LSAT 129 – Section 2 – Question 14

LSAT 129 - Section 2 - Question 14

June 2009

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Question QuickView	Type	Tags	Answer Choices	Curve	Question Difficulty	Psg/Game/S Difficulty	Explanation
PT129 S2 Q14	+LR	Weaken +Weak Causal Reasoning +CausR	A 5% 160 B 1% 157 C 1% 153 D 1% 147 E 93% 165	124 135 147	+Easier	144.702 +SubsectionEasier

Scientists have shown that older bees, which usually forage outside the hive for food, tend to have larger brains than do younger bees, which usually do not forage but instead remain in the hive to tend to newly hatched bees. Since foraging requires greater cognitive ability than does tending to newly hatched bees, it appears that foraging leads to the increased brain size of older bees.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis

The author hypothesizes that foraging causes increased brain size in bees. This is based on the fact that older bees tend to have larger brains than do younger bees, and older bees are more likely to forage than are younger bees. In addition, foraging requires greater cognitive ability than what younger bees do.

Notable Assumptions

The author assumes that the correlation between foraging and larger brains is not explained by something else besides foraging causing larger brains. This overlooks the possibility that bees’ brains naturally get larger as they get older, and since older bees are the ones that forage, we see a correlation between foraging and larger brains.

Bees that have foraged for a long time do not have significantly larger brains than do bees that have foraged for a shorter time.

The author never suggested that the length of time one forages will cause significant differences in brain size. The hypothesis is simply that engaging in foraging increases brain size. The effects might occur immediately rather than over time; the author never says otherwise.

The brains of older bees that stop foraging to take on other responsibilities do not become smaller after they stop foraging.

The author never suggested that the causal impact of foraging on brain size is only temporary. The hypothesis is that foraging increases brain size; that increased brain size might remain even if foraging stops.

Those bees that travel a long distance to find food do not have significantly larger brains than do bees that locate food nearer the hive.

The author never suggested that foraging distance will impact brain size. The hypothesis is simply that foraging increases brain size; the kind of foraging or the distances traveled might not matter.

In some species of bees, the brains of older bees are only marginally larger than those of younger bees.

This still indicates that the brains of older bees are larger than the brains of younger bees. The author never suggested that foraging had to create a significant difference in brain size.

The brains of older bees that never learn to forage are the same size as those of their foraging counterparts of the same age.

This provides evidence that the true cause of larger brains in the older bees is not foraging, but might be age. If foraging were the cause, we’d expect foragers to have larger brains than non-foragers. But (E) shows this isn’t the case.

LSAT 129 – Section 2 – Question 14

LSAT 129 - Section 2 - Question 14

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LSAT PrepTest 129 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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