Logical Reasoning

PT150 · S2 · Q11 Psychologists have found that candidates

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Psychologists have found that candidates for top political offices who blink excessively during televised debates are judged by viewers to have done less well than competing candidates who exhibit average blink rates.

Conclusion

Any impact there is on election results from the fact that viewers tend to find blinky candidates less appealing in debates is a bad thing.

Evidence

Blinking a lot is not one of the features that contributes to a candidate's ability to perform well.

Evaluate

Given that blinking a normal amount isn't something that contributes to a politician's ability to perform well, how can we still argue that it's okay that people tend to discount candidates who blink a lot in debates?

Goal

Find an answer that makes it seem okay for people to be negatively stereotyping candidates who blink a lot.

11.

Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the argument?

Voters' judgments about candidates' debate
No Impact on Conclusion
The author was worried about the fact that a stupid trait like fast-blinking was costing candidates points in terms of people's perception of their performance at debates. But, if this answer is true, debate performances rarely affect the results of national elections. That feels like it minimizes the author's worry. However, the author's conclusion is a qualified, hypothetical conclusion. When we say "Any offense Sheila took to my comment was regrettable", we're not actually saying Sheila did take offense. She might have. When the author says "any effect this has on election results is deleterious (bad)", the author isn't declaring that it does have an effect, but rather saying "if it does have an effect, that's bad". We can't disagree with conditionals by saying, "The trigger isn't true". You can only disagree with a conditional by accepting the trigger but denying the outcome.
8% picked this
Blinking too infrequently during televised
No Impact
This doesn't hurt anything the author is saying. The author would likely argue that "any effect slow-blinking has on how we judge candidates is also bad", because one's rate of blinking isn't a relevant thing to care about when picking someone to vote for.
4% picked this
Correct
Excessive blinking has been shown
Why this is right
This allows us to argue that "it's okay if people knock off points for fast blinkers", because even though blinking isn't a trait that affects one's performance in office, blinking might be a proxy signal for some other trait that does matter. We were told that confidence was something that was important, so if fast-blinking is a useful way to ascertain "this candidate has low confidence" then it's appropriate that fast-blinkers get discounted in the minds of viewers.
Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
81% picked this
Candidates for top political offices
No Impact
This doesn't help us argue that it's okay to find fast-blinkers less appealing as candidates. It doesn't address fast-blinking at all.
0% picked this
Viewers' judgments about candidates' debate
No Impact / Opposite
This doesn't help us to make a counterargument that "it's okay for people to think fast-blinkers are less appealing". If anything, this feels like it emphasizes the author's concern that people aren't being influenced by important stuff (like knowledgeability) and are being influenced by stupid stuff (like blinking rate).
7% picked this

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