LSAT 149 – Section 4 – Question 07

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Question
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Type Tags Answer
Choices
Curve Question
Difficulty
Psg/Game/S
Difficulty
Explanation
PT149 S4 Q07
+LR
+Exp
Flaw or descriptive weakening +Flaw
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Sampling +Smpl
Net Effect +NetEff
A
35%
167
B
32%
159
C
1%
155
D
26%
163
E
5%
159
159
169
179
+Hardest 147.325 +SubsectionMedium

In one study, hospital patients’ immune systems grew stronger when the patients viewed comic videos. This indicates that laughter can aid recovery from illness. But much greater gains in immune system strength occurred in the patients whose tendency to laugh was greater to begin with. So hospital patients with a greater tendency to laugh are helped more in their recovery from illness even when they laugh a little than other patients are helped when they laugh a greater amount.

Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author concludes that people with [greater tendency to laugh] are helped more in their recovery from illness than are patients with [lower tendency to laugh] even when the [greater tendency to laugh] people laugh only a little and the [lower tendency to laugh] people laugh more. This is based on a study in which [greater tendency to laugh] people recovered more than [lower tendency to laugh] people after watching a funny videos. In addition, there’s evidence that laughter can help recovery from illness.

Identify and Describe Flaw
The author overlooks the possibility that the [greater tendency to laugh] people actually laughed more at the funny videos. That might be why they recovered more. We’re given no reason to think they laughed only a little.

A
overlooks the possibility that the patients whose tendency to laugh was greater to begin with laughed more at the comic videos than did the other patients
This possibility, if true, provides another explanation for why the [greater tendency to laugh] people recovered more. It could be that they laughed more, and not due to the underlying inherent greater tendency, divorced from the actual amount of laughter.
B
fails to address adequately the possibility that the patients whose tendency to laugh was greatest to begin with already had stronger immune systems than the other patients
The possibility in (B) wouldn’t affect the argument, because the study involved a comparison of which kind of patient recovered more. It was about who experienced a greater increase in immune system strength, not about how one group’s absolute strength compared to the other’s.
C
presumes, without providing justification, that hospital patients have immune systems representative of those of the entire population
The author didn’t generalize from hospital patients to the entire population. The conclusion is about hospital patients, not other people.
D
takes for granted that the gains in immune system strength did not themselves influence the patients’ tendency to laugh
The author doesn’t assume this, because the premise is about people whose tendency to laugh was “greater to begin with.” So they started with a greater tendency, then watched the funny videos.
E
presumes, without providing justification, that the patients whose tendency to laugh was greatest to begin with recovered from their illnesses more rapidly than the other patients
The speed with which patients recovered is irrelevant, because both the study and conclusion concern a comparison regarding who recovered “more”. Someone can recover a small amount quickly or slowly, or a large amount quickly or slowly. Rapidity is different from magnitude.

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