PrepTest 121, Section 1, Question 13
Psychology professor: Applied statistics should be taught only(71 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(18 more words not shown)
- AThe response gives(22 more words not shown)
- BThe response gives(19 more words not shown)
- CThe response does(14 more words not shown)
- DThe response depends(12 more words not shown)
- EThe response takes(18 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Using the same textbook doesn't mean you're teaching the students what they most need to learn.
The psychology professor wants social science departments to control applied-statistics teaching because they can best connect the material to their own fields. I can question the proposed monopoly: even if those departments do this well, why couldn't another department also teach a useful course? But that isn't the objection the mathematics professor makes.
Instead, the mathematics professor points to shared course material and an identical textbook. Imagine two instructors using the same statistics book. One emphasizes the tests psychologists commonly use and works through psychology experiments. The other emphasizes different applications. The pages may be the same, but the courses could differ in how well they prepare psychology students to interpret their own research.
What we’re looking for
That's the point the response leaves unanswered. We need to assess this reply, not decide whether the psychology professor's whole proposal is right. The flaw is that sharing material doesn't effectively address the claimed advantage in selecting and teaching the methods that matter for each discipline.
Working the answers
- A
The mathematics professor doesn't make a claim about which department students would choose when registering. The response compares course material and textbooks. A introduces a claim about students' willingness to enroll and then faults the professor for not defending a claim the professor didn't make.
- B
The response doesn't say social science students should be just as competent in statistics as mathematics students. Covering similar material doesn't require that judgment about the level each group needs. The disagreement concerns who can best provide the relevant teaching, not whether all students should reach identical competence.
- CCorrect
The psychology professor's key reason is that social science departments can best teach the methods and interpretations useful in their respective disciplines. “We use the same textbook” doesn't settle that. The math course might cover similar content while placing different emphasis on it or explaining it less effectively for those students. The response leaves that reason largely untouched.
- D
Disagreeing with someone isn't a personal attack. The mathematics professor makes no allegation about the psychology professor's character, motives, or personal conduct. The stated evidence concerns course content. It may fail to answer the point, but that is different from attacking the person who made it.
- E
This says an identical textbook is required for identical content: different books would mean different content. The mathematics professor hasn't claimed that. Citing a shared textbook as evidence that these courses cover similar material doesn't rule out other courses covering that material using different books. E attributes an additional rule to the reply.
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