Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT4 S4 Q17 Explanation

Zeida: Dr. Ladlow, a research psychologist

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsMust be True

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Stimulus

Zeida: Dr. Ladlow, a research psychologist, has convincingly demonstrated that his theory about the determinants of rat behavior generates consistently accurate predictions about how rats will perform in a maze. On the basis of that his theory is irrefutably correct.

Anson: Then Dr. Ladlow is not a responsible psychologist. Dr. Ladlow’s evidence does not conclusively prove that his theory is correct. Responsible psychologists always accept the possibility that their theories are incorrect.

What this question is testing

Must be True

Your task

Break the argument into its conclusion and evidence, then do exactly what the question stem asks with that structure.

Common trap

Answers that sound relevant to the topic but don't connect to the argument's actual reasoning.

Winning move

Predict what a right answer must do, then test each choice against the conclusion-evidence gap.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
17.

Which one of the following can be properly inferred from

Answer choices

  1. Trap1% picked this

    Dr. Ladlow’s evidence that his theory generates consistently accurate predictions about how rats will perform in

  2. Correct65% picked this

    Psychologists who can derive consistently accurate predictions about how rats will perform in a maze from their theories cannot responsibly conclude that

    Why this is right

    Answer B is correct.

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

  3. Trap1% picked this

    No matter how responsible psychologists are, they can never develop correct

  4. Trap0% picked this

    Responsible psychologists do not make predictions about how rats will perform

  5. Trap33% picked this

    Psychologists who accept the possibility that new evidence will show that their theories are incorrect

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