Self-study
Support Food that is very high in fat tends to be unhealthy. █████ ████████ ███ █████████ █████ █████ ███████ ███████ █ ████ ██████████ ██ ████ ██████████ █████ ████████ ████████ ███ █████████ ████ █████ ███████ ████
Method of Reasoning
The argument presents a correlation: high-fat foods tend to be unhealthy. It then concludes that this correlation must apply in a specific instance.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This argument is flawed because it misunderstands what a correlation is. A correlation is a general trend, but it does not have to be true in every instance. For example, tall players are generally better at basketball, but this does not mean that all tall people must be better at basketball than all short people. The same is true of the stimulus. High-fat foods are generally more unhealthy than low-fat foods, but this does not mean that a specific high-fat food must be healthier than a specific low-fat food.
22.
Which one of the following ████████ ██████ █████████ ████ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ █████████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████
a
Canned foods always ███████ ████ ████ ████ ██████ █████ ███ ██████████ █████ ██████ ████ ███████ ████ ████ ████ █████ ██████ ████ ███
No flaw. (A) presents a conditional relationship—if canned food, then more salt than frozen food. It then validly concludes that the sufficient condition leads to the necessary condition.
b
Vegetables that are ██████████ █████████ ████ ███ █████████ ██████████ █████ ████████ █████ ███ ███████████ ███████ █████ ████████ ████ █████ █████ █████ ███ █████████
(B) presents a correlation: overcooked vegetables tend to have fewer vitamins. It then invalidly concludes that this correlation must apply in a specific instance. The stimulus also presents a correlation and then concludes it must be true in a specific instance, so (B) matches.
c
The human body █████ ███████ ███████ ██ ████ ████████ ██ ██████ ████████ ██████████ ████ █████████ ██████ █████ ███ ██ █████████ ██ ██████████
Wrong flaw. (C) doesn’t present a correlation, but instead presents a necessary condition for human health—minerals. It then invalidly concludes that something that has no minerals is unhealthy, without considering that it might help the body in other ways. The stimulus, meanwhile, presents a correlation and assumes it must be true in a specific instance, so (C) doesn’t match.
d
Some types of ████ ████ █████ ██████ █████ █████ ███████ ███████ █ ███████ ██████████ ██ ████ ████ ████ ███ █████████ ██████████ █████ ███████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ████ █████ ██████ █████
Wrong flaw. (D) doesn't present a correlation, but instead gives us a “some” statement—some nuts make Roy’s throat itch. It then invalidly concludes that something containing a higher percentage of nuts is more likely to make Roy’s throat itch, without considering if it’s the type of nuts Roy is allergic to. The stimulus, meanwhile, presents a correlation and assumes it must be true in a specific instance, so (D) doesn’t match.
e
Eating at a ██████████ █████ ████ ████ ██████ ████ ████████ ██ █████ ██████████ ████ ███████████ ████ ██ ████ █████████ ████ █ ██████████ ████ ██ ███ ████ ██████ █████ ███
No flaw. If eating at a restaurant is more expensive than eating at home, it’s okay to conclude that a home-cooked meal is cheaper than a restaurant meal.