- Mon Mar 29, 2021 2:28 pm
#85948
Hi omccord!
The question stem is asking us to support the biologists' hypothesis so our first step is to identify their hypothesis.
Hypothesis: young harbor seals start with an aversion to all killer whales but then learn to ignore those that do not eat seals
Now let's look at the premises that led the biologists to that hypothesis.
Premise: dialects of seal-eating killer whales are recognizably different from those of killer whales that do not eat seals
Premise: harbor seals use their ability to distinguish between different killer-whale dialects to avoid seal-eating killer whales
So we know that harbor seals can distinguish between the dialects of the seal-eating killer whales and the non-seal-eating killer whales and that they are able to avoid the seal-eating killer whales. The hypothesis is that young harbor seals start our by avoiding all killer whales, but then they learn that they do not need to avoid the non-seal-eating killer whales.
Causal reasoning occurs whenever you have one thing actively making another thing happen. In this case, the biologists observed that harbor seals ignore the non-seal-eating killer whales and have hypothesized that the thing that makes the seals ignore the non-seal-eating killer whales is that they learn that whales with a specific dialect don't eat seals. We're trying to strengthen this explanation--we're trying to support the idea that seals start out avoiding all killer whales, but then they learn that whales with certain dialects are not a threat and so they no longer avoid those whales.
Answer choice (C) strengthens this argument by telling us that when seals hear a killer whale dialect they have never heard before, they swim away. This supports the idea that seals start out avoiding all killer whales, and the reason that they stop avoiding the non-seal-eating killer whales is that they learn that these whales with those dialects do not pose a threat to them. Their default is to fear all killer whales so any new dialect will send them running, until they learn that the whales with this new dialect are not a threat.
Answer choice (A) tells us nothing about the biologists hypothesis because it has nothing to do with why seals have an aversion to some whales but not others.
Answer choice (B) also tells us nothing about the hypothesis which only has to do with seals and not fish.
Answer choice (D) is irrelevant to the hypothesis which is just about seals and their reactions to killer whales, not other seal predators.
Answer choice (E) says that a seal can learn to distrust a type of whale through experience, but the hypothesis is about instinctually distrusting all whales and then learning to trust a specific type of whale through experience.
Hope this helps!
Best,
Kelsey
The question stem is asking us to support the biologists' hypothesis so our first step is to identify their hypothesis.
Hypothesis: young harbor seals start with an aversion to all killer whales but then learn to ignore those that do not eat seals
Now let's look at the premises that led the biologists to that hypothesis.
Premise: dialects of seal-eating killer whales are recognizably different from those of killer whales that do not eat seals
Premise: harbor seals use their ability to distinguish between different killer-whale dialects to avoid seal-eating killer whales
So we know that harbor seals can distinguish between the dialects of the seal-eating killer whales and the non-seal-eating killer whales and that they are able to avoid the seal-eating killer whales. The hypothesis is that young harbor seals start our by avoiding all killer whales, but then they learn that they do not need to avoid the non-seal-eating killer whales.
Causal reasoning occurs whenever you have one thing actively making another thing happen. In this case, the biologists observed that harbor seals ignore the non-seal-eating killer whales and have hypothesized that the thing that makes the seals ignore the non-seal-eating killer whales is that they learn that whales with a specific dialect don't eat seals. We're trying to strengthen this explanation--we're trying to support the idea that seals start out avoiding all killer whales, but then they learn that whales with certain dialects are not a threat and so they no longer avoid those whales.
Answer choice (C) strengthens this argument by telling us that when seals hear a killer whale dialect they have never heard before, they swim away. This supports the idea that seals start out avoiding all killer whales, and the reason that they stop avoiding the non-seal-eating killer whales is that they learn that these whales with those dialects do not pose a threat to them. Their default is to fear all killer whales so any new dialect will send them running, until they learn that the whales with this new dialect are not a threat.
Answer choice (A) tells us nothing about the biologists hypothesis because it has nothing to do with why seals have an aversion to some whales but not others.
Answer choice (B) also tells us nothing about the hypothesis which only has to do with seals and not fish.
Answer choice (D) is irrelevant to the hypothesis which is just about seals and their reactions to killer whales, not other seal predators.
Answer choice (E) says that a seal can learn to distrust a type of whale through experience, but the hypothesis is about instinctually distrusting all whales and then learning to trust a specific type of whale through experience.
Hope this helps!
Best,
Kelsey