To explore how blinking affects social interactions, Dutch researchers observed interactions between human speakers and “listeners” (animated human faces on a screen). The researchers found that when the listeners blinked slowly, the speakers tended to talk for less time. ______ quicker blinks were associated with longer talking times.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
Explanation
Context: Dutch researchers watched people speak to animated listener faces and found that when the listeners blinked slowly, speakers talked for less time. The blank introduces the finding that quicker blinks went with longer talking times.
Answer: D) By contrast,
Why? Quick blinks produced the opposite outcome from slow blinks, more talking rather than less, so the two findings are set against each other.
Traps:
- A) "For example," would make the quick-blink result an instance of the slow-blink result, when it reports the reverse pattern.
- B) "Specifically," narrows the earlier finding into detail, but this is a different blink condition with a different outcome.
- C) "Firstly," opens a numbered sequence, and the quick-blink result is the second finding reported, with nothing else counted off.