Logical reasoning PrepTest 107 · Section 4 · Question 24

Question prompt

Medical researcher: As expected, 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

Weaken Questions

Stimulus Summary

Records - Premature babies more likely to have low birth rate and have health problems
Records - Mothers receiving enough prenatal care were less likely to have low birth weight babies
Therefore - Adequate prenatal care prevent low birth weight babies

Answer Anticipation

This is a very weird question, despite following a common pattern. What common pattern is that? Weaken questions generally have Correlation/Causation flaws, and this one is no different.
Right off the bat, we get a correlation - having a premature baby is correlated with having a baby that is low birth weight and having a baby that has health problems. But then we get a second correlation - between adequate prenatal care and not having a low birth weight baby.
Then, the argument reaches a causal conclusion - adequate prenatal care decreases the risk of having a low birth rate baby. However, that relies solely on the second correlation - not the first. We can’t disregard that first premise since it establishes that premature birth is correlated with low birth weight, but this correlation isn’t directly related to the conclusion. But this is a Correlation/Causation Weaken question, where the correct answer will generally:
Identify an alternative cause (maybe pregnant women who are socioeconomically disadvantaged are both more likely to receive inadequate prenatal care and have diets that lead to low birth weight children) Show counterexamples (though that’s unlikely here since it’s talking about the risk of low birth weight babies, implying that not all mothers who receive inadequate prenatal care have low birth weight babies) Reverse causality (which makes no sense here - a low birth weight baby can’t cause the mother to retroactively receive inadequate prenatal care)

Answer choices

  1. A
    The hospital records indicate Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    This answer falls into the counterexample category - the supposed cause is present, but the effect isn’t. However, as we noted in our anticipation, since the argument is about the risk of having a child with a low birth weight, it’s implied that not all mothers who receive inadequate care have low birth weight children, so this answer doesn’t weaken the argument.
  2. B
    Mothers giving birth prematurely Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    Interesting! We were expecting an answer that brought up an alternative cause of the low birth weight, but this answer calls the records into question. If mothers who give birth prematurely (which is itself correlated with low birth weight) are assumed to have received inadequate prenatal care, that would inflate the number of women for whom those two are correlated. By calling that correlation into question, this answer undermines the causal conclusion based on it. This answer is correct.
  3. C
    The hospital records indicate Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    This answer calls the correlation between low birth weight and being premature into question, but that premise wasn’t relied on to reach the conclusion. This was the first correlation, not the second that played into the conclusion.
  4. D
    Some babies not born Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    Similar to (A), “some” counterexamples won’t weaken this argument since it’s about increased/decreased risk, which implies that the causality isn’t absolute.
  5. E
    Women who receive adequate Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    Since premature birth is correlated with low birth weight, this answer aligns with the argument and is thus more in the strengthen direction.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 20%
  2. B Credited 58%
  3. C 6%
  4. D 12%
  5. E 3%

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