Logical Reasoning

PT123 · S2 · Q16 Taylor: Researchers at a local university

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Taylor: Researchers at a local university claim that 61 percent of the information transferred during a conversation is communicated through nonverbal signals.

Taylor's Claims

1. Researchers at a local university claim that 61 percent of the information transferred during a conversation is communicated through nonverbal signals.

2. This claim is suspect

3. All such mathematically precise claims are suspect

4. Claims of such exactitude could never be established by science

Sandra's Responses

1. Does she argue that researchers didn't claim such a thing? No, she has no commentary about the local university study.

2. Does she argue this 61% claim is not suspect? No, she never directly talks about what share of conversation is conveyed via nonverbal signals.

3. Does she argue that some mathematically precise claims are not suspect? Yes, she is saying that many scientific disciplines obtain extremely precise results, which shouldn't be doubted just because they're precise.

4. Does she argue that claims of such exactitude can sometimes be established by science? Yes, she says that many scientific disciplines to obtain extremely precise results.

Evaluate

We can tell that Sandra isn't addressing the first sentence of Taylor's statements, since nothing she says overlaps with that claim.

She seems to really be addressing an underlying assumption of Taylor's second sentence. Taylor is saying that precise claims should be doubted because science can't establish claims of such exactitude.

Sandra is saying,

Goal

Let's look for an answer about whether or not science ever establishes extremely precise/exact claims, or about whether a claim being very precise is sufficient grounds to be suspicious of its truth.

16.

The statements above provide the most support for holding that Sandra would disagree with Taylor about which one of the following statements?

  1. Research might reveal that 61

    Half Scope / Nobody Agrees

    While Taylor would disagree with this statement, Sandra does not address it.

    3% picked this

  2. It is possible to determine

    Half Scope / Nobody Agrees

    While Taylor would disagree with this statement, Sandra does not address it.

    14% picked this

  3. The study of verbal and

    Half Scope / Nobody Disagrees

    While Taylor would agree with this statement, Sandra does not address it. Her statements create space for her to believe that the study of verbal and nonverbal communication is one of those areas in which precision is unobtainable, but she doesn't name any such areas, so we'd be speculating to assume that she's referring to verbal / nonverbal communication.

    18% picked this

  4. Correct

    Some sciences can yield mathematically

    Why this is right

    Sandra would agree with this statement while Taylor would disagree with it. By saying that many disciplines obtain extremely precise results that should not be doubted merely because they're precise, she is saying that their precision does not make them inherently suspect. Meanwhile, Taylor is lumping together all mathematically precise claims and saying "This one just like the others is inherently suspect, because it's so exact / precise."

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

    60% picked this

  5. If inherently suspect claims are

    Out of Scope

    Neither Taylor nor Sandra discuss whether inherently suspect claims are false.

    6% picked this

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