Galanin is a protein found

Answer choices

1. A

   No Impact / Too Weak4% picked this

   The craving for fatty foods does not invariably result in a rat’s choosing those foods

   This just says there is at least one time when a rat had a craving for fatty food but still chose a lean food. That doesn't tell us anything about whether galanin caused the craving, nor does it address an alternate explanation for why galanin and fatty foods are correlated.

   4%
2. B

   Irrelevant Comparison5% picked this

   The brains of the rats that consistently chose to eat fatty foods did not contain significantly more fat than did the brains of

   The amount of fat in the brains of rats compared to other rats doesn't address whether galanin causes cravings for fatty foods. This doesn't provide information about the role of galanin as a causal factor in food preference. We were never talking about fat in the brain, so this is just a Word Salad.

   5%
3. C

   Weaker Impact2% picked this

   The chemical components of galanin are present in both fatty foods

   An alternate explanation for why galanin and eating fatty foods were correlated could be that eating fatty foods causes galanin to go in your brain. This answer sort of seems to undermine that, because it would be saying, "No galanin isn't a special ingredient of fatty foods. It's in fatty and lean." But it says the chemical components of galanin, not galanin. The chemical components of water are Hydrogen and Oxygen, but just because you have hydrogen and oxygen in something doesn't mean you have water. Also, even if this were saying galanin is present in both fatty and lean foods, we still wouldn't know to what degree in each food. (i.e. water is present in both peanuts and watermelon, but it's present to a much higher degree in watermelon). So this answer still very much allows for the alternate explanation that fatty foods are high in galanin, and so THAT'S the real reason for the correlation. Since it doesn't really rule out an alternate explanation, it barely strengthens, if at all.

   2%
4. D

   Correct84% picked this

   The rats that preferred fatty foods had the higher concentrations of galanin in their brains before they

   Why this is right

   If the rats that preferred fatty foods had higher concentrations of galanin before being offered fatty foods, this suggests that galanin is not just a result of eating fatty foods but could be a causal factor influencing their preference. It rules out the possibility of reverse causation (that eating fatty foods increases galanin) and supports the idea that galanin leads to a craving for such foods.

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

   84%
5. E

   Opposite (if anything)6% picked this

   Rats that metabolize fat less efficiently than do other rats develop high concentrations of galanin

   If metabolizing fat less efficiently causes rats to develop high concentrations of galanin, this could be an alternate explanation for the higher galanin levels found in rats that choose fatty foods. In this scenario, galanin might be a result of inefficient fat metabolism rather than a cause of a craving for fatty foods.

   6%