Logical reasoning PrepTest 138 · Section 2 · Question 15

Incorrect. The argument concludes that people associate facial expressions with emotions, not that they're correct in their association. Even if everyone thought the person who was expressing fear was expressing anger, the conclusion could still hold.

Incorrect. "Emotional disposition" is out of scope.

Incorrect. This answer runs counter to the conclusion in stating that something is influenced by culture, not genetics.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen with Necessary Premise

Stimulus Summary:
Study - People from different cultures were shown photos and asked what emotion was being expressed. Everyone agreed on the emotion in each photo.
Conclusion - Associating faces with emotions has a genetic basis.

Answer Anticipation:
This argument, as with many arguments based on a study of some type, falls into a common pattern—phenomenon/explanation. And outside of that, it falls into another, more specific pattern—a discussion of nature versus nurture, or culture versus genetics.

The argument notes that there's a certain behavior—the identification of certain facial expressions with certain emotions—that is shared across cultures. From this, it assumes that the explanation for this behavior isn't learned within a culture (different cultures should lead to different behaviors/associations), and thus it has a genetic explanation.

That's a jump, though, so any answer that highlights the jump between common behaviors and genetics should be considered.

Answer Explanation:
This answer connects a common behavior witnessed in the study (people from different cultures all identifying the same emotions when looking at faces) with a genetic predisposition, which is the explanation for that phenomenon in the conclusion. If common behavior doesn't likely have a genetic cause, then the argument falls apart. This answer is necessary for the argument's conclusion, so it's the right answer.

Key Takeaway:
The LSAT has many patterns. Some are structural—for example, some arguments have a phenomenon/explanation structure. Some are more based in content—for example, nature versus nurture. These patterns can help us know what to expect and how to contextualize the arguments. For example, phenomenon/explanation passages frequently have answers that deal with alternative explanations, and nature versus nurture passages frequently have answers that establish the true cause of a given behavior or trait is a mixture of both genes and environment.

Incorrect. The conclusion is about a genetic predisposition on the part of those identifying the emotions, not making them, so this answer is out of scope. Whether the people in the photos were from the same cultures or not, they were identified by all the participants as demonstrating the same emotion.