Logical Reasoning

PT152 · S1 · Q1 Researcher: During the rainy season

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Researcher: During the rainy season, bonobos (an ape species closely related to chimpanzees) frequently swallow whole the rough-surfaced leaves of the shrub Manniophyton fulvum.

Evidence

During the rainy season, bonobos swallow leaves of Manniophyton fulvum.

Ingestion of these leaves facilitates the elimination of gastrointestinal worms.

Conclusion

Bonobos likely ingest the leaves because of their medicinal properties.

Evaluate

This argument is attempting to explain what causes bonobos to eat M. fulvum leaves. The evidence describes a correlation between two facts: Fact #1 is that the bonobos eat the leaves. Fact #2 is that the leaves help to eliminate worms inside the body.

The conclusion jumps to a claim that this medicinal property of eliminating worms is what causes the bonobos to eat the leaves. But there are other, equally plausible reasons for the bonobos to eat the leaves.

Maybe the leaves taste good. Maybe the bonobos like the rough texture of the leaves. The argument does nothing to rule out these alternatives. We haven't heard from a bonobo food critic or one with a medical degree. So we can't conclude with certainty that the bonobos are eating the leaves because of medicinal properties.

Goal

Expect an answer to strengthen the argument by either providing more evidence that medicinal properties are causing the bonobos to eat the leaves, or by ruling out an alternative possibility.

1.

Which one of the following, if true, most strengthens the researcher's argument?

  1. Bonobos rarely swallow whole leaves

    No Impact

    We have not been told if other plants do or do not have medicinal properties for bonobos. We have not been told about the effect that other leaves might have if bonobos swallowed them whole. Without more information, we can't say that this answer has any real impact on the argument.

    5% picked this

  2. Chimpanzees have also been observed

    Weaker Impact

    If chimpanzees have a similar behavior that could potentially strengthen the argument. We're told that chimpanzees are similar to bonobos. But we haven't been told why chimpanzees swallow the leaves whole. We have to assume that the leaves that chimpanzees swallow have a similar medicinal effect, and assume that the chimpanzees swallow them for that reason. That makes this a pretty weak answer.

    1% picked this

  3. Of the rough-leaved plants available

    Opposite (if anything)

    If this type of rough leaf is the most common one available to bonobos, that potentially weakens the claim that bonobos are eating them for a very specific reason. But we really need more information to know exactly how this answer impacts the argument.

    0% picked this

  4. The leaves of M. fulvum

    Opposite (if anything)

    This gives a potential reason for the bonobos to eat the leaves during the rainy season, and it's a reason that has nothing to do with medicinal properties. If we want to dive deeper, this answer doesn't explain why the bonobos eat the leaves, so it's actual impact on the argument isn't clear.

    2% picked this

  5. Correct

    The rainy season is the

    Why this is right

    This provides another correlation that strengthens the argument. There's a correlation between the rainy season, when bonobos eat the leaves, and them having gastrointestinal worms. A correlation does not prove causation, but a correlation is potentially evidence of correlation. By providing another relevant correlation, this answer strengthens the argument.

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

    92% picked this

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