Intuition guides people in making judgments by using learned associations that automatically surface as feelings. As people gain experience in...

GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions

Source: Mock

Critical Reasoning

Inference

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Intuition guides people in making judgments by using learned associations that automatically surface as feelings. As people gain experience in a field, they learn to associate the defining characteristics of phenomena with particular feelings and many of their judgments can become automatic. For example, rather than going step-by-step through a decision tree, experienced car mechanics will often, after a quick look and listen, intuitively identify the problem.

Which of the following statements is most strongly implied by the information above?

An experienced car mechanic does not need to deliberate about most judgments related to that field.

Judgments made on the basis of intuition are rarely wrong.

Most quick judgments are made on the basis of intuition.

An experienced car mechanic will often be guided by feelings when diagnosing problems with cars.

Judgments made on the basis of a decision tree are less likely to be correct than those made on the basis of intuition.

Solution

Passage Visualization

Passage Statement	Visualization and Linkage
Intuition guides people in making judgments by using learned associations that automatically surface as feelings.	Establishes: The mechanism of intuitive judgment Key insight: Intuition = learned associations + automatic feelings Example: A wine expert who has tasted 1,000 wines automatically associates certain aromas with quality ratings Pattern: Past learning creates instant emotional responses
As people gain experience in a field, they learn to associate the defining characteristics of phenomena with particular feelings and many of their judgments can become automatic.	Establishes: Experience creates automatic judgment capability Key insight: More experience = more automatic judgments Concrete example: Novice doctor (100 patients seen) vs. Expert doctor (10,000 patients seen) Novice: Must think through diagnosis step-by-step Expert: Instantly "feels" what's wrong upon seeing symptoms
For example, rather than going step-by-step through a decision tree, experienced car mechanics will often, after a quick look and listen, intuitively identify the problem.	Establishes: Concrete illustration of experience-based intuition Key insight: Experience replaces systematic analysis with instant recognition Specific contrast: Novice mechanic: Takes 30 minutes using diagnostic checklist Expert mechanic: Takes 2 minutes using "look and listen" intuition Pattern: 15,000+ hours of experience = instant problem recognition
Overall Implication	Core Pattern Revealed: Experience transforms slow, deliberate analysis into fast, automatic judgment through learned associations that manifest as immediate feelings. The more expertise gained, the more judgments become intuitive rather than analytical.

Valid Inferences

Inference: People with more experience in a field will rely more heavily on intuitive judgments than those with less experience.

Supporting Logic: Since the passage establishes that experience leads people to "associate the defining characteristics of phenomena with particular feelings" and that "many of their judgments can become automatic," and since the mechanic example shows experienced practitioners using intuition "rather than going step-by-step through a decision tree," therefore greater experience directly correlates with increased reliance on intuitive rather than systematic judgment processes.

Clarification Note: This inference focuses on the relationship between experience level and judgment method, not on the accuracy of intuitive versus systematic approaches. The passage supports that experience changes how people make judgments, but doesn't establish whether intuitive judgments are more or less accurate than analytical ones.

Answer Choices Explained

An experienced car mechanic does not need to deliberate about most judgments related to that field.

'An experienced car mechanic does not need to deliberate about most judgments related to that field.' This goes too far beyond what the passage actually tells us. While the passage says experienced mechanics 'will often' use intuitive identification after a quick look and listen, it doesn't say this applies to 'most judgments' or that deliberation is never needed. The word 'often' suggests frequency but not a majority, and we can't infer anything about judgments beyond problem diagnosis.

Judgments made on the basis of intuition are rarely wrong.

'Judgments made on the basis of intuition are rarely wrong.' The passage never discusses the accuracy or error rate of intuitive judgments versus other types of judgment. This introduces information about correctness that simply isn't provided in the argument. We know how intuition works, but not how reliable it is.

Most quick judgments are made on the basis of intuition.

'Most quick judgments are made on the basis of intuition.' This reverses the logical relationship presented in the passage. The passage tells us that intuitive judgments can be quick (like the mechanic's rapid diagnosis), but it doesn't tell us that most quick judgments are intuitive. There could be other ways to make quick judgments that don't involve intuition.

An experienced car mechanic will often be guided by feelings when diagnosing problems with cars.

'An experienced car mechanic will often be guided by feelings when diagnosing problems with cars.' This directly connects the passage's key concepts. Since intuition 'guides people in making judgments by using learned associations that automatically surface as feelings,' and since 'experienced car mechanics will often...intuitively identify the problem,' we can definitively conclude that these mechanics are guided by feelings during diagnosis. This inference flows logically and necessarily from the passage.

Judgments made on the basis of a decision tree are less likely to be correct than those made on the basis of intuition.

'Judgments made on the basis of a decision tree are less likely to be correct than those made on the basis of intuition.' Like choice B, this introduces a comparison of accuracy that the passage never addresses. The passage contrasts the methods (step-by-step versus intuitive) but makes no claims about which approach leads to more correct outcomes.

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