not universal—preference for seats on the right, facing front, regardless of movie genre and of handedness.
Which of the following statements concerning the valence model and the approach-withdrawal model most accurately reflects information provided in the passage?
1. Passage Analysis:
Progressive Passage Analysis
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| Despite overall physiological bilateral symmetry, many species exhibit lateralized biases, i.e., preferences for right- or left-oriented behavior. | What it says: Even though animals' bodies are symmetrical (same on both sides), they often favor one side over the other in their behavior. What it does: Introduces the main concept - lateralized behavior despite symmetrical bodies Source/Type: Scientific fact/general principle Connection to Previous Sentences: This is our starting point - no previous information to connect to Visualization: Body: Left side = Right side (symmetrical) Behavior: Favors left side OR favors right side (asymmetrical) Reading Strategy Insight: The key insight is the contrast between symmetrical bodies but asymmetrical behavior. This is likely our main theme. What We Know So Far: Animals have symmetrical bodies but show sided preferences in behavior What We Don't Know Yet: Specific examples, why this happens, what causes it |
| When approaching prey, for example, some predator species favor their right eye; some prey species respond more quickly when their left eye detects a predator. | What it says: Concrete example: Some hunters prefer using their right eye, some hunted animals are faster at noticing danger with their left eye. What it does: Provides specific animal examples of the lateralized behavior concept Source/Type: Scientific examples/behavioral observations Connection to Previous Sentences: - Sentence 1 told us: Animals show sided preferences despite symmetrical bodies - NOW Sentence 2: Gives us concrete examples of this concept in action - This is NOT new complexity - it's the same idea with specific examples Visualization: Predators: 70% use right eye, 30% use left eye when hunting Prey: 60% react faster with left eye, 40% with right eye when spotting danger Reading Strategy Insight: Feel confident here - this is just illustration of the main concept, not new information to track. |
| Similar behavioral asymmetries occur in humans. | What it says: Humans also show the same sided preferences in behavior. What it does: Transitions from animals to humans, extending the same concept Source/Type: Scientific fact Connection to Previous Sentences: - Sentences 1-2 told us: Animals show lateralized behavior - NOW Sentence 3: Simply extends this same concept to humans - This is parallel information, not new complexity Visualization: Same concept, broader application: Animals: Show sided preferences → Humans: Also show sided preferences Reading Strategy Insight: This is expansion of scope, not new concepts. We're still talking about the same basic idea - lateralized behavior. |
| Most notable is right- and left-handedness; less notable is the tendency to turn right when entering a room. | What it says: The most obvious human example is being right or left-handed; a less obvious example is that people tend to turn right when they walk into rooms. What it does: Provides specific human examples, from obvious to subtle Source/Type: Observational facts about human behavior Connection to Previous Sentences: - Sentence 3 told us: Humans show lateralized behavior - NOW Sentence 4: Gives specific examples, just like sentence 2 did for animals - Same pattern: general statement → specific examples Visualization: Human Examples: Very obvious: 90% right-handed, 10% left-handed Less obvious: 65% turn right entering rooms, 35% turn left Reading Strategy Insight: This parallels the animal examples perfectly. We're seeing the same pattern - moving from general to specific. |
2. Passage Summary:
Author's Purpose:
To trace the development of scientific understanding about why people show left-right preferences in their behavior, particularly in seating choices.
Main Point:
While people do show a consistent preference for right-side seating, the various scientific explanations proposed so far - including environmental factors, simple handedness effects, and brain hemisphere emotion processing - don't actually account for this behavior, leaving the phenomenon still unexplained.
3. Question Analysis:
The question asks us to identify which statement most accurately reflects information provided in the passage about the valence model and the approach-withdrawal model. These are two competing theories about how brain hemispheres process emotional information.
Key Evidence:
"The valence model proposes that the left and right hemispheres process positive and negative emotion respectively, while the approach-withdrawal model posits that the left hemisphere processes emotion expressed in approach behavior and the right hemisphere processes emotion expressed in withdrawal behavior."
Answer Analysis:
Both models explicitly assign emotional processing roles to both brain hemispheres. The valence model divides emotions by type (positive vs. negative), while the approach-withdrawal model divides by behavioral expression (approach vs. withdrawal). This directly reflects the passage's presentation of these models as explanations for why both hemispheres are involved in emotion processing.
- Both models explicitly assign emotional processing roles to both brain hemispheres
- Valence model: left hemisphere processes positive emotion, right hemisphere processes negative emotion
- Approach-withdrawal model: left hemisphere processes approach emotions, right hemisphere processes withdrawal emotions
- This directly reflects the passage's presentation of these models as explanations for why both hemispheres are involved in emotion
- The models specifically address emotional processing, not cognitive information processing
- The passage presents these as models about emotion, not cognition in general
- "Only one brain hemisphere" contradicts the fundamental premise of both models, which divide emotional processing between hemispheres
- The models don't explain how emotional information affects cognitive processing
- They explain how emotional information is processed, not its effect on other cognitive functions
- The passage presents them as competing theories about emotional processing division, not about emotion-cognition interactions
- The models primarily describe how emotion is processed by brain hemispheres, not how it's expressed in behavior
- Only the approach-withdrawal model touches on behavioral expression, and even then it's about processing emotions that relate to behaviors
- The valence model has nothing to do with behavioral expression - it's about emotional tone
- Neither model makes specific assumptions about visuospatial information processing
- These models focus on emotional processing, while Karev's assumptions were about visuospatial processing
- The passage doesn't connect these emotion models to Karev's visuospatial theories