Students in a university study hall were divided into two groups. One group studied in complete silence, while the other studied with ambient coffee shop noise played at moderate volume. The group with background noise scored 15% higher on creative problem-solving tasks, though both groups performed similarly on memorization tests.
It can be inferred from the text that
complete silence is always the best environment for studying
coffee shops are too loud for any productive work
all types of cognitive tasks respond identically to environmental conditions
different cognitive tasks may be affected differently by environmental factors
Correct Answer: D
Choice D is the best answer. Noise affected creative tasks differently than memorization.
- Context clues: 15% improvement in creative tasks; "similar" performance on memorization.
- Meaning: The same environmental change had different effects on different task types.
- Verify: Background noise helped one type of thinking but not another.
💡 Strategy: When the same factor produces different effects on different activities, infer task-specific responses.
Choice A is incorrect because background noise improved creative performance. Choice B is incorrect because moderate coffee shop noise helped creative work. Choice C is incorrect because creative and memorization tasks responded differently.