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Set 13: Rhetorical Synthesis

Explanation

Answer: C

PASSAGE

A student is writing about the placebo effect. The student wants to explain how expectations influence medical outcomes. Notes: - Patients receiving inactive treatments often show improvement. - Brain imaging shows placebos activate pain-relief pathways. - Positive doctor-patient relationships enhance placebo effects. - Placebo responses vary by condition and individual.

Which choice most effectively uses information from the notes to accomplish the student's goal?

A. Placebo responses vary significantly depending on the condition being treated and the individual patient.
B. All clinical trials must include placebo control groups.
C. The placebo effect demonstrates how expectations influence outcomes: patients improve with inactive treatments, brain scans show expectation-driven activation of pain-relief pathways, and positive doctor relationships amplify these effects.✓ Correct
D. Placebos have been used in medical research for many decades.

Detailed Answer Explanation

This question asks you to effectively combine information to achieve a goal. The goal is how EXPECTATIONS influence outcomes. Improvement from inactive treatments, brain activation, and relationship effects show expectation's power. The correct synthesis will use relevant details from the notes in a logical, purposeful way. Focus on what the question asks you to accomplish, then choose the answer that best achieves that goal using the provided information. Effective synthesis requires selecting and combining the most relevant information to achieve a specific purpose. Not all provided notes may be equally useful. Focus on what best accomplishes the stated goal while maintaining logical coherence.

Key Evidence:

• "how expectations influence medical outcomes"

• "inactive treatments often show improvement"

• "placebos activate pain-relief pathways"

• "Positive doctor-patient relationships enhance"

Why others are wrong: D (Not in notes; discusses history, not mechanism.), A (States variability but doesn't explain expectation influence.), B (Not in notes; discusses methodology, not expectation influence.).

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