Ecologist: One theory attributes

Answer choices

1. A

   Irrelevant13% picked this

   presumes, without providing justification, that the two theories are incompatible with

   The other theory has nothing to do with our analysis. No one said it has to be only one of these theories, or even that it has to be at least one of these theories (there could be another possible explanation as well). The reasoning is simply, "If each compound individually failed to deter the predators, then we know that the compounds collectively don't deter the predators".

   13%
2. B

   Bad Premise Match7% picked this

   draws a conclusion about a cause on the basis of nothing more than

   Is the conclusion about a cause? Yes, in the anti-causal sense. It concludes that compounds are not the cause of butterflies' ability to avoid predation. Is the premise a correlation? Nope. It's a study in which they put one compound at a time onto pellets.

   7%
3. C

   No Conditional Logic13% picked this

   treats a condition sufficient for sea butterflies' ability to avoid predators as a condition required

   This describes the Famous Flaw Necessary vs. Sufficient, which is when the author messes up conditional logic. There was no conditional logic in this, no condition that guaranteed that butterflies could avoid predators. This answer would describe an argument that sounds like, "Any sea butterfly with these compounds will be able to avoid predators. However, the Caspian sea butterflies don't have those compounds. Thus, they cannot avoid predation."

   13%
4. D

   Correct67% picked this

   infers, from the claim that no individual member of a set has a certain effect, that the set as a whole

   Why this is right

   Does the conclusion make an inference about whether a set of things has an effect? Yes, it concludes that the set of compounds does not have the effect of deterring predators. Is the evidence saying that no single compound has the effect of deterring predators? Yes, they tried each compound individually on a food pellet and it didn't deter.

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

   67%
5. E

   Not Circular1% picked this

   draws a conclusion that merely restates material present in one or more

   This describes Circular Reasoning, which is almost always a wrong answer. The conclusion says that the compounds (collectively) are not helping the butterfly avoid predation. No premise said that.

   1%