Logical Reasoning

PT126 · S4 · Q3 People with high blood pressure

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People with high blood pressure are generally more nervous and anxious than are people who do not have high blood pressure.

Conclusion

Hypertensive personality likely causes high blood pressure

Evidence

People with high blood pressure are more nervous and anxious than those who don't have high blood pressure

Evaluation

The formulation of is correlation language. Author's usually are too quick to conclude that one of those causes the other. Here, our author concludes that being nervous and anxious came first and led to the high blood pressure.

We're supposed to consider alternative explanations for that correlation, such as maybe having high blood pressure came first and that led to these people becoming nervous and anxious. Or perhaps there's an underlying cause (like a high stress job) that is causing the higher blood pressure and the nerves/anxiety.

Goal

We need an answer that calls out the famous Correlation to Causality flaw or one that otherwise deals with a different possible way to interpret this same correlation.

3.

The reasoning in the argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the ground that the argument

  1. fails to define the term

    Not a Flaw

    It's never a reasoning flaw to have omitted a specific definition, exact measurement, or citation for your sources. In this case, the author actually did define the term contextually. "this combination of personality traits" has to refer to whatever combination of personality traits (nervous and anxious) was mentioned in the previous sentence.

    1% picked this

  2. presupposes that people have permanent

    Too Strong: permanent

    The author doesn't commit herself to a sweeping claim that people have permanent personality traits. Even if we grant that the author's use of "a person with these traits" insinuates a permanent trait, this answer choice still wouldn't address any reasoning flaw. Our objection isn't based on whether the personality traits are permanent or impermanent, but rather whether they are a cause of high blood pressure, and effect of high blood pressure, or an effect of something else that may also cause high blood pressure.

    1% picked this

  3. simply restates the claim that

    Contradicted

    There is evidence of people with the hypertensive personality, because the author refers to them in the first sentence. When a flaw answer says that the author "simply restates a premise in its conclusion", it is describing Circular Reasoning, which is almost always an incorrect answer.

    3% picked this

  4. Correct

    takes a correlation between personality

    Why this is right

    Yes, the author goes from presenting a correlation between high BP and nervous/anxious to a conclusion that assumes that nervous/anxious was the reason they had high blood pressure.

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

    93% picked this

  5. focuses on nervousness and anxiety

    Not An Objection

    This is somewhat tempting, because there might be some other personality trait of people with high blood pressure that is causing their high blood pressure. But this answer choice doesn't even add that last part, which would be crucial to making this sound like an objection. It just says, "we didn't consider other personality traits people with high BP might have". We don't care about other personality traits people with high blood pressure have, in general. We would only care if we thought / knew that those other traits could be a cause of high blood pressure. The reason the author focuses on nervousness and anxiety is because she knows there's a correlation between that combo of traits and high blood pressure. Her conclusion isn't saying that "these are the only two personality traits that can increase your risk of high blood pressure", so she doesn't need to consider other personality traits in order to make her argument about these two traits.

    3% picked this

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