Logical reasoning PrepTest 103 · Section 1 · Question 6

Question prompt

Videocassette recorders (VCRs) enable Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: C

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed

Question Type

Errors in Reasoning Questions

Stimulus Summary

People who own VCRs go to the movies more frequently than those who don’t Therefore - Owning a VCR causes people to go to the movie theaters

Answer Anticipation

As with all Errors in Reasoning questions, we should be reading with an eye towards identifying commonly flawed elements in the stimulus. Here, there’s a big one, though the LSAT goes out of its way to hide it. The element commonly related to a flaw? That causal conclusion. While it doesn’t use the word “cause,” it says that one thing “stimulates” a certain action, which is a fancy way of saying it causes that action. So here, the argument concludes that owning a VCR causes people to go to the movies. Is that based on a correlation? You bet. People who own a VCR also go to the movies more frequently. So VCR ownership is correlated with going to the movies more. So we’re dealing with a Correlation/Causation flaw here - let’s look for an answer that describes it. Common answers usually will talk about correlation/causation, or alternative causes of the correlated phenomenon, or reversed causality. After all, people who enjoy movies are probably the ones who would buy a VCR - and that might mean they still go to the movies quite often, just not as often as they would if they didn’t own it!

Answer choices

  1. A
    concludes that a claim Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    This answer describes an Absence of Evidence flaw. However, the argument uses a correlation to support the conclusion, not just evidence that an opposing view is unsupported.
  2. B
    cites, in support of Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    There’s only one real piece of evidence presented, so the premise can’t contradict anything. On top of that, it’s not a flaw to contradict an opposing view’s premise!
  3. C
    fails to establish that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C matches the stem
    This answer reflects the Correlation/Causation flaw in the stimulus. The phenomena noted are: owning a VCR, and going to the movies. The argument concludes that the former causes the latter, but it’s just as possible that loving movies causes someone to go to the movies frequently and buy a VCR.
  4. D
    takes a condition that Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    This answer describes an illegal reversal, but the stimulus doesn’t use conditional logic, nor does it argue anything is sufficient or necessary for something else!
  5. E
    bases a broad claim Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The conclusion is about people who own a VCR, so it’s not about people in general.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 6%
  2. B 3%
  3. C Credited 81%
  4. D 8%
  5. E 3%

Deeper help

Ask follow-ups on any step

Optional AI tutor mode will let you interrogate assumptions, compare answers, and drill weak patterns without leaving the page.

Human-written explanations stay primary; AI is an add-on when you want it.

Discussion

View all discussions Start a discussion