Self-study
In an experiment, two-year-old boys and their fathers made pie dough together using rolling pins and other utensils. ████ ██████████ ████ ████ █ ███████ ███ ████ ███ █████████████ █████████ ████ █████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ██████████ ██████ ███ ████ ██████ ████████ ███ ██████ ██████████ ██████ ████ ████ ███ ███ ████ ███ ███ ████ ███ ████████ ████ █████ ██ ████████ ███ ██ ███ ███████ ████ █████ █ █████ ██ ███████ ████████ ████ ████████ ███████ ███████ █████ ████ █████ ██████ ████ ███ ███ ████ ██ ███ █████
Stimulus Breakdown
The stimulus tells us about an experiment with pairs of two-year-old boys and their fathers. This is what we learn:
(1) each father-son pair made pie dough using utensils including rolling pins;
(2) each father-son pair used a unique, distinctive rolling pin;
(3) each father said "rolling pin" whenever his son used the rolling pin;
(4) when asked to identify all rolling pins among other utensils, each son chose only the rolling pin he had used.
Objective: Identify a Strongly Supported Claim
We can draw at least one conclusion from the stimulus up-front: the experiment demonstrates a limitation on the participant children's ability to generalize the idea of a rolling pin. This idea might be reflected in the correct answer, but it's hard to say exactly in what form. That makes it most reliable to proceed with process of elimination.
When determining if an answer choice is truly supported, we need to ensure that every detail is supported. If an answer choice is too broad, it will go beyond what the stimulus can support. We can test this by finding specific support in the stimulus for each claim an answer choice makes. Even one unsupported element will make an answer choice incorrect.
22.
Which one of the following ██████████ ██ ████ █████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ██████
a
The children did ███ █████ ███ ████████ ██ █ ███████ ████
The experiment didn't ask the children about function; instead, it was testing whether they could identify a rolling pin by name, and generalize that idea to other rolling pins. We don't have enough information to say if the children understood the rolling pins' function.
b
No two children ██████████ ███ ████ ██████████ ██████ ██ █████ ██ ███ ████ ███████
Each child
c
The children understood ████ ███ ███████ ████ ████ ███ ████ ███████ ██████
The stimulus suggests that none of the children understood "rolling pin" to mean a category of items sharing a general shape. They each took it to mean the individual rolling pin each one had used. That contradicts (C) instead of supporting it.
d
Each child was ████ ██ ████████ █████████ ████ ███ ████████ ████ ██ ███ █████
(D) is a trap answer that gets only one word wrong: "utensils". If (D) instead said "rolling pin" it could be the correct answer. However, we don't know if the children could identify other utensils. The stimulus only says their knowledge of rolling pins was tested, not utensils in general.
e
The children were ███ ████ ██ ███████████ ███ ███████ ████ ████ ████ ████ █████ ███████ █████
(E) says pretty much the opposite of what the stimulus supports. The stimulus says that each child