Logical reasoning PrepTest 126 · Section 4 · Question 3

Incorrect. The argument does define the term—it's a nervous and anxious personality.

Incorrect. The argument doesn't assume personality traits are permanent, but rather that they're persistent enough to allow for them to cause a health condition. There's no indication as to how long that process would take.

Incorrect. First, there is evidence to support the existence of the hypertensive personality"—the correlation between that personality and hypertension (high blood pressure). Second, the argument doesn't restate the claim—it goes from stating the correlation exists to making a statement as to the direction of causality. This circular reasoning answer is thus incorrect.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
High blood pressure and nervousness/anxiety are correlated, so these personality traits likely cause high blood pressure.

Answer Anticipation:
The conclusion here doesn't even hide the causality—it puts it front and center (is likely to cause"). When an argument on the LSAT has a causal conclusion, there's a good chance it's committing a correlation/causation flaw.

Here, the premise is correlative. In stating that a certain group is "generally more" nervous and anxious than another, it's correlating those traits to the group.

Since this argument is jumping from a correlative premise to a causal conclusion, we should look for an answer that highlights the correlation/causation flaw. It could do so directly, or it could bring up one of the common reasons that such a jump is flawed (reversed causality; alternative causes of both phenomena; the correlation is a coincidence).

Answer Explanation:
This answer directly raises the jump from a correlation to causation, so it's the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
When a conclusion on the LSAT is causal, the flaw in the argument will at least 9 times out of 10 be a correlation/causation flaw. Always start by looking for that flaw if you see a causal conclusion.

Incorrect. This answer might give you pause, making you think that it's bringing up alternative causes of high blood pressure. However, there are two issues here. First, there's no evidence that these other traits aren't also viewed as part of the hypertensive personality. Second, there's no evidence that these other ignored personality traits are potential causes of hypertension, as there are with nervousness/anxiety in that they're correlated with hypertension. Imagine an argument needing to raise and rule out all potential personality traits to reach a conclusion—that'd be a bit much!