A
It is the only conclusion in the argument.
B
It is the conclusion of the argument as a whole but is not the only explicitly stated conclusion in the argument.
C
It is a statement that the argument is intended to support but is not the conclusion of the argument as a whole.
D
It is used to support the only conclusion in the argument.
E
It provides a causal explanation of the phenomenon described by the conclusion of the argument as a whole, but it is not intended to provide support for that conclusion.
Politician: A major social problem is children hurting other children. The results of a recent experiment by psychologists establish that watching violent films is at least partly responsible for this aggressive behavior. The psychologists conducted an experiment in which one group of children watched a film of people punching Bobo the Clown dolls. A second group of children was not shown the film. Afterward, both groups of children played together in a room containing a Bobo doll. Most of the children who had seen the film punched the Bobo doll, while most of the other children did not.
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The politician hypothesizes that watching violent films contributes to the problem of children hurting other children. He supports this by citing a study where most children who saw a film of people punching a Bobo the Clown doll later punched the doll themselves, while those who didn't watch the film didn't punch it.
Notable Assumptions
The politician assumes that punching the Bobo doll is an accurate indicator of a child's tendency to hurt other children.
He also assumes that the study is representative and that its findings can be generalized to all children.
He also assumes that watching the film is the primary or sole cause of the children's behavior, ignoring other potential factors that could contribute to their behavior.
A
Some of the children who did not punch the Bobo doll, including some who had been shown the film, chastised those who did punch the doll.
Whether some of the children in each group chastised children who punched the doll doesn’t weaken the politician’s argument, which relies on the observation that most of the children who watched the film did punch the doll.
B
The child who punched the Bobo doll the hardest and the most frequently had not been shown the film.
Even if a child who didn't watch the film punched the doll the hardest, the fact remains that most children who watched the film did punch the doll, while most who didn't watch it did not. So (B) doesn’t weaken the politician's argument.
C
The children who had been shown the film were found to be no more likely than the children who had not been shown the film to punch other children.
The politician aims to address children hurting other children. For his conclusion to hold, he must assume that children who punch the doll will also hurt other children. But if children who watch the film are no more likely to punch other children, his argument falls apart.
D
Some children who had not been shown the film imitated the behavior of those who had been shown the film and who punched the doll.
Like (B), it doesn’t matter that some of the children who didn’t watch the film later punched the doll, because the politician’s argument relies on the fact that most children who watched the film did punch the doll, while most who didn't watch it did not.
E
Many of the children who participated in the experiment had never seen a Bobo doll before the experiment.
Whether the children had seen a Bobo doll before doesn’t change how the groups reacted to the doll after watching the film or not watching film.