Question:
Kagan maintains that an infant’s reactions to its first stressful experiences are part of a natural process of development, not harbingers of childhood unhappiness or _________ signs of adolescent anxiety.
A prophetic B normal C monotonous D virtual E typical
Explanation:
The sentence contrasts the infant’s reactions, part of a normal developmental process, with future unhappiness and anxiety. The missing word describes signs of adolescent anxiety as they relate to the infant. Choice A is correct: “prophetic” signs, like har - bingers, foretell future occurrences, and for the infant, adolescent anxiety is a future occurrence. Since an infant cannot literally display signs of adolescent anxiety, “normal,” “monotonous,” and “typical” are all incorrect. And “virtual” is incorrect, because virtual signs are not real signs, and what Kagan is denying is that the infant’s reactions are not real signs of later unhappiness. Thus the correct answer is prophetic (Choice A).
I feel the last line in the explanation of the above question is incorrect. I understood that what Kagan is denying is that "Infant's reactions are real signs of future unhappiness", but it states what Kagan is denying is that "Infant's reactions are not real signs of future unhappiness".
Can anyone please explain what is wrong in my understanding?
PS: I understood the reasoning behind the answer. I am only concerned regarding the last line of the question.
