Logical reasoning PrepTest 111 · Section 1 · Question 21

Incorrect. Waking from sleep doesn't seem to be an issue or a goal here, so this answer doesn't provide a reason to recommend against getting more sleep.

Incorrect. While they may do the most to alleviate it, it's still the case that this patient's fatigue is being caused (at least in part) by a lack of sleep, so it's unclear why the doctors wouldn't prescribe more sleep.

Incorrect. It was determined that this person needs more than 4—6 hours not to be fatigued.

Incorrect. First, it's not clear that nightmares play a role here. Second, this would apply to any length of sleep, so if the patient is having nightmares, then sleeping more would shift when they happen, not eliminate them.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Facts

Question Type:
Paradox

Stimulus Summary:
A patient was tired all the time because they were sleeping only 4—6 hours/night, but they weren't advised to sleep more.

Answer Anticipation:
Normally, doctors would tell you to address the cause of your negative symptoms! Here, that would mean that the fatigued patient should sleep, since that was contributing to the fatigue.

However, the patient was advised against sleeping. There must be some reason for the doctors not prescribing more sleep. Maybe the patient has a condition that makes more sleep dangerous, or there's some other reason to avoid more sleep (or, at least, advising more sleep). We're uncertain what that could be, so let's head to the answers!

Answer Explanation:
This answer provides a reason that a prescription for more sleep would be counterproductive. If the doctors want the patient to sleep, they would avoid putting pressure on the patient to sleep more. Since this explains why the doctors didn't advise more sleep, it serves to resolve the paradox.

Key Takeaway:
If you anticipated the correct answer, that's some solid work! We think this answer is actually quite difficult to anticipate. And that's fine! It's important that you spend time trying to anticipate an answer, but if you head in not having something specific in mind, that's okay. Don't spend too much time anticipating, and try to at least have a general idea of what the answer will do, but don't end up spending a minute spinning your wheels if you're not seeing it!