Critic: Many popular psychological

Answer choices

1. A

   Too Strong: disprove4% picked this

   It is used to disprove evidence against

   There is evidence against these theories (presented by the author herself): they are inelegant and don't dispel the mystery. But this last claim isn't proving either of those claims untrue. This last claim is supporting the idea that those claims, while true, aren't important.

   4%
2. B

   Correct64% picked this

   It is used to override some considerations against

   Why this is right

   There are considerations introduced that go against these theories (presented by the author herself): they are inelegant and don't dispel the mystery. And this last claim is supporting the idea that those claims, while true, aren't really important. What matters more, the author thinks, is that the theories produce the right results. This last claim is part of the support for the author's implicit notion that "the therapeutic success of these theories is more important than (overrides) the worries that they are inelegant theories that don't help dispel the mystery surrounding our psyche." This answer is very conversational. If we were looking for something formal like, "A premise that supports an intermediate conclusion", we would need to loosen our grip and try this on for size.

   Skill tested: Role · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   64%
3. C

   Bad Conclusion Match8% picked this

   It is used to suggest that popular psychological theories are actually better scientific explanations than

   This claim is used for support, but it's used to suggest that "being inelegant and unhelpful at dispelling mystique are less important than being able to achieve better therapeutic results". The author hasn't committed to a strong idea that (all?) popular theories are better scientific explanations than their rivals. If anything, the author's final claim concedes that the rivals are more scientific but thinks that many popular theories are nonetheless worthy of consideration because, despite being poor scientific explanations, they are able to achieve great results.

   8%
4. D

   Too Strong12% picked this

   It is used to illustrate what the critic takes to be the most important aspect

   Too Strong: most important Too Broad: scientific theories The author seems to think that therapeutic results are a more important way to evaluate these psychological theories. The author is never suggesting that the most important aspect of a scientific theory is therapeutic success. Einstein's Theory of Relativity probably doesn't have a lot of therapeutic success. This author would call Einstein's scientific theory largely a failure, then?

   12%
5. E

   Bad Conclusion Match13% picked this

   It is used to suggest that the popular theories may not be as devoid of explanatory power as one

   This claim is used for support, but it's used to suggest that "being inelegant and unhelpful at dispelling mystique are less important than being able to achieve better therapeutic results". The author isn't trying to say that these theories really do have explanatory power. She's more saying, despite lacking some explanatory power, they are still valuable for being able to achieve great results.

   13%