Logical Reasoning

PT129 · S1 · Q18 Asked by researchers to sort objects

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Asked by researchers to sort objects by shape, most toddlers in a large study had no trouble doing so.

Facts

Toddlers can follow a rule like sort by shape, but then have trouble following a new rule like sort by color (they keep following the first rule).

Researchers think a still-developing prefrontal cortex is to blame, because the cortex is essential for adapting to new rules and toddlers don’t have a fully developed cortex.

Evaluation

A ton of Most Supported questions have correct answers that pinpoint the Causal Difference-Maker in a situation, something that explains the curious fact or observed difference. What explains why the toddlers couldn’t follow the new rule? The researchers say it was an undeveloped cortex, which is often a cause of a failure to adapt to a new rule.

Goal

Find a safely worded claim that reinforces the story about why the toddlers weren’t able to follow the new rule.

18.

Which one of the following is most supported by the information above?

  1. Toddlers unable to sort objects

    Unsupported Comparison / Opposite

    According to these researchers, almost all toddlers would be likely to have an undeveloped prefrontal cortex, not just these ones in the study who couldn’t follow the second rule. The toddlers who couldn't follow the second rule aren't considered the atypical. They are presented as though they are behaving typically for children of that age.

    9% picked this

  2. Only adolescents and adults can

    Too Strong: "only"

    “Only” is overly restrictive. If there is a toddler or even like an 8 year old (not yet an adolescent) who can solve a problem that requires adapting to new rules, it doesn’t contradict anything in this paragraph. Even the language of “almost invariably” in the second sentence suggests that some toddlers were able to follow the new rule.

    2% picked this

  3. Correct

    Certain kinds of behavior on

    Why this is right

    This tortured phrasing allows us to reinforce the Causal Difference-Maker. How come the toddlers in the study seemed to disobey the new rule? Were they willfully trying to resist what the researchers asked them to do? No, according to the researchers, the toddlers just had difficulty following the new rule because of their stage of brain development. The toddlers are disobeying the new rule, but not because they’re choosing willfully to do so, rather because their brains aren’t letting them follow the new rule.

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

    54% picked this

  4. The maturing of the prefrontal

    Trap

    Unsupported Comparison "more important" / Out of Scope: “upbringing” We have no information about the influence of upbringing on adaptive behavior. We know that failures to adapt are often caused by an immature cortex, but they might be even more often caused by certain types of upbringing.

    2% picked this

  5. Skill at adapting to new

    Too Strong

    Too Strong: “roughly proportional” / Out of Scope: “skill” “new situations” Even though it says “roughly”, saying that “A is proportional to B” is a very strong stepladder connection: more development of prefrontal, more skill at adapting to new situations. We don’t have grounds to infer that sort of relationship. It could be more of a binary off/on type thing; once the prefrontal cortex reaches a certain level of development, people have the ability to adapt. That would not be proportional. That would just mean there’s a minimum threshold before an ability is possible. Also, it’s drifting too much to conflate whether the toddlers were able to adapt to a new rule with their skill at adapting to new situations.

    33% picked this

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