Self-study
Psychologist: Support Specialists naturally tend to view their own specialties as fundamentally important. ██ ███ █████████ █████ █████████ ██ █████ █████████ ████ ███████████ █████ ████ ███████████ ██████ ███ █████████████ ███████ ██ ██ ███████████ ██████████ ████ ██ █████ ███████████ ███████████ ███ ███████████ ███ ████████ ████ ██████████ █████ █████ ██ █████ ███ ███████████
Summarize Argument
The author concludes that we should be skeptical when geneticists say that personality traits that aren’t thought to be genetically determined actually are genetically determined. The author supports this conclusion with the subsidiary conclusion that the geneticists are probably amplifying their own importance when they make such a claim. This sub-conclusion is supported by the fact that specialists tend to see their own specialties as important.
Identify and Describe Flaw
The author attacks the motivation of the geneticists rather than the substance of their claim. The motivation of the geneticists in making their claim that certain traits are genetically determined has no bearing on the truth of that claim.
11.
The reasoning in the psychologist's ████████ ██ ██████ ██ ████ ████ ████████
a
generalizes about all ███████████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ██ ████████████████ ██████
The conclusion is just about geneticists. So it doesn’t generalize about all specialists.
b
presumes that the ███████████ ████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ██████ ███████ ██ ██ ████ ███ ████ █████████████ ████████
The author’s conclusion is not based merely on the fact that a particular view has been the traditional belief. The conclusion is based on comments on the motivation of the geneticists.
c
draws a conclusion ████ ██ ██████ █ ███████████ ██ ███ ██ ███ ████ ████████
(C) describes circular reasoning. The author’s conclusion — which asserts that we should be skeptical of a certain claim — is not restated in the premises, which concern the motivation of geneticists.
d
appeals to the █████████ ██ █████ ████████ ██ ██ ████ ████████ █████ ███ █████ ██ █████
The author’s reasoning is not based on an appeal to authority. The author does not say that we should reject a belief because certain authorities reject it.
e
disputes a claim ██ ███ █████ ██ █ ████████ ██████ ███ ██████ ███ █████ ██████ ████ ██ █████████ ███ ████████ ████████ ██ ███ █████
The author disputes the geneticists’ claim based on the geneticists’ supposed motivation in making that claim (the desire to amplify their own importance). This is flawed because their motivation doesn’t relate to the truth of their claim.