Can someone explain why D is wrong because aren't they saying that the argument assumes that this is the only hypothesis? That's what JY starts with that we live in a simplistic world so organic factors or brain chemistry are the only explanation for symptoms of mental illness, and alternative explanations are not considered. So isn't that the same as saying that brain chemistry is the only explanation for symptoms?

brain chemistry/organic factors -> symptoms

Isn't that the causal link JY builds?

#help

Does anyone else find themselves using the negation test we did for necessary assumption questions? I got stuck on this question between C and E and thought to myself if I negated E, the conclusion would still work because if children resided in some of the homes, then the argument could still follow through, but if there are other sources of lead in the area then the conclusion doesn't really follow. Does that make sense or am I making a logical error?

@Bobby68 Thank you, this is definitely helpful. However, my concern is time. I am a few months into this, and I got through the foundations, made thorough notes, spent hours on blind reviews. I need to focus on the timing element even within untimed drills: would you recommend I do that or should I put off timed practice right now, since a lot of tips and strategies focus on slow untimed practice?

Is anyone else also struggling with the "What can I do better next time to get this right?" part of the wrong answer journal? because I can generally identify my mistakes from the explanations or blind review, but I don't always know how I can generally apply that other than just read more carefully or read faster? Does anyone have a way to make the most of this part of the wrong answer journal and figure out how to apply mistakes on one question to the curriculum in general and avoid those mistakes?

I got confused by C and picked it in BR:

"whereas for animals these behaviors are involuntary, which is a clear sign of chemical control, humans, by virtue of their free will, choose how they behave, and thus psychological factors take over."

free will-causes-> ability to choose how to behave-> psych explanation

if we negated that free will is only found in humans, that would mean other animals have it too so their behavior too can have a psych explanation

Then how does the premise of us being able to have a psych explanation depending on our free will still stand because it is not the free will that enables us to have involuntary actions?

The explanation doesn't really engage with C so I was wondering if anyone else felt like it might have worked or if anyone can explain why it doesn't

I tripped a bit getting to E because it felt too easy, but also because I thought maybe an answer choice would address that the people who have decided to vote are the readers of the columns because what if the people who haven't decided are the readers. I know this wasn't in the answer choices but it stood out to me and I was wondering if that could be an assumption we are making or if anyone else thought

@Hanifa if a necessary condition is not met, we conclude that sufficient can't be. for example to be in Texas I must be in the US

TX->US

US-> TX

same way necessary assumption is not met, argument falls apart, can't be concluded.

At least that's how I interpreted it

JY's explanation somewhat makes sense but the way I got to the answer was

want to succeed-> act confident

why? genuine confidence makes success easier THAN self doubt.

Then I went to POE, and B, and eliminated A because of the assumption of convincing others. is this an acceptable way to get to the answer or did I just get lucky

I was confused by this question because I thought vitamin D deficiency was an extra premise not related to the conclusion. if milk is making up for calcium deficiency, why do we care about how that deficiency was caused?

@RamseyEaton I thought so too

I got this right but I was confused about C because doesn't it provide an alternate explanation and weaken the argument? Like it is the less visits to the feeder that increased population NOT the mild winter?

@RSD Extremely helpful, thank you!!

I got this answer wrong in BR because I can't remember where in the core curriculum I heard that support is not about restating the stimulus, but about strengthening it, and I thought answer choice D is only restating what we already know from the stimulus. Am I wrong in assuming that support is not the same as restating or am I wrong in assuming that answer choice D is a mere restatement? Or am I just completely not making any sense?

#help

Why is number 4 not a negative comparison and why is there not a tie?