Logical reasoning PrepTest 151 · Section 3 · Question 18

Incorrect. Moods starting low on Monday and improving through the week is compatible with mood also shifting throughout the day. Maybe on each day, the high-low-high pattern holds, but also a low-to-high pattern through the week also holds.

Incorrect. The analysis in the stimulus is about an overall trend, so even if there are some people who just post the time of day, the overall posting pattern could be happy or sad.

Incorrect. A tempting answer, suggesting that maybe looking at social media doesn't give a true indication of people's mood. However, this answer specifies the words used, not the mood conveyed by them. Using LOL online and actually laughing in the real world would use different "words" while still conveying a good mood. If this answer instead stated that people who use sad words online often simultaneously use happier words in person, then it might be a consideration.

Incorrect. If anything, the number of posts being relatively comparable would strengthen the argument by suggesting the samples were similar in a certain way. In any case, the argument certainly doesn't overlook this as a possibility.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
Social media is happy in the morning, sad in the afternoon, and happy in the evening. Therefore, a person's mood starts happy, gets sad, then improves.

Answer Anticipation:
The argument uses premises about social media overall before drawing a conclusion about an individual. There's no indication that it's the same people posting in the morning, afternoon, and evening. It's just as likely that, for example, morning people wake up happy and post online, afternoon people wake up grumpy and post, and a third group hops on in the evening to post, no one's mood changing at all.

Answer Explanation:
This answer suggests that the morning and evening groups are different, highlighting that the overall population of people online at different times of the day could be different. If that were the case, then a conclusion about an individual shifting moods through the day can't be drawn, so this is the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
When an argument jumps from discussing populations in general to drawing a conclusion about a specific member of a population, the logic is questionable.