LSAT 120 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q6

LR Question 6 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Pain perception depends only partly on physiology…

QUESTION TYPE: Identify the Conclusion

CONCLUSION: Pain perception only depends partly on physiology.

REASONING: The contrasting experience of soldiers and civilians undergoing surgery in WWII is given as an example to illustrate this conclusion.

ANALYSIS: The first sentence is often the conclusion. Ask yourself: does this sentence support the rest of the argument, or is it supported by the rest of the argument (and hence the conclusion)?

WWII makes a convenient example, but the stimulus could have used many other examples to establish its conclusion about pain perception. The final sentence serves to re-iterate the conclusion.

___________

1. No. It is the conclusion. Further, even if the conclusion weren’t true, the soldier vs. civilians example could be explained otherwise. Maybe soldiers are just really tough.
2. No. It is the conclusion.
3. This is similar to B. Only choose these answers if part of the stimulus argues against another part. That doesn’t happen here.
4. Certainly not – the argument takes pains to prove this claim using the soldiers example.
5. CORRECT. Yes. The final sentence is superfluous, and merely repeats the information given at the beginning.

Recap: The question begins with “Pain perception depends only partly on physiology”. It is a Identify The Conclusion question. Learn more about LSAT Identify questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.