LSAT 159 | Section 3 | Logical Reasoning: Q12

LR Question 12 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: When the annual period of daylight saving time begins …

QUESTION TYPE: Strengthen

CONCLUSION: Sleep deprivation probably causes the rise in accidents the day after daylight savings.

REASONING: People lose an hour of sleep when clocks are set forward, and there’s an unusual spike in accidents the next day.

ANALYSIS: This is a causal argument. The author sees two things happening at the same time (less sleep, more accidents) and assumes one causes the other. That could be true, but it could also just be a coincidence. Maybe people are distracted by the time change, maybe traffic patterns shift, or there happens to be particularly bad weather on that weekend.

To strengthen the argument, we want to make that causal link between losing sleep and crashing stronger.

___________

1. This would actually weaken the argument because it shows an alternative reason for why accidents go up. People are rushed so they might be less careful, but it doesn’t tie the rise to sleep deprivation.
2. Interesting fact, but not relevant. The argument is comparing before and after the time change, within the same time of the year.
3. We’re just concerned with the number of accidents, not how serious they are so this doesn’t help.
4. CORRECT. If the accidents go up when tired drivers are typically at their sleepiest, that directly connects the pattern to the effects of fatigue. This makes the argument’s explanation that lost sleep is to blame stronger.
5. Tempting but we only know the statistics for the following day. This would be more relevant if the argument was discussing statistics across several days after daylight savings.