Meditation is a practice of sitting still and quiet for minutes or even hours. It has been practiced for thousands of years and is even a part of religious practices for some people. Carefully controlled, repeated measurements of brain activity have shown that meditation does increase certain chemicals in the brain and even grows the part of the brain that helps people connect with their current surroundings and activities.
Answer
A
scientific, because people have been claiming for thousands of years that meditation helps them
B
scientific, because observations of brain growth and chemicals are made carefully and repeatedly
C
pseudoscientific, because practices that are related to religion are based on beliefs and are subjective
D
pseudoscientific, because people have made claims about it but scientific observations have not been made
Explanation
The passage describes carefully controlled, repeated measurements of brain activity, including changes in brain chemicals and growth in a brain region. Repeated, careful observations are evidence collected through scientific methods. Therefore, the claim is scientific; the fact that meditation has a long history or is part of some religious practices does not make it pseudoscientific.
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