medium · GMAT Verbal
A pharmaceutical researcher observed that among patients who took a new supplement daily for six months, those who also reported getting more than seven hours of sleep per night showed markedly improved memory test scores. The researcher concluded that the supplement itself is responsible for improving memory.
The researcher's conclusion depends on which of the following assumptions?
- Memory test scores are a completely accurate and universally accepted measure of overall cognitive functioning in patients.
- The better-sleeping patients' extra sleep was not itself the true underlying cause of their higher memory test scores.
- Every single patient in the study took the exact same dosage of the supplement at precisely the same time of day.
- Patients who slept fewer than seven hours per night were excluded entirely from participating in the six-month study.
- No patient in the study had ever taken any comparable memory-related supplement at any point prior to this study beginning.
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