LSAT 151 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q14

LR Question 14 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Researcher: People are able to tell whether a person is extroverted …

QUESTION TYPE: Strengthen

CONCLUSION: The ability to tell whether a person is extroverted is a result of biology, not culture.

REASONING: People can do this for chimps and humans. Both are primates.

ANALYSIS: This is saying:

• Humans can do X
• Humans can also do something similar with chimps
• So, this ability probably isn’t just cultural (since it works across species)

It’s relying a lot on this comparison between humans and chimps and the fact that both are primates. That’s the weakest point we want to strengthen. Why are they the same kind of ability?

___________

1. This might weaken the argument. If people can’t do this for another primate (bonobos), then the ability might not be a general biological trait.
2. Saying people can identify more traits in humans than chimps doesn’t matter. The argument only needs one shared ability to make its point.
3. CORRECT. If extroversion (humans) and dominance (chimps) both reflect the same underlying genetic tendency (assertiveness), then it makes much more sense that the ability to detect them is biological.
4. How long ago the species diverged doesn’t really help. The argument isn’t about when the trait developed, just whether it’s biological vs. cultural.
5. This might weaken by showing a flaw in the experiment. But it doesn’t really impact it much – the composites still probably created some expression that people evaluated, even if it was a mix of faces.