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- Sat Apr 09, 2016 9:34 am
#22887
Complete Question Explanation
Strengthen-CE. The correct answer choice is (E)
Since most marmosets are left-handed and infant marmosets tend to imitate adults, the researchers conclude that it is by imitation that infant marmosets learn which hand to use.
You should immediately identify the causal reasoning that drives the researchers' hypothesis:
Cause
Effect
Imitative behavior → Left-handedness
Because the conclusion identifies the cause for a particular effect, you can easily weaken that conclusion by providing alternate causes. For instance, if the stated cause for a given phenomenon is "nurture," you can quickly challenge it by speculating that "nature" is an equally plausible alternate cause (and vice versa). There are always at least a few questions of this type on every LSAT.
Once you know how to weaken the argument, you can readily prephrase a way to strengthen it. For instance, if genetics is a possible alternate cause for the marmosets' left-handedness, look for an answer suggesting that it isn't.
Answer choice (A): The fact that many adult marmosets are right-handed does not support the researchers' hypothesis. The question is why the vast majority are left-handed.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice is trickier. On the one hand, having both right-handed and left-handed marmosets in the same family suggests that factors other than genetic inheritance can play a role in determining the marmosets' preferences for using one hand rather than the other. While this observation would lend some support to the conclusion that imitative behavior may the proper cause, it is far from clear why the right-handed marmosets always have left-handed siblings. If they all engaged in imitative behavior, we would expect greater homogeneity in their preferences.
Answer choice (C): The fact that one in three marmosets is ambidextrous does not explain the preferences shared by the other two. This answer choice has no effect on the causal relationship at stake.
Answer choice (D): The argument is about marmosets, not humans. This answer choice has no effect on the conclusion.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. Since the infant marmosets are not related to the right-handed adult marmosets with whom they are raised in captivity, they could not have inherited the latter's preference for using their right hand. This answer choice eliminates the most plausible alternate cause for marmosets' propensity to share their parents' handedness: whether related or not, the infants generally share the behavior of the adults.
Strengthen-CE. The correct answer choice is (E)
Since most marmosets are left-handed and infant marmosets tend to imitate adults, the researchers conclude that it is by imitation that infant marmosets learn which hand to use.
You should immediately identify the causal reasoning that drives the researchers' hypothesis:
Cause
EffectImitative behavior
→ Left-handednessBecause the conclusion identifies the cause for a particular effect, you can easily weaken that conclusion by providing alternate causes. For instance, if the stated cause for a given phenomenon is "nurture," you can quickly challenge it by speculating that "nature" is an equally plausible alternate cause (and vice versa). There are always at least a few questions of this type on every LSAT.
Once you know how to weaken the argument, you can readily prephrase a way to strengthen it. For instance, if genetics is a possible alternate cause for the marmosets' left-handedness, look for an answer suggesting that it isn't.
Answer choice (A): The fact that many adult marmosets are right-handed does not support the researchers' hypothesis. The question is why the vast majority are left-handed.
Answer choice (B): This answer choice is trickier. On the one hand, having both right-handed and left-handed marmosets in the same family suggests that factors other than genetic inheritance can play a role in determining the marmosets' preferences for using one hand rather than the other. While this observation would lend some support to the conclusion that imitative behavior may the proper cause, it is far from clear why the right-handed marmosets always have left-handed siblings. If they all engaged in imitative behavior, we would expect greater homogeneity in their preferences.
Answer choice (C): The fact that one in three marmosets is ambidextrous does not explain the preferences shared by the other two. This answer choice has no effect on the causal relationship at stake.
Answer choice (D): The argument is about marmosets, not humans. This answer choice has no effect on the conclusion.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. Since the infant marmosets are not related to the right-handed adult marmosets with whom they are raised in captivity, they could not have inherited the latter's preference for using their right hand. This answer choice eliminates the most plausible alternate cause for marmosets' propensity to share their parents' handedness: whether related or not, the infants generally share the behavior of the adults.