LSAT 103 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q6

LR Question 6 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Videocassette recorders (VCRs) enable people to watch movies at…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: VCRs make people go to the movies more often.

REASONING: People with VCRs go to the movies more often.

ANALYSIS: This is a bad argument. Who is more likely to have a VCR? Someone who likes movies. So it makes sense that people who own VCRs go to the movies more often. But if VCRs didn’t exist, those people might go to the movies even more often.

The correct answer takes a different approach. It’s possible that both owning a VCR and going to the movies are the result of a third factor. It costs money to do both of those things. Maybe the people who own VCRs are just rich.

___________

1. The argument is a bit stronger than that. It produces circumstantial evidence that the claim (VCRs cause fewer people to go to movies) is wrong.
2. There’s no inconsistency: the argument might be right. It’s just not definitively proven.
3. CORRECT. Maybe people with money are more likely to go to the movies and more likely to own a VCR. Money could be the cause of both effects.
4. This is a fancy way of saying: mistakes a sufficient condition for a necessary condition. That didn’t happen. The argument is talking about a correlation.
5. Actually, this stimulus talks about the entire population, divided into two group: those with and without VCRs.

Recap: The question begins with “Videocassette recorders (VCRs) enable people to watch movies at”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn more about LSAT Flaw questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.