Logical Reasoning

PT130 · S3 · Q1 Students in a first-year

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Students in a first-year undergraduate course were divided into two groups.

Facts

Two groups read the same article but with different headlines. When quizzed on the articles, the answers in each group were consistent, but they were different from those of the other group.

Evaluation

Most Supported correct answers frequently point to the Causal Difference-Maker. How come the two groups had different answers, given that they read the same article? We’d probably assume that it was because of the different headlines.

Goal

Find a safely worded answer that reinforces the idea that having a different headline led these groups to have different responses to the questions they were asked.

1.

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

  1. Readers base their impressions of

    Too Strong: “alone”

    We need a safely worded reinforcement of the Causal Difference-Maker: “headlines can have an effect”, not “ONLY headlines have ANY effect”.

    3% picked this

  2. Newspaper headlines hamper a reader's

    Out of Scope

    Out of Scope: “hamper ability to comprehend” While we seem to know that the headlines had some effect on the readers, since different headlines led to different answers about the articles, we can’t quite say that the headline hampered the ability to comprehend. Perhaps the different headlines still allowed for comprehension, but they emphasized different aspects of the articles, leading to the groups’ having different answers.

    2% picked this

  3. Careless reading is more common

    Out of Scope Comparison

    Out of Scope Comparison: "more senior students" There’s nothing mentioned about careless reading. And we have no means to judge any comparison between first year and more senior students.

    0% picked this

  4. Newspaper headlines tend to be

    Too Strong

    Too Strong: “tend to” / Out of Scope: “misleading” We wouldn’t be able to generalize anything about how headlines tend to be in the real world, using only this info on this study. Also, we don’t know if either of the headlines were misleading; they may have just emphasized different things.

    1% picked this

  5. Correct

    Newspaper headlines influence a reader's

    Why this is right

    This safely reinforces the Causal Difference-Maker. Headlines had some effect, some influence on the reader’s interpretation, understanding, or memory of the passage.

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

    95% picked this

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