Logical Reasoning

PT120 · S3 · Q15 In a study, parents were asked

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In a study, parents were asked to rate each television program that their children watched.

Given that ...

Parents rated the violence of each TV show their kids watched on a 1 - 5 scale.

and that ..

The number of times kids were disciplined in school was also recorded.

How can we explain that ..

Kids who watched programs ranked 3-5 were 50% more likely to have been disciplined than other children.

Evaluate / Goal

We need ways to explain why there's a correlation between more violent shows and being disciplined in school (the causality could flow in either direction, or they could both be symptoms of a third factor).

Those explanations assume that shows ranked 3-5 really were more violent. But it's possible that they weren't; it's just that the parents were more sensitive to violence and ranked them higher. So we could also explain these facts by some relationship between and "kids getting disciplined in school."

15.

Each of the following, if true, helps to explain the statistical relationship described above EXCEPT:

  1. Children who are excited by

    Helps Explain

    This helps connect "watching violent shows" to "getting disciplined in school". Watch violent show ? get excited / get bored with schoolwork ? express boredom in school in unacceptable fashion ? get disciplined

    2% picked this

  2. When parents watch violent programs

    Helps Explain

    This helps connect "watching violent shows" to "getting disciplined in school". Watch violent show w/ parents ? consider antisocial behavior legit ? behave antisocially in school ? get disciplined

    8% picked this

  3. Correct

    Parents who rated their children’s

    Why this is right

    This creates a really confusing story. If your parents rated your shows 3-5, that supposedly means that you're watching more violent shows than kids whose shows were rated 1-2. But according to this answer, the parents who rated the shows 1-2 had a warped sense of violence. They were so desensitized to it that even though the shows were violent, they were like, "Eh, not too bad. I'd rate it a 1 or 2." So that means, essentially, that all the kids were watching violent shows. Some parents were still lucid enough to see that, and rate them 3-5. Other parents have had their sense of violence dulled enough that they rated them 1-2. But if all the kids were watching violent shows, then we have no way to explain why the kids whose shows were rated 3-5 were way more likely to be disciplined. This answer would only explain that difference if we thought we could say, "Since the 3-5 kids' parents were not desensitized to violence, those kids were more likely to act up in school and get disciplined?" That storyline doesn't have any common sense to it.

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

    79% picked this

  4. Children learn from violent programs

    Helps Explain

    This helps connect "watching violent shows" to "getting disciplined in school". Watch violent show ? learn to disrespect society's "no violence" rule ? more likely to disrespect schools' codes of conduct ? get disciplined

    2% picked this

  5. Parents who do not allow

    Helps Explain

    This helps connect "not watching violent shows" to "not getting disciplined in school", but not by saying that one leads to the other. This is basically a Third Factor type answer. It's saying that parents who are conscientious about keeping their kids away from violent TV are also more conscientious parents in other ways (stronger moral upbringing / more rules and consequences at home for deviant behavior), and so that higher surveillance / effort level of parenting means that the kids are more likely to follow the rules in school.

    9% picked this

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