PrepTest 133, Section 1, Question 25
Counselor: Those who believe that criticism should be(41 more words not shown)
The reasoning in the counselor's(12 more words not shown)
- Ainfers that something(13 more words not shown)
- Bfails to address(23 more words not shown)
- Ctakes for granted(9 more words not shown)
- Dconfuses a motive(9 more words not shown)
- Etakes the refutation(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
You can be gentle and still tell someone exactly what needs to change.
Imagine saying, 'This part of the report is confusing. Explain the example before you state the conclusion.' That criticism is direct, but it doesn't need to be harsh. Could the person want to improve the report after hearing it? Of course. We haven't been given a reason to rule that out.
The counselor establishes one way to supply a motive: harsh criticism is unpleasant, and unpleasant criticism provides a motive. Accept those claims. The trouble comes when 'one way to motivate' becomes 'the only criticism that can cause change.' Change requiring a motive doesn't establish that the motive must come from harshness.
What we’re looking for
So for the flaw question, I'd point to the missing exclusion. What stops gentle criticism from motivating someone too? The counselor needs to rule that out before insisting that only harsh criticism can cause a person to change.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Harsh criticism is sufficient to provide a motive: according to the premises, it does provide one. The counselor then treats harsh criticism as necessary, as though no relevant motive could be supplied without it. But our gentle, specific feedback could also motivate improvement. Establishing one source of motivation doesn't make it the only source.
- B
Other goals of criticism could matter if we were deciding what kind of criticism is best overall. Here, however, the conclusion concerns what will cause a person to change. Pointing out that criticism sometimes serves another purpose doesn't address the claimed requirement for bringing about that change.
- C
This is a tempting different mistake. A motive being required for change doesn't guarantee that every motivated person will change. But the conclusion doesn't make that guarantee. It says only harsh criticism will cause change, which makes harshness a requirement rather than a promise of success.
The counselor could allow that some people remain unchanged despite receiving harsh criticism. C would fit an argument saying, 'Harsh criticism provides a motive, so it guarantees change.' This argument instead wrongly rules out gentle criticism as another possible source. A targets that actual claim.
- D
The argument doesn't confuse wanting to do something with wanting to avoid something. All the relevant statements concern supplying a motive for change. Its mistake is restricting where that motive can come from, not switching between two different kinds of motive.
- E
The counselor isn't arguing that a conclusion must be false merely because an argument for it failed. We get an affirmative chain about unpleasantness, motivation, and change. The bad step is within that chain: one way to provide a motive is treated as the required way. No rejected opposing argument supplies the basis for that inference.
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