Inferences

SAT Reading and Writing· difficulty 4/5

Researchers studying expert chess players found that masters can rapidly memorize the positions of pieces in mid-game configurations drawn from actual play, performing dramatically better than novices on this task. When pieces are arranged in random configurations that could not arise in normal play, however, masters' memory advantage largely disappears, and their performance approaches that of novices.

Which conclusion most logically follows from the passage?

  • A

    Expert performance may rely on recognizing patterns specific to a domain rather than on general memory enhancement

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  • B

    Random configurations are more memorable than actual game positions

  • C

    Chess expertise primarily reflects an enhanced general visual memory

  • D

    Novices and masters perform identically on all chess-related tasks

Explanation

Vanishing advantage on random configurations indicates pattern-based, not general, memory — supporting B. A, C, D contradict the findings.

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