PrepTest 138, Section 2, Question 20
A study found that when rating the educational(61 more words not shown)
The argument is most vulnerable(7 more words not shown)
- Arelies on a(16 more words not shown)
- Btakes for granted(16 more words not shown)
- Ctakes for granted(26 more words not shown)
- Dfails to rule(26 more words not shown)
- Etakes for granted(23 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What if the parents and the psychologists recommend the same shows?
I can see the initial concern. Enjoying a children's show isn't obviously the same as judging how much it teaches. Parents mainly use their own enjoyment, while educational psychologists may assess educational value differently.
But different methods can reach the same result. Suppose the psychologists identify five shows as especially educational, and the parents' enjoyment-based ratings put those same five shows at the top. Then dismissing the parents' ratings just because they didn't consult the psychologists would be premature.
What we’re looking for
The argument explicitly asks us to suppose the psychologists' views are sound. We don't need to challenge their expertise. We need to question the move from 'Parents generally don't use those views' to 'Parents have little reason to trust their own ratings.' For the flaw answer, look for the possibility that the two sets of ratings closely agree.
Working the answers
- A
The passage doesn't identify a reason the study's parents would be unrepresentative of the relevant parents generally. We can't infer a defective sample merely because a study is mentioned. The stated problem is about how to interpret their method of rating, not an established bias in who was sampled.
- B
Whether parents and children enjoy the same shows is a different comparison. The argument concerns whether parents accurately rate educational value. Children might enjoy entirely different programs without showing that the parents' educational ratings are inaccurate.
- C
Deciding what a child should watch can involve concerns besides education. But the argument doesn't say education should be the sole criterion for that decision. It questions the parents' ability to rate educational value, which is a narrower issue than deciding which shows to allow.
- DCorrect
Their ratings might closely coincide. If the psychologists' views are sound and the parents' judgments line up with them, the parents' approach may be picking up something useful even without consciously relying on expert opinions. The argument hasn't ruled out that possibility before telling parents to distrust their ratings.
- E
The argument doesn't have to assume psychologists are the only accurate judges. Other people could be good judges too. Its conclusion targets parents who use enjoyment as their main basis, so the relevant objection is that those parents could reach sound ratings—not that no other group is capable of doing so.
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