Logical Reasoning

PT150 · S2 · Q10 Various studies have concluded

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Various studies have concluded that song overlapping, the phenomenon where one bird begins a song while another of its species is singing, is a signal of aggression.

Setup

There have been a bunch of studies that observed one bird cutting in while another bird is singing a song. It's called song-overlapping -- drowning out your buddy with your own song, right after they started singing a song.

Researchers see this as an act of aggression.

The author points out that their only evidence that song-overlapping is an aggressive act is an observation of the behavior of the bird who got their song cut off.

The author is saying that you'll see whatever it is you're looking for".

Essentially, the author is saying, "Hey guys. I've heard your theory about song overlapping. But your evidence is just looking at the reactions of the birds whose songs get cut-off, and choosing to interpret it as aggressive. "

Goal

So we know what goes in this blank is some sentiment like,

But because this is LSAT, you don't expect a full throated rejection. We don't want to act like we know that song-overlapping isn't aggressive (that would be us committing the Unproven vs. Proven False flaw).

We want a very moderate version of, "your research conclusion is dumb."

Something like - insufficient evidence for your hypothesis to be compelling - we shouldn't conclude it's an aggressive behavior based on this evidence

10.

Which one of the following most logically completes the argument?

  1. birds do not respond in

    Unrelated to Goal

    This doesn't sound anything like our author saying, "These studies don't provide compelling evidence that song-overlapping is aggressive". It sounds like a Necessary Assumption the author's premise contains. But the conclusion needs to arc back to the various studies, or to this "aggressive" interpretation of song-overlapping.

    6% picked this

  2. receiver-response tests can provide no

    Too Strong: no insight

    This is way too strong an idea. The author is saying he doesn't fully trust receiver-response tests, but saying they have zero value is too harsh.

    8% picked this

  3. song overlapping is likely not

    Unproven vs. Proven Unlikely

    This is tipping into the flawed territory of "Because your evidence sucked, we know you're wrong". The author is only establishing, "Your evidence was weak or nonexistent." So she's only allowed to conclude something moderate and agnostic like, "Your evidence definitely doesn't convince me that this is an aggressive behavior." But we have no evidence to argue that it probably isn't an aggressive behavior, as this answer is doing.

    8% picked this

  4. song overlapping has no communicative

    Too Strong: no function

    Remember to treat Logical Completion like it's Most Supported. The more conservative the language is, the safer an answer choice. This has very extreme language — song-overlapping has zero purpose. Our author hasn't made a case for such a strong claim.

    1% picked this

  5. Correct

    the conclusion of these studies

    Why this is right

    This is our moderate, agnostic rebuttal. - Your evidence was insufficient. - We'll have to wait for better evidence than what you've got to decide whether that claim is true. - It would be premature to draw that conclusion based on the existing evidence. Etc.

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

    77% picked this

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