PT155 S4 Q23 ExplanationResearcher: Consumption of turmeric

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   Very Weak2% picked this

   Even before analyzing the database, the researchers had hypothesized that turmeric consumption

   It's hard to say whether this counts as any support; the fact that they've always suspected something doesn't make it true. At a criminal trial, it doesn't add anything to the prosecution's case to say, "Even before this recent murder that Eddie has been accused of, we always thought Eddie would probably murder someone some day".

   2%
2. B

   Weakens7% picked this

   Highly educated residents of Singapore are more likely than other residents to

   This provides a possible alternate explanation. If the curry-eaters are more likely to be highly educated, then maybe it's the high levels of education, not the turmeric in the curry, that is slowing down cognitive decline.

   7%
3. C

   No Impact24% picked this

   Most Singapore residents who are of Indian ethnicity eat

   We already knew that the study found a correlation between people who ate curries regularly and better performance on the cognitive test. It doesn't matter whether the people who eat curries regularly are 10% of the data set, 40%, 70%, etc. If they're 10% of the data set but 15% of the people who got top scores on the cognitive test, then we would still have our correlation. So similarly, it doesn't matter if the Indian ethnicity segment of the data set is higher or lower than 50%. Either way, we found that within the segment of the data set who were of Indian ethnicity, the correlation between regularly eating curry and ranking higher on the cognitive test was especially strong.

   24%
4. D

   No Impact5% picked this

   Singapore residents, on a per capita basis, eat curries more often than do residents of

   It's irrelevant how Singapore residents compare to residents of other countries in terms of how often they eat curries. We could have done this study in Mexico, where people definitely eat curries less than residents of other countries, and it wouldn't affect how we think about the data set at all. If I say that "in a study we did at a certain prison, people who were left-handed were much more likely to believe religion than were people who are right-handed", it makes no difference whether left-handed people are more/less common than right handed people, and it makes no difference whether the residents of this prison are more/less left handed than those of other prisons, etc. Correlations just mean disproportionate representation. Whatever the underlying prevalence of left handed people are, they are more likely to be associated with religious beliefs. Similarly, whatever the underlying prevalence of frequent curry eaters were, they were more likely to be associated with better cognitive performance.

   5%
5. E

   Correct63% picked this

   Indian curries generally contain much more turmeric than other

   Why this is right

   This provides a "More Cause, More Effect" strengthener that adds to the plausibility of the author's explanation. She believes that turmeric causes better cognitive performance when you're older. In the study, the correlation between curry-eating and cognitive performance was extra strong among people of Indian ethnicity. This answer makes it seem like "the connection between eating curry and being cognitively sharp was particularly strong in subjects who eat a heavy-turmeric style of curry."

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

   63%