Logical reasoning PrepTest 104 · Section 1 · Question 14

Question prompt

Critic: Many popular psychological Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

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

Argument Structure Questions

Stimulus Summary

Many popular psychological theories - Poor (inelegant and don’t dispel myths)
But that doesn’t matter, because they work.

Answer Anticipation

This argument is interesting. Normally, when we see a pivot in the middle of an argument, it’s pivoting away from an opposing point. Not so here, however - the Critic herself is behind the claims that these popular theories are poor.
Rather, she’s pivoting away from the importance of that argument - in essence, whether these theories are “poor” or not doesn’t really matter. Why not? Because the theories work better therapeutically than other theories.
So, in essence, the Critic brings up two considerations in discussing some theories - whether they’re poor, and whether they work. In concluding that it’s “not really important” whether they’re poor since they work, she’s on the side of effectiveness being more important than quality.
The statement in question here is the statement that the “poor” theories produce better results than alternatives. That was the premise supporting the conclusion, so let’s find an answer reflecting that (and including details that match up with our overall understanding of the argument).

Answer choices

  1. A
    It is used to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    First, there’s no evidence presented against the theories. Second, the Critic argues that effectiveness is more important than being good quality - not that they’re actually of good quality. She’s the one who argues they’re poor theories!

  2. B
    It is used to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    The Critic argues that the theories being effective is what’s important, not whether they’re not poor. As such, the details of their effectiveness are used to override the charge that they’re of poor quality, making this the correct answer.

  3. C
    It is used to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    The Critic doesn’t argue that they’re better “scientific explanations” than the rival theories. She argues that they’re poor scientific explanations!

  4. D
    It is used to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    It’s used to illustrate what the Critic believes is an important aspect of psychological theories, not scientific theories generally.

  5. E
    It is used to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    The Critic doesn’t pivot away from the opening statement about the theories lacking explanatory power. Rather, she argues that that lack of explanatory power is not really important.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 7%
  2. B Credited 68%
  3. C 8%
  4. D 11%
  5. E 6%

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