LSAT 138 – Section 2 – Question 24

LSAT 138 - Section 2 - Question 24

December 2012

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT138 S2 Q24
+LR
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Causal Reasoning +CausR
A
9%
162
B
12%
161
C
23%
163
D
6%
160
E
49%
167
153
165
177
 +Hardest 147.395 +SubsectionMedium

J.Y.’s explanation

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Studies have found that human tears contain many of the same hormones that the human body produces in times of emotional stress. Hence, shedding tears removes significant quantities of these hormones from the body. Therefore, crying must have the effect of reducing emotional stress.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author concludes that crying must have the effect of reducing emotional stress. This is based on the following:

Human tears have many of the same hormones that the body produces in times of emotional stress.

Shedding tears removes a lot of these hormones from the body.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author assumes that the hormones that are present in times of stress are a causal factor in producing stress. This is flawed because the evidence has only established a correlation between the presence of hormones and the feeling of stress. It’s possible that the actual causal relationship is reversed; maybe stress causes the hormones. Or maybe there’s a third factor that causes both the hormones and stress.

A
overlooks the possibility that if crying has a tendency to reduce emotional stress, this tendency might arise because of something other than the shedding of tears
This possibility doesn’t undermine the argument, because it concedes that “crying has a tendency to reduce emotional stress.” We want to point out why crying might not reduce emotional stress; that’s how we point out why the argument is flawed.
B
confuses a condition that is required for the production of a given phenomenon with a condition that in itself would be sufficient to cause the production of that phenomenon
The stimulus doesn’t present any condition that’s required to produce something else. We’re never told that feeling stress is required in order for the body to produce the hormones. Maybe the hormones can be produced during other times, too, beyond just times of stress.
C
fails to adequately address the possibility that, even if one phenomenon causally contributes to a second phenomenon, the second phenomenon may causally influence the first as well
This possibility doesn’t undermine the argument, because it concedes that “one phenomenon causally contributes to a second.” We don’t want to concede a causal relationship. The flaw must related to why crying does not reduce stress, or why hormones do not cause stress.
D
fails to adequately distinguish between two distinct factors that are jointly responsible for causing a given phenomenon
The premises don’t present any factors that “are jointly responsible for causing” anything. We don’t know what causes stress, and we don’t know what causes the hormones to be produced. We have no basis to identify anything as jointly responsible for causing something.
E
takes for granted that because certain substances are present whenever a condition occurs, those substances are a cause of that condition
The argument assumes that because the hormones are present whenever emotional stress occurs, the hormones are a cause of the emotional stress. This assumption underlies the author’s belief that getting rid of the hormones will help reduce stress.

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LSAT PrepTest 138 Explanations

Section 1 - Reading Comprehension

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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