Logical reasoning PrepTest 107 · Section 4 · Question 17

Question prompt

Studies of the reliability Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: A

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

Strengthen with Necessary Premise Questions

Stimulus Summary

Eyewitness accuracy and confidence aren’t related
Advice to police - Don’t let witnesses hear each other during suspect lineups

Answer Anticipation

Principle (Strengthen) questions tend to present judgments in the conclusion that need to be justified based on the information provided. Here, the judgment takes the form of advice to police officers - don’t let witnesses hear each other when they’re making identification.
Why is that? The information presented in the premises establishes that confidence and accuracy of witness identifications aren’t related - that things can affect confidence without affecting accuracy. So since accuracy isn’t affected in the premises, the correct answer must have to do with affecting confidence.
As such, we should look for an answer that connects that to the advice:
One thing that can affect confidence without changing accuracy is hearing other people make identifications.

Answer choices

  1. A
    The confidence people have Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A matches the stem
    This answer reflects our anticipation, and it connects the premise to the conclusion. If hearing other people talk about their identifications affects eyewitness confidence, but it doesn’t improve accuracy, then police officers would be well served by not letting the witnesses listen to each other. After all, they’re goal is to get an accurate sense of who the witnesses saw and how certain they are of that, so they should avoid anything that would alter those two things!
  2. B
    Unless an eyewitness is Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B is not credited
    This answer would make an argument for suspect lineups (where there are multiple suspects visible at a time), but it doesn’t speak to whether the officers should let multiple witnesses in the room at the same time.
  3. C
    If several eyewitnesses all Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    The advice is about letting the witnesses hear each other, not how to interpret their identifications.
  4. D
    Police officers are more Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Without establishing that allowing the witnesses to hear each other affects their confidence, this answer doesn’t tie into the advice.
  5. E
    The accuracy of an Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    This answer is about interpreting the various statements the witnesses made, not how to conduct the suspect lineups.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

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

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

  • Why is B wrong? 3 replies

    Started by Tyler808

  • Why D? 1 reply

    Started by Marissa-Avnaim

View all discussions Start a discussion