SAT Reading & Writing · Rhetorical Synthesis
A student has researched flashbulb memories and compiled the following notes: - People often report vivid, detailed memories of learning…
A student has researched flashbulb memories and compiled the following notes:
- People often report vivid, detailed memories of learning about shocking public events.
- Confidence in these vivid memories can remain very high over time.
- Despite high confidence, specific details of these memories change over time, just as with ordinary memories.
- Repeated discussion of the event with others can reshape what a person recalls.
- Strong emotion appears to strengthen certain aspects of memory formation, though not its overall accuracy.
- Consistency of a memory over time and a person's confidence in that memory are two distinct measures that don't always align.
The student wants to challenge the common assumption that highly confident memories are necessarily accurate memories. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
- People often report vivid, detailed memories of learning about shocking public events.
- Confidence in these vivid memories can remain very high over time.
- Despite high confidence, specific details of these memories change over time, just as with ordinary memories.
- Repeated discussion of the event with others can reshape what a person recalls.
- Strong emotion appears to strengthen certain aspects of memory formation, though not its overall accuracy.
- Consistency of a memory over time and a person's confidence in that memory are two distinct measures that don't always align.
The student wants to challenge the common assumption that highly confident memories are necessarily accurate memories. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Answer and explanation
Answer: C: Despite remaining highly confident in these memories over time, people's specific recalled details actually change, showing that confidence in a memory and its accuracy are not the same thing.
The goal specifically requires challenging the confidence-equals-accuracy assumption, and C is the only choice that directly names both halves of that challenge: sustained high confidence paired with actual detail changes over time. A simply describes vividness without addressing accuracy. B and D each name a separate, true mechanism without directly connecting to the confidence-versus-accuracy distinction the goal calls for.
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