PT154 S2 Q11 ExplanationA part of the brain

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   Unsupported: other responses1% picked this

   Extreme fear is not the only intense response that people can have to a breath that is

   The only response we have been told people have to a breath high in CO2 is extreme fear. It's certainly very plausible that people could have other responses (this is very mild wording), but we have no support for any other responses.

   1%
2. B

   Unsupported: other functions2% picked this

   Sensing fear is not the only function the amygdala

   The only function we have been told the amygdala has is related to sensing fear. It's certainly very plausible that the amygdala could have other functions (this is very mild wording), but we have no support for any other function.

   2%
3. C

   Unsupported: other diseases0% picked this

   Urbach-Wiethe disease is not the only disease that can destroy

   The only disease we have been told that destroys the amygdala is U-W disease. It's certainly possible that other diseases can also have that effect, but we have no information about any other diseases, so we have no support for this answer.

   0%
4. D

   Unsupported: other parts of brain1% picked this

   The amygdala is not the only part of the brain that can be affected

   The only part of the brain we were told is affected by U-W disease is the amygdala. It's possible that this disease affects other parts of the brain, but we have no support for that idea.

   1%
5. E

   Correct95% picked this

   The amygdala is not the only part of the brain that can be involved

   Why this is right

   This is thinly supported, but supported, and since we had no support for the other answers, thinly supported = most supported. Since we're being told about people who don't have amygdalae (or functionally speaking don't, since it's been destroyed) are still capable of sensing fear. There's no way the amygdala is making these people with destroyed-amygdalae sense fear, so there must be something else making them sense fear. Do we know that this something else is a different part of the brain? Definitely not. It might just be something reflexive in the spinal cord, like some other reflexes are. Maybe it's found in the nasal canal. Who knows. But given that fear is a psychological phenomenon and given that we know the brain is responsible for psychological phenomena, it's very plausible that a different body part that causes us to sense fear would still involve part of the brain. Again, the support for this answer is that we know "something besides the amygdala is also involved in sensing fear". If we feel bad picking this answer because that support isn't really sufficient to prove (E) is true, we have to remind ourselves that we're doing Most Supported, not Must Be True.

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

   95%