LSAT 155 | Section 2 | Logical Reasoning: Q14

LR Question 14 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: In a study, six medical students were each separately presented…

QUESTION TYPE: Most Strongly Supported

FACTS:

1. The 6 students were presented with a patient who had general symptoms.
2. The attending physician asked each student a leading question, indicating a diagnosis theorized by the attending physician.
3. The students were given different diagnoses in the leading questions.
4. Each student was presented with another patient a week later with the same symptoms.
5. All of the students first tested the same diagnosis the attending physician had mentioned to them earlier.

ANALYSIS: This is a neat stimulus. It seems like the students are assuming the attending physician knows what they’re doing, even though the attending physician said something different to all the students. It’s a Most Strongly Supported question, so it’s often easiest to look at the answers and see which are supported by the facts.

___________

1. CORRECT. If all the students were given a different disorder, and all of them tested the disorder they were given, they all tested a different disorder.
2. We don’t know what the students know. It’s possible that they knew it, but doubted themselves after the physician suggested a different diagnosis.
3. We don’t know this at all. If the second physician was in on the study, it’s certainly possible that they did know.
4. This is only true if one of the students was suggested the correct diagnosis in the first test. We aren’t told anything that supports this idea, however.
5. There’s not enough to support this. It’s plausible that all of the students recognized that the symptoms could be manifesting from different disorders, but deferred to someone they viewed as an authority.

Recap: The question begins with “In a study, six medical students were each separately presented”. It is a Most Strongly Supported question. Learn more about LSAT MSS questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.