PT155 S2 Q17 ExplanationPsychiatrist: Psychological stress is known

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   Bad Premise Match4% picked this

   It presumes without justification that two conditions that together have a certain effect causally

   This is very close, but the two conditions (negative emotions and impaired physical health) are not conditions that together have a certain effect. Instead, they are both effects of the same cause. This answer is saying "since negative emotions combined with bad health, often result in psychological stress, overcoming negative emotions could cause improved health."

   4%
2. B

   Correct76% picked this

   It presumes, merely on the basis that two conditions have a common cause, that one of these two conditions

   Why this is right

   Any answer structured, "Presumes, merely on the basis of X, that Y", makes us check whether X matches the evidence and Y matches the conclusion. Was the premise that two conditions have a common cause? Yes. Negative emotions and bad physical health are both caused by psychological stress. Does the conclusion act like one of those two conditions can causally influence the other? Yes. The conclusion says that getting rid of negative emotions could cause one's health to improve.

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

   76%
3. C

   Wrong Flaw4% picked this

   It confuses two causes that together are necessary to bring about an effect with causes that are

   When we see "necessary", "sufficient", or any synonyms for those ideas, they're talking about the famous Necessary vs. Sufficient flaw, which is when the author presents a conditional statement in the premise and then applies it in some illegal Backwards or Opposite fashion to derive her conclusion. Any time we see this answer choice, we should just ask ourselves, "Was there any conditional logic?" If not, it's wrong. If so, it's right 95% of the time. There was no conditional logic in this paragraph.

   4%
4. D

   Bad Premise/Conclusion Match2% picked this

   It takes for granted that two conditions that together have a certain effect can, each by itself,

   This breaks for the same initial reason that (A) did. Do we have two conditions that together have a certain effect? Nope. Negative emotions and impaired physical health are not conditions that together have a certain effect. Instead, they are both effects of the same cause. The second half of this answer is also a mismatch, but we needn't read that far to get rid of it.

   2%
5. E

   Too Strong: suffices to eliminate14% picked this

   It takes for granted that removing a condition that causally contributes to another condition suffices to

   Saying that "the author takes for granted that X suffices to do Y" makes it seem like X should match evidence and Y should match conclusion. The conclusion is saying that removing the condition of negative emotions could cause one's health to improve. It never says "it suffices (guarantees)" to eliminate the latter condition.

   14%