Reva: Using Extraneous Incentives to Get Teenagers to Change Their Attitude GMAT Critical Reasoning

Question: Reva: Using extraneous incentives to get teenagers to change their attitude toward school and schoolwork won’t work. Take the program in West Virginia, for instance, where they tried to reduce their dropout rate by revoking the driving licenses of kids who left school. The program failed miserably.

Anne: It’s true that the West Virginia program failed, but many schools have devised incentive programs that have been very successful in improving attendance and reducing discipline problems.

According to Anne, the weak point in Reva’s claim is that it

(A) fails to consider the possibility that the majority of potential dropouts in West Virginia do not have driving licenses
(B) doesn’t provide any exact figures for the dropout rate in West Virginia before and during the program
(C) ignores a substantial body of evidence showing that parents and employers have been using extrinsic incentives with positive results for years
(D) assumes that a positive incentive—a prize or a reward—will be no more effective than a negative incentive, like the revoking of a driving license
(E) is based on a single example, the incentive program in West Virginia, which may not be typical

Correct Answer: E
Explanation:

Reva's argument may be summed up as follows: she uses an example to refute a strategy (using external incentives to persuade youngsters to change their attitude towards education).
Anne, on the contrary hand, acknowledges that the scenario is real but claims that the approach has been used effectively in several other situations.
According to Anne, the weak point in Reva’s claim is that it

Option (A)

fails to consider the possibility that the majority of potential dropouts in West Virginia do not have driving licenses
-This is very particular, and Anne's reaction doesn't reflect that. Anne considers reva's argument in more depth than only from the standpoint of a driver's license. eliminating the option (A).

Option (B)

doesn’t provide any exact figures for the dropout rate in West Virginia before and during the program
-The objective of the argument is that the designed incentive programme intended to modify teenagers' attitudes failed, even though drop out rates rarely matter and are not the focus of the argument. eliminating the option (B).

Option (C)

ignores a substantial body of evidence showing that parents and employers have been using extrinsic incentives with positive results for years
-What the parents believe is irrelevant to Anne, so it is out of scope. hence, eliminating the option (B).

Option (D)

assumes that a positive incentive—a prize or a reward—will be no more effective than a negative incentive, like the revoking of a driving license
-This is fairly close, however REVA here neither discusses nor disputes any constructive strategies. Thus, this is not entirely supported.

Option (E)

is based on a single example, the incentive program in West Virginia, which may not be typical

- This fits the situation since it ties to the existing context. Reva uses a straightforward example to demonstrate her point that incentive programmes are never successful. Anne challenges her claim with the statement that many schools have developed incentive programmes that have been very successful. This statement alone demonstrates that Anne supports her position over REVA's with additional examples that are the exact opposite of REVA's. Option (E) is thus accurate.

“Reva: Using extraneous incentives to get teenagers to change their attitude toward school and schoolwork won’t work” - is a GMAT critical reasoning topic of the GMAT exam. This question has been taken from the book “GMAT Critical Reasoning”. This GMAT critical comes with five options and candidates need to choose the one which is correct. GMAT critical reasoning section is designed to measure the logical and analytical skills of the candidates.

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