PT152.S1.Q18 - The question asks us to identify the best explanation...

joshparkks

The question asks us to identify the best explanation for why these birds choose a wooden box. The given answer choice B only explains why the birds prefer the wooden box to "highly concealing woody vegetation" but fails to account for why the wooden boxes are preferred over open grasslands. Answer C seems to more fully resolve the question. Defensive behavior from 'nest builders' ( which I have taken to mean both the birds who next in highly concealing woody vegetation and open grasslands as the wooden boxes specifically wouldn't have to be a built nest.) Taking this assumption doesn't C answer the question more fully than B.

I get the issue is probably that my assumption goes too far. But the LSAT often requires us to make leaps in logic that feel much further than the wooden box vs nest builder assumption I've made here.

Admin Note: Edited title. For LR questions, please use the format: "PT#.S#.Q# - brief description of the question."

whoisLSAD

TL;DR I don't think it's a case of making too far-reaching of an assumption as much as just missing an important detail. The nests are built in the wooden boxes. The wooden boxes themselves aren't used as nests. I think looking through that lens you may be able to see why B is better than C (and that C doesn't really work at all).

I'll try to explain the reasoning I used in a separate comment in case you or anyone else might find it helpful!

whoisLSAD

Sorry this is so long, just wanted to be thorough lol.

We're told that the motivation of choosing an already established nest, when the Common Eiders choose to do so, is probably to locate the nest in an area maximally safe from predation. It's probably reasonable to assume that since the stimulus explicitly calls out open grasslands as areas that "do not conceal nests," those are not areas maximally safe from predation. For all intents and purposes of this question, then, I'm not even going to consider them as a viable option for the purpose of maximal safety from predators. Similarly, we're told that the woody vegetation is "highly concealing." If we use the same line of reasoning as before, it would make sense that these offer the most protection from predators.

This is sort of a "resolve the discrepancy" question in disguise. We can see why the Common Eiders don't choose the grassland, but we'd expect the Common Eiders to choose the highly concealing woody vegetation more than the wooden boxes. Apparently that isn't the case, though, and our job is to explain why using one of the answer choices.

We know there is a roughly equal distribution of the nests in the three types of locations. All else equal, we would expect the birds to choose the nests in woody vegetation for its concealing properties. Answer Choice B tells us that all things are not equal, though. The nests in highly concealed vegetation are difficult to detect. It might be the case that the woody vegetation really is the preference, as we'd expect, but they can't use something they can't find. So, they use the next best thing: the nests built in wooden boxes. Anything is better than the completely exposed grasslands.

Answer Choice C doesn't show a preference for any of the locations being chosen, much less the nests built in wooden boxes specifically. All nests had builders, so the birds could be possibly deterred from all of them equally.

joshparkks

Thank You! I never really though of it that way.