LSAT 41, Logical Reasoning II, Q13, LSATHacks

QUESTION TEXT: Researcher: People with certain personality disorders have more…

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: TV causes personality disorders.

REASONING: Personality disorders are associated with theta waves, and so is watching television.

ANALYSIS: Our human brains are wired for this error, so remember: correlation does not equal causation. Remember this, even when you’re done studying for the LSAT.

Maybe theta brain waves cause psychopathy. Maybe they don’t. We don’t know, and the stimulus has given us no useful information with which to decide.

Further, we don’t know if TV causes theta brain waves, or if theta waves make us feel like watching TV.

___________

1. This is a common answer choice, and often correct. But not here. “Personality disorder” means the same thing each time it is used.
2. That would have been useful, but it’s not the flaw. Even if we knew what theta waves were, it wouldn’t prove the conclusion.
3. CORRECT. Yes. For all we know, theta brain waves could occur in a variety of situations that don’t produce psychopathology. The stimulus has not established that they cause anything.
4. No. An example of this would be if I looked at three people and saw they had theta brain waves, or if I looked only at women, or men, etc.
5. No, that’s not what they infer – they infer that watching TV is the cause of a personality disorder.

Recap: The question begins with “Researcher: People with certain personality disorders have more”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn how to master LSAT Flaw questions on the LSAT Logical Reasoning question types page.

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