LSAT 134 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q15

LR Question 15 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Researchers had three groups of professional cyclists cycle for one hour …

QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported

FACTS: The researchers tested 3 groups of cyclists:

1. Group A: Cycled at 60% of maximum pulse → most felt better
2. Group B: Cycled at 70% → most reported no mood benefits
3. Group C: Cycled at 85% → most felt worse afterward

ANALYSIS: We need to identify what conclusion these results support.

The important pattern is that the effect of exercise on mood changed depending on the intensity of cycling.

They’re banking on you drawing conclusions that are too strong. Be careful of that. The results don’t prove that lower intensity is always better, or that 60% is the optimal level. We only know what happened in THESE three groups.

So be careful with answers that make a stronger claim than the evidence supports.

___________

1. Too broad. We only have 3 specific intensity levels for cycling, so we can’t conclude that every increase in pulse rate always reduces psychological benefits.
2. CORRECT. This is exactly supported. The groups did the same activity for the same time, but their mood outcomes differed depending on intensity. So we don’t know the exact relationship. We only know that intensity seems to matter for this mood change.
3. The stimulus tells us that 60% produced benefits in this experiment. It doesn’t show that anything above 60% is always worse or that 60% is the best possible level.
4. The study only looked at exercise intensity and mood changes. It says nothing about whether physical factors contribute equally to depression as psychological factors.
5. We’re measuring mood, not physical benefits. We can’t draw any conclusions about physical improvements.