PrepTest 132, Section 4, Question 19
Doctor: Medical researchers recently examined a large group(67 more words not shown)
The reasoning in the doctor's(18 more words not shown)
- AA factor that(20 more words not shown)
- BA factor that(21 more words not shown)
- CAn effect that(16 more words not shown)
- DA characteristic found(18 more words not shown)
- EA factor that(26 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Not always is very different from never.
Half the people in this study had disk problems without serious back pain. That tells us those problems don't automatically produce serious pain in everyone. It doesn't tell us that they cannot contribute to pain in anyone.
Think about food allergies. One person can eat peanut butter without being harmed; another person may have a dangerous reaction. The first person's experience doesn't rule out a harmful effect in the second. Other conditions can change what happens.
What we’re looking for
The same possibility matters here. A bulging or slipped disk might produce pain in combination with another condition, or affect some people differently. For the flaw answer, translate the abstract words back into this example: the factor is the disk problem, and the effect is serious back pain. We're looking for the possibility that the factor contributes to the effect even though it doesn't produce it by itself in every case.
Working the answers
- A
This starts with a factor that isn't required for an effect to occur. But our evidence isn't about people who have back pain without disk problems. It's about people who have disk problems without serious back pain. A sets up the wrong relationship.
- BCorrect
A disk problem isn't enough by itself to produce serious pain in everyone. It could nevertheless help cause pain in some people. The doctor overlooks that possibility when moving from painless cases to the claim that these conditions cannot lead to serious back pain at all.
- C
This describes an effect occurring when a phenomenon is absent. In our study, the phenomenon—the disk problem—is present, while the effect—serious back pain—is absent. The answer has those starting facts the wrong way around.
- D
The doctor doesn't conclude that half of the entire population has disk problems. The conclusion concerns whether the problems can cause pain. A sample's percentage might fail to match the population's percentage without identifying the causal mistake made here.
- E
This says a factor that doesn't cause an effect can still be associated with it. That wouldn't challenge the doctor's denial that disk problems can cause pain. We need the possibility of a causal contribution, not merely a pattern in which disk problems occur more often among people with pain. B gives the missed causal possibility.
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