LR Question 22 Explanation, by LSATHacks
QUESTION TEXT: Advertisement: Hypnosis videos work to alter behavior…
QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning
CONCLUSION: Mesmosis’ video work really well!
REASONING: The videos pretend to send a command 1,000 times to the subconscious. To be effective, subconscious commands have to be repeated many times.
ANALYSIS: The stimulus says that it’s “as if” the instructions are sent 1,000 times! So they’re not sent 1,000 times!
Imagine this: you need to study a lot in order for your subconscious to master the LSAT. An hypnosis company has a tape that makes your brain “think” it has studied a lot. How effective do you think this would be? (Likely, not very effective)
___________
- CORRECT. This is subtle, but it addresses the flaw I discussed above. Instructions must be repeated many times. But the tapes only make it feel as if the instructions were sent 1,000 times. They actually weren’t! So the tapes fail the requirement the author lists.
- The author didn’t say effectiveness is proportional! It’s more like effectiveness only happens after a certain point.
Like, suppose a certain food is toxic unless cooked for 30 minutes. The food is not healthy “in proportion” to cooking time. It is unhealthy before 30 min, and healthy after 30 min.
Proportional means one thing increases directly and gradually as another thing increases. - The conclusion was that the tapes are very effective. It didn’t say only the tapes are effective. There could be other techniques which work.
- This describes a circular argument. It will almost never be correct. It is very, very hard to make a true circular argument that doesn’t seem obviously wrong.
Example of flaw: The tapes are effective because they are effective. - This is a different argument. And really dumb. The stimulus was dumb, but in a different way. This is basically saying something will succeed as long as you can’t think of a reason why it wouldn’t.
Example of flaw: My tapes are guaranteed to work. After all, they’re new, and haven’t failed yet!
Recap: The question begins with “Advertisement: Hypnosis videos work to alter behavior”. It is a Flawed Reasoning question. Learn more about LSAT Flaw questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.
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I chose “A” for a different reason. The stimulus says that the videos’ first instruction is “to experience each subsequent instruction as if it has been repeated 1,000 times.” However, this first instruction may not work as intended without being repeated multiple times. So, assuming that instructing this step just once would do the job of making the subject feel as if each subsequent instruction is repeated 1,000 times is overlooking “a requirement that it states for the effectiveness of directions to the subconscious.”