Self-study
Researcher: Support People with certain personality disorders have more theta brain waves than those without such disorders. ███ ██ ████ ████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ █████ █████ █████ █████ █████████ █████ ████████ ███ ██ ████████ ███ ████ ██ █████████ █████ ████ ██ ██████████ ███████████ ██████████
Summarize Argument
The researcher concludes that watching too much TV increases the risk of developing personality disorders. He supports this by saying that people with certain personality disorders have more theta brain waves, and watching TV increases theta brain waves.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This is the cookie-cutter flaw of assuming that correlation proves causation. The researcher points out a correlation between theta brain waves and personality disorders, then assumes that theta brain waves cause those disorders. He concludes that since TV increases theta brain waves, it must also increase the risk of personality disorders.
In reality, personality disorders might cause the increase in theta waves, or another factor could be causing both. In either of these cases, the researcher’s link between watching TV and developing personality disorders falls apart.
13.
A questionable aspect of the █████████ █████ ██ ████ ██
a
uses the phrase ████████████ ██████████ ███████████
The researcher uses the phrase “personality disorders” clearly and consistently. Its meaning doesn’t shift throughout his argument.
b
fails to define ███ ██████ ██████ █████ ██████
The researcher doesn't define “theta brain waves,” but he doesn’t need to. (B) doesn’t describe why his reasoning is questionable.
c
takes correlation to █████ █ ██████ ██████████
The author takes the correlation between theta brain waves and certain personality disorders to imply that theta brain waves cause those disorders. It’s possible, however, that the personality disorders cause theta brain waves or that some other factor causes them both.
d
draws a conclusion ████ ██ ████████████████ ██████ ██ ████
We don’t know the sample size of the researcher’s data and we can’t simply assume that his data is unrepresentative.
e
infers that watching ██ ██ █ ███████████ ██ █ ███████████ ████████
Actually, the researcher infers that developing a personality disorder could be a consequence of watching TV. (E) has this backward.