Logical reasoning PrepTest 152 · Section 1 · Question 16

This answer establishes that the judgments made are more accurate, but it doesn't let us know if these pieces of art are aesthetically pleasing.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Strengthen with Necessary Premise

Stimulus Summary:
A Jackson Pollock looks like something a child could draw, according to many. However, in a study, people shown the work of a child and the work of an abstract expressionist artist consistently picked the latter as more aesthetically pleasing, thus proving these works are aesthetically pleasing.

Answer Anticipation:
This argument has key language suggesting a specific error in reasoning—mainly, it jumps from "aesthetically better" to "aesthetically pleasing." Whenever an argument jumps from a relative term to an absolute one (better to pleasing), there's a good chance the correct answer will deal with this jump.

In this case, in order to reach the conclusion that the "better" works are actually aesthetically pleasing, we need to know that the art they're being compared to is also aesthetically pleasing. To think of a similar situation, if food A is tastier than food B, we don't know that food A is tasty. But if food A is tastier than food B, and food B is pretty tasty, we know food A is also tasty.

Answer Explanation:
Oh, LSAT, using double negatives to confuse us. If the preschoolers' paintings weren't displeasing, then they were either pleasing or neutral. In either case, this allows "better" to equate to "good." If the works of the preschoolers' were displeasing, then being better than them wouldn't guarantee any level of quality.

Key Takeaway:
A common error in reasoning sees the author jump from relative language to absolute language (or vice versa), so be on the lookout for it.

If anything, this calls the whole study into question. Knowing which paintings were which may have skewed the study, thus not allowing any conclusions to be validly drawn.

This answer tells us that there was some consistency in the ratings of the abstract expressionist paintings as better, even for those who didn't like them as frequently as the average. However, it still doesn't resolve the error in reasoning of the argument, as everyone could have hated all the paintings, and just hated the professional ones less.

The similarities in style, again, doesn't resolve the error between liking something better and finding it aesthetically pleasing.