Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Easy

PT134 S2 Q18 ExplanationJournalist: Recent studies have demonstrated

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsMust be False

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Stimulus

Journalist: Recent studies have demonstrated that a regular smoker who has just smoked a cigarette will typically display significantly better short-term memory skills than a nonsmoker, whether or not the nonsmoker has also just smoked a cigarette for the purposes of the study. Moreover, the majority of those smokers who so for at least eight hours after having last smoked.

What this question is testing

Must be False

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
18.

If the journalist's statements are true, then each of the following could

Answer choices, explained

  1. Unknown Comparison7% picked this

    The short-term memory skills exhibited by a nonsmoker who has just smoked a cigarette are usually substantially worse than the short­ term memory skills

    We don’t have any info about nonsmoker who smoked vs. nonsmoker who didn’t smoke. The “whether or not the nonsmoker has smoked” makes it seem like the cigarette has no effect on the nonsmokers.

  2. Correct82% picked this

    The short-term memory skills exhibited by a nonsmoker who has just smoked a cigarette are typically superior to those exhibited by a regular smoker

    Why this is right

    This contradicts what we were told, which is that the smoker is typically better at short term memory than the nonsmoker, after having smoked a cigarette.

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

  3. Unknown Comparison3% picked this

    The short-term memory skills exhibited by a nonsmoker who has just smoked a cigarette are typically superior to those exhibited by a regular smoker

    This doesn’t contradict anything. It’s possible that the smoker’s super memory has worn off, since it’s been more 8 hours since his last cigarette.

  4. Unknown Comparison: “one vs. heavy smoking”5% picked this

    A regular smoker who, immediately after smoking a cigarette, exhibits short-term memory skills no better than those typically exhibited by a nonsmoker is nevertheless

    We have no info that lets us compare the effects on smokers of one cigarette vs. a period of heavy smoking.

  5. Unknown Comparison4% picked this

    The short-term memory skills exhibited by a regular smoker who last smoked a cigarette five hours ago are typically superior to those exhibited by

    Unknown Comparison: "now vs. five hours from now" We have no info that lets us compare the effects on smokers of a cigarette in the immediate aftermath vs five hours later.

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