#18 - Doctor: Angiotensinogen is a protein in human blood.

[ltowns1]

Could someone help me with why (D) is wrong? I'm always confused about what I should read in the stimulus when it says things like " the second causes the first and the first causes the second" lol.

[James Finch]

Hi LTowns,

What (D) means is that the stimulus is reversing cause and effect, which is not the case here. Instead we see causation and correlation confused: that because disease X causes one symptom, which typically correlates with another medical issue, that the underlying disease must also be a cause of the correlated issue, by implying high angiotensinogen levels cause high blood pressure.

Hope this clears things up!

[ltowns1]

Okay thanks

[coolbeans747]

In the correct answer choice C, the “two phenomena being correlated” are a persons angiotensinogen levels and blood pressure, correct?

Also, why is C a better choice than B?

Thanks

[Alex Bodaken]

coolbeans747,

Thanks for the question! Spot on - the two things being correlated are angiotensinogen and blood pressure.

As to why (C) is a better answer than (B): the weakness of (B) as an answer is that we are provided no evidence of "other factors that may fully counteract" the effect that disease X has on blood pressure. Because there is no evidence provided of these factors, it isn't a valid criticism to say that the author overlooks this possibility. Answer choice (C), by contrast, speaks to a flaw that is inherent in causal reasoning, which is that we can never be 100% certain that one thing causes another just because another thing happens after it. Therefore, it is the better answer choice.

Hope that helps!
Alex

[haganskl]

Hello.
I have a question about the stim. So did the doctor, the freaking DOCTOR LOL, rationalize the causal relationship like this?

C: Disease X Effect: Long A word

C: Long A word Effect: High blood pressure

Therefore:
C: Disease X Effect: High blood pressure

?

I illicitly chose answer choice B. I read above why its wrong. I immediately got rid of C because I didn’t see the connection, even though it’s SO clear. Smh

Thanks in advance for taking my question.

[Adam Tyson]

The Doctor did indeed make a bad causal argument, haganski! But the evidence was not that A causes high blood pressure. The evidence was that higher A levels are correlated with higher BP. If we knew that disease X caused higher levels of A, and if we also knew that higher levels of A cause higher BP, then it would be valid to conclude that Disease X causes higher BP. The problem is that we don't know that A and BP have a causal relationship, but only that they are correlated.

[haganskl]

Got it! Thank you.