While it was once believed

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct84% picked this

   the organic conditions that result in psychoses can be caused or exacerbated

   Why this is right

   Does this weaken? Heck, yeah! It just contradicts the conclusion. Jeez, why did we spend so much time trying to understand that dreadful stimulus? The conclusion is that "psychoses have nothing to do with environmental factors". This says, "the conditions that result in psychoses can be caused or exacerbated by environmental factors". So clearly psychoses do have something to do with environmental factors. We don't expect Weaken answers to basically refute the conclusion, but if they do, you can't get more powerful than that.

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

   84%
2. B

   Strengthens, if anything4% picked this

   the symptoms of mental disturbance caused by purely organic factors can be

   The author thinks that psychoses are caused by purely organic factors, and she said that they are best treated by biochemical - that is, medicinal - means. So she would totally agree with this answer.

   4%
3. C

   Out of Scope: nonpsychological4% picked this

   organic illnesses that are nonpsychological in nature may be treatable without

   We're talking about mental disturbances (neuroses and psychoses), both of which are psychological afflictions. This answer is talking about illnesses that don't have to do with the mind. Those illnesses have nothing to do with this argument. We're only talking about whether psychoses (a psychological mental illness) is influenced by the environment or caused purely by chemical/physical stuff. Anything we say about non-psychological illnesses will have dubious relevance, if any, in this discussion.

   4%
4. D

   Strengthens4% picked this

   the nature of any medical condition can be inferred from the nature of the treatment

   This matches the author's thinking (albeit, this is more extreme). But the author is loosely thinking that, "Since psychoses are best treated by something that has a chemical/physical nature, we can infer that the nature of psychosis itself is chemical / physical." We're supposed to be weakening the argument, not describing how the author thinks. If the question stem had said, "The argument is vulnerable to criticism because it takes for granted that", then this answer would be worth considering.

   4%
5. E

   No Impact4% picked this

   organic factors having little to do with brain chemistry may be at least partially

   The claim the conclusion makes about neuroses is that "neuroses do have something to do with environmental factors". This doesn't say anything to undermine that idea. We probably should be suspicious of this answer since it's dealing with neuroses, which was an aside within the conclusion, rather than with psychoses, which was the actual subject of the conclusion.

   4%