LSAT 149 – Section 4 – Question 08

LSAT 149 - Section 4 - Question 08

December 2017

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT149 S4 Q08
+LR
+Exp
Strengthen +Streng
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Sampling +Smpl
A
78%
164
B
2%
152
C
1%
152
D
4%
155
E
16%
160
135
147
160
 +Medium 147.325 +SubsectionMedium

A study of guppy fish shows that a male guppy will alter its courting patterns in response to feedback from a female guppy. Males with more orange on one side than the other were free to vary which side they showed to a female. Females were drawn to those males with more orange showing, and males tended to show the females their more orange side when courting.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that male guppies change their courting behavior based on feedback from female guppies. Why? Because in a study, male guppies showed their side with more orange to females, and females were attracted to males showing the most orange.

Notable Assumptions
The author assumes male guppies usually showed their more-orange sides to females in response to feedback from those females, and not for any other reason. This means assuming male guppies observed that females preferred mates with more orange and changed their behavior in response. Therefore the author assumes that before making those observations, male guppies were no more likely to show females their more-orange side.

A
When a model of a female guppy was substituted for the female guppy, male guppies still courted, but were not more likely to show their side with more orange.
This rules out an alternative hypothesis: that male guppies always show females their side with the most orange, regardless of the females’ behavior.
B
In many other species females show a preference for symmetry of coloring rather than quantity of coloring.
This is irrelevant. It doesn’t say guppies are one such species—and even if they were, it wouldn’t imply that male guppies learn to show their side with the most orange in response to the females’ behavior.
C
No studies have been done on whether male guppies with more orange coloring father more offspring than those with less orange coloring.
This is irrelevant. It’s an opportunity for further research that could support the author’s hypothesis. The fact it hasn’t been done doesn’t make that hypothesis any more likely.
D
Female guppies have little if any orange coloring on their sides.
This is irrelevant. There’s no indication male or female guppies change their behavior based on the appearance of female guppies.
E
The male and female guppies were kept in separate tanks so they could see each other but not otherwise directly interact.
If anything, this weakens the argument. It raises the possibility that the male guppies were not actually courting the female guppies or that females were not responding to that courting. If true, either of these scenarios would call the author’s hypothesis into question.

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LSAT PrepTest 149 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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