Free SAT Practice Question

Question 1 of 1
ID: DSAT-RW-82
Section: Digital SAT Reading & Writing (RW) - Broadly Reading - Information and Ideas
Topic: Command of Evidence – Textual
Difficulty level: Hard

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Psychologists Lila Chen and Arturo Morales have argued that experiencing gratitude—a felt sense of appreciation for benefits received—can increase people's patience and reduce impulsive choices. Chen and Morales report evidence from a recent study in which participants first spent one minute writing either about a time they felt intense gratitude (the gratitude condition) or about the previous day's routine activities (the neutral condition). Immediately afterward, participants completed two tasks: (1) a series of decisions between a smaller sum of money available now and a larger sum available in two weeks, and (2) a checkout simulation in which a lab assistant deliberately processed forms very slowly.

Which finding from the researchers' study, if true, would most strongly support their claim?

AParticipants in the gratitude condition chose larger, delayed payments more often and tolerated longer waits for the slow assistant than neutral participants, even after statistically controlling baseline patience measured at intake.

BParticipants who wrote about gratitude used more positive adjectives for the lab and staff on a post-session survey than neutral participants, while their delayed-money choices and waiting times did not differ between conditions.

CParticipants who refused to wait for the slow assistant reported stronger gratitude at debriefing than those who waited, regardless of whether they had written about gratitude or routine activities before completing the tasks.

DParticipants in the neutral condition were more likely than those primed with gratitude to notice the assistant's deliberate slowness during checkout, with no accompanying differences in delayed-payment selections or actual willingness to remain waiting.

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