LSAT 129 – Section 3 – Question 18

LSAT 129 - Section 3 - Question 18

June 2009

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Question QuickView	Type	Tags	Answer Choices	Curve	Question Difficulty	Psg/Game/S Difficulty	Explanation
PT129 S3 Q18	+LR	Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw Causal Reasoning +CausR Sampling +Smpl	A 2% 155 B 92% 165 C 2% 155 D 3% 159 E 2% 156	130 140 150	+Easier	146.07 +SubsectionMedium

A study found that patients referred by their doctors to psychotherapists practicing a new experimental form of therapy made more progress with respect to their problems than those referred to psychotherapists practicing traditional forms of therapy. Therapists practicing the new form of therapy, therefore, are more effective than therapists practicing traditional forms.

Summarize Argument

The author concludes that therapists using the new form of therapy are more effective than therapists using traditional forms. As support, he cites a study that found that patients referred to therapists practicing the new form made more progress than those referred to therapists practicing traditional forms.

Identify and Describe Flaw

This is the cookie-cutter flaw of using unrepresentative samples, where the author draws a conclusion based on a sample that doesn't accurately reflect the whole group. In this case, the author concludes something about two types of therapists based on a study of patients referred to those therapists by doctors. But if the patients referred to therapists using the new form had problems that were easier to treat, the author can't conclude that these therapists are overall more effective.

It ignores the possibility that therapists trained in traditional forms of therapy use the same techniques in treating their patients as therapists trained in the new form of therapy do.

Whether the two kinds of therapists use the same techniques is irrelevant. The conclusion is about which therapists are more effective, not which forms of therapy are more effective, and (A) doesn't change the fact that patients referred to the new therapists made more progress.

It ignores the possibility that the patients referred to therapists practicing the new form of therapy had problems more amenable to treatment than did those referred to therapists practicing traditional forms.

The author draws a conclusion based on samples that probably aren't representative. He ignores the possibility that patients referred to therapists using the new therapy are just easier to treat, and their improvement could be due to that rather than to the therapists themselves.

It presumes, without providing justification, that any psychotherapist trained in traditional forms of therapy is untrained in the new form of therapy.

The author doesn’t assume that this. Instead, his conclusion is about therapists who practice traditional forms rather than the new form. Those therapists may still be trained in the new form and simply choose not to practice it.

It ignores the possibility that therapists practicing the new form of therapy systematically differ from therapists practicing traditional forms of therapy with regard to some personality attribute relevant to effective treatment.

Even if therapists practicing the new form of therapy are significantly different from those practicing traditional forms, this doesn’t change the fact that their patients made more progress. It also doesn’t weaken the conclusion that these therapists are more effective.

It presumes, without providing justification, that the personal rapport between therapist and patient has no influence on the effectiveness of the treatment the patient receives.

The author never assumes that rapport doesn’t influence therapists’ effectiveness. Even if he did assume this, it wouldn’t impact the conclusion that the therapists practicing the new form are more effective because their patients made more progress.

Cookie Cutters
55.3.09
39.2.05
25.4.24

LSAT PrepTest 129 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Reading Comprehension

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