Logical Reasoning

PT123 · S3 · Q15 A consumer magazine surveyed people

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A consumer magazine surveyed people who had sought a psychologist’s help with a personal problem.

Evidence

A consumer magazine surveyed people who had sought a psychologist’s help with a personal problem.

Of those responding who had received treatment for 6 months or less, 20 percent claimed that treatment “made things a lot better.”

Of those responding who had received longer treatment, 36 percent claimed that treatment “made things a lot better.”

Conclusion

Therefore, psychological treatment lasting more than 6 months is more effective than shorter-term treatment.

Evaluate

The argument assumes that the people in the group who had received treatment for 6 months or less are similar to the people who had received treatment for more than 6 months. If those who remained in treatment for more than 6 months were those most likely to benefit from psychological treatment.

15.

Which one of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

  1. Of the respondents who had

    Too Weak

    Without a comparison against the percentage of respondents who had received treatment for 6 months or less, this has no impact on the argument.

    5% picked this

  2. Patients who had received treatment

    Too Weak

    The difference in response rates between the two different groups is not strong enough to suggest the survey results are not representative.

    28% picked this

  3. Correct

    Patients who feel they are

    Why this is right

    This weakens the argument by creating a difference between the two groups of survey respondents that could explain the difference in survey responses.

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

    63% picked this

  4. Patients who were dissatisfied with

    Too Weak

    This applies to both groups and so cannot explain the difference in the survey respondents claims.

    2% picked this

  5. Many psychologists encourage their patients

    Too Weak

    That psychologists encourage their patients to receive treatment for longer than 6 months may suggest that the patients surveyed who received treatment longer than 6 months was larger than the group that received treatment for less than 6 months, but it does not explain the different responses of the groups of survey respondents.

    2% picked this

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