Psychologist: It is well known

Answer choices

1. A

   Out of Scope0% picked this

   Those who are easily angered are less likely to recover fully from episodes of heart disease

   Recovery from episodes of heart disease is not relevant to the argument about developing heart disease.

   0%
2. B

   Unclear Impact20% picked this

   Medication designed to control high blood pressure can greatly affect the moods of those

   This could be a tempting keep because it seems to suggest that perhaps one of the causal relationships the argument hinges on (being quick to anger causing high blood pressure) is actually reversed. The problem is, in this answer, the blood pressure being controlled is not necessarily permanently high. Furthermore, affecting one’s mood does not necessarily imply that one is easily angered. Without that specificity, the impact of this answer is unclear.

   20%
3. C

   Strengthens, if anything11% picked this

   People with permanently high blood pressure who have tranquil personalities virtually never

   If anything, this answer is kind of a control group: a classical causal strengthener that shows a correlation between the absence of the proposed cause and the absence of the purported effect. If people who have more tranquil personalities (and are thus not quick to anger) almost never develop heart disease, that shows that the absence of the cause (quick to anger) is correlated with the absence of the effect (heart disease).

   11%
4. D

   Term Shift19% picked this

   Those who discover that they have heart disease tend to become more easily frustrated

   This could be tempting on a first pass because it seems to suggest an alternative explanation of the correlation between anger and heart disease. It's not that being angry causes heart disease, it's that knowing you have heart disease makes you angry! The problem is, becoming more easily frustrated by small difficulties is not the same as being easily angered. Furthermore, becoming more easily frustrated is a relative change, while being easily angered is a fixed state of being.

   19%
5. E

   Correct50% picked this

   The physiological factors that cause permanently high blood pressure generally make people

   Why this is right

   This answer establishes a cause and effect relationship: whatever it is that's going on in our bodies that causes permanently high blood pressure also causes people to be quick to anger. In some ways, this is a pretty classic "3rd thing causes both correlated things" answer. But it's got some quirks, too. For one thing, it doesn't ever mention heart disease, and that's the effect in our conclusion. But, our argument does seem to hinge on a 3 step causal chain: quick to anger causes permanently high blood pressure, and permanently high blood pressure causes heart disease. This answer choice attacks the first link in that causal chain by alleging there is a third cause (phsyiological factors) that explains the first two correlated things: high blood pressure and being quick to anger. Even though it doesn't attack the second link in the chain, attacking the first link is enough to do some damage, so this will be the best available answer.

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

   50%