Self-study
One researcher writes, "Human beings are innately aggressive." As evidence, the researcher cites the prevalence of warfare in history, and then discounts any current disinclination to fight: "The most peaceable peoples of today were often ravagers of yesteryear and will probably fight again in the future." But if some peoples are peaceable now, then aggression itself cannot be coded in our genes, only the potential for it. ██ ████████ ████ █████ █████████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ ███████ █████████████ ████ ██████████ ██ ██ ██ ██████ ███ ███ ████ ███ ██ ████████
Stimulus Breakdown
The author takes issue with a researcher's claim that humans are "innately aggressive." To undermine this claim, the author relies on the researcher's own evidence that certain peoples have been aggressive in the past but are currently peaceable. Based on this evidence, the author explains that our genes must only code for the potential for aggression, not aggression itself—otherwise it would be impossible for these peoples to be peaceable at any time. The author then uses this to dispute the researcher's use of the word "innate": according to the author, if "innate" can include behavior that is merely possible, then everything we do would be "innate" and the word would be meaningless.
Objective: Describe the Method of Reasoning
We know that the author is seeking to weaken the researcher's claim. To do so, the author uses the researcher's own evidence to infer that the researcher's use of the word "innate" relies on a definition so broad as to be meaningless.
However, it's important to note that the correct answer might not line up exactly with this assessment of the argument. The correct answer might describe only part of the reasoning, or might be more or less abstract. The best way to be sure is to carefully check each element of a possible answer. If any part of an answer choice is wrong, that's enough to eliminate.
7.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ █████████ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ██ ██████ ███ ████████ ███ ███ █████ ████ ██████████████ ██ ██████ ██ █████ ███████
a
The accuracy of ███ ██████████ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ ██████ ██████████████ ██ ██████ ████ █████████
The author doesn't dispute the accuracy of the researcher's historical data. The author takes the researcher's evidence for granted and relies on it to weaken the researcher's claim.
b
The force of ███ ███████ ██ ██████████ ████ ██ ███ ████████ ███ ██████ ██████████████ ██ ██████ ████ █████████
In other words, the author disputes how the researcher uses the term "innate" in claiming that humans are "innately aggressive." This matches the author's approach, which points out issues with the researcher's broad use of "innate."
Although (B) doesn't include the author's use of the researcher's evidence, it still accurately describes a technique used by the author.
c
An attempt is ████ ██ █████████ ███ ████████ ███ ██████ ██████████████ ██ ███████ ████ █████ ███ ██ ███████████ █████ ███████
The author never argues that there are no traits based in genetics. In fact, the author seems to accept the idea of genetically-based traits, saying that the potential for aggression might be coded into our genes.
d
An attempt is ████ ██ █████████ ███ ████████ ███ ██████ ██████████████ ██ ██████████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ █████████ ██████████████ ██████ ████ ██ ███████
The author doesn't refer to emotional considerations as playing a role in the researcher's claim. There's no indication that the author thinks the researcher is appealing to emotion.
e
An attempt is ████ ██ █████████ ███ ████████ ███ ██████ ██████████████ ██ ███████ ████ ███ ███████ ███ ██████████
The author doesn't claim that all peoples are peaceable. The author accepts the researcher's evidence that certain peoples have been aggressive in the past, even if they're currently peaceable.