Logical Reasoning

PT138 · S2 · Q20 A study found that when rating

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A study found that when rating the educational value of specific children's television shows parents tend to base their judgments primarily on how much they themselves enjoyed the shows, and rarely took into account the views of educational psychologists as to the shows' educational value.

Conclusion

If ed. psychologists' views are correct, then parents should doubt their own ratings of the educational value of kids TV shows.

Evidence

When parents rate the educational value of kids TV shows, they usually don't take into account the view of how educational an educational psychologists would say this show is.

Evaluate

This argument is concluding, .

The logic of that statement implies that Group A and Group B believe different things. Did the author ever establish that psychologists and parents believe different things about the educational value of these shows?

No, she only established that when parents decide on their own rating, they don't take into account the rating given by psychologists.

That would be like if I asked you to grade a movie on a 1-100 scale, and you didn't take into account what score from 1-100 this movie got on Rotten Tomatoes.

Would I be able to conclude that, ?

No, because maybe your ranking was really close to what the Rotten Tomatoes ranking was.

Goal

Look for an answer saying that the author is assuming that parents end up rating these TV shows differently than the psychological experts rate them, or something presenting that Illegal Move,

20.

The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds that it

  1. relies on a sample that

    Wrong Flaw

    This describes the famous Sampling flaw, but this argument didn't move from thinking, "If it's true in these cases, then it's true in all cases." Both the evidence and the conclusion are talking about the same two populations: parents / educational psychologists

    2% picked this

  2. takes for granted that parents

    Out of Scope: what children enjoy

    The argument takes for granted that parents do not rate the educational value of children's television shows the same way that educational psychologists rate them

    1% picked this

  3. takes for granted that the

    Too Strong

    Too Strong: the only Out of Scope: whether kid should watch The author didn't commit to any extreme assumption like "Educational value is THE ONLY thing to consider when deciding on shows for your kid". This argument isn't even about deciding on shows for your kid. It's only about whether parents can / can't trust their assessments of educational value.

    6% picked this

  4. Correct

    fails to rule out the

    Why this is right

    Would it weaken the argument if ... parents' ratings coincide closely with educational psychologists' ? Definitely! The conclusion is implying, "if the psychologists are right, then the parents are wrong", but if both groups agree on the educational rating of shows, then that conclusion would be stupid.

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

    75% picked this

  5. takes for granted that educational

    Too Strong: the only

    It's too strong to say the author assumes that educational psychologists are the only ones who can accurately judge educational value. This is a common Assumption trap on the test --- if it was the Only One Mentioned, then it's the Only One But it's also too strong to even say the author assumes that educational psychologists are one example of people who can accurately judge. The conclusion is a conditional that says, "If they psychologists' ratings are correct". The author has never endorsed the idea that the psychologists' ratings are, in fact, correct.

    16% picked this

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