PrepTest 120

Incorrect. While the conclusion is very general, dealing with all learning deficits, it doesn't do so based on a limited sample of learning deficits. In fact, it doesn't discuss any specific learning deficits at all! This argument would be the case if the premises talked about 1 or 2 specific learning deficits related to short-term memory and then concluded that all are, but that's not what the premises do here.

Correct. Argument or Facts:
Argument

Valid or Flawed:
Flawed

Question Type:
Errors in Reasoning

Stimulus Summary:
Short-term memory issue → Caused by problem with H
Short-term memory - Holds info for a few seconds, then either dumps it or moves it to long-term memory
Learning = Accumulation of info in long-term memory
Conclusion - Any child with a learning deficit has a bad H

Answer Anticipation:
There are a lot of pieces to this argument, so let's start with the conclusion and work backwards to see where it falls short.

The conclusion here is pretty strong—it establishes that whenever a kid has a learning deficit, it's due to a malfunctioning H. As such, the premises would need to show not only that problems with the H can cause learning deficits, but that nothing else can.

What do we learn about problems with the H in the premises? It's established that all short-term memory issues are caused by problems with H, so the premises do establish causality here. However, we now need to see if all learning deficits are short-term memory issues. And while short-term memory is connected to learning, it's not established as being the only thing that leads to learning.

As such, the argument is assuming that all learning deficits are a result of short-term memory issues, and thus issues with the H. Let's find an answer stating that the argument assumes all learning problems are related to short-term memory issues, or that the argument fails to consider that some learning issues might be related to something other than short-term memory.

Answer Explanation:
This answer brings up the assumption we identified in the argument. In concluding that all learning deficits are related to the H, the argument is saying (based on the premise) that they're all related to short-term memory. However, while the argument does suggest that short-term memory problems can cause learning problems, it never establishes that there can't be other causes of learning deficits. This answer points out the assumption of the argument, so it's the correct answer.

Key Takeaway:
The more complex an argument, the more it can be helpful to start with the conclusion and work backwards to see what pieces are present and which are missing. Find concepts in the conclusion that show up in the premises, see what they say and how they're related to a conclusion as a whole, and identify the pieces of the argument that are missing.

Incorrect. The argument relates defects in short-term memory to a malfunctioning H, but that doesn't mean that short-term memory is shut off when the H doesn't work. That's too specific a relationship that isn't necessary for the argument to work—maybe the H being off makes short-term memory very deficient, but it still works to some small degree.

Incorrect. This type of answer—the "fails to state a specific piece of information"—is almost always wrong. Unless the specific time is relevant to the argument, then these small details don't need to be established. Here, it doesn't matter if that amount of time is 4 or 5 or more or fewer seconds, so this answer is incorrect.

Incorrect. Adults are out of scope of the argument, as they're unmentioned and the conclusion limits itself to discussing learning deficits in children.