Summary
In a study, six medical students were presented with the same patient. The attending physician asked each student a leading question in the form, “What tests should we order to try to rule out diagnosis X?” For each student, the physician stated a different medical condition for X. A week later each student was presented a second patient with similar symptoms, but a different attending physician did not ask any leading questions. Each student tested for the diagnosis that had been suggested by the first attending physician.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
None of the medical students tested for the same diagnosis as each other when diagnosing the second patient.
A
On the second occasion, none of the medical students began by testing the same diagnosis as any of the other medical students.
This answer is strongly supported. On the first occasion, the attending physician suggested a different diagnosis to each medical student. Therefore, each student tested for a different diagnosis on the second occasion.
B
At most one of the medical students knew which of the several medical conditions was most likely to lead to the patients’ symptoms.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t have any information from the stimulus about the knowledge of any of the medical students. We only know about the actions the medical students took.
C
The second attending physician was unaware of the results of the students’ encounter with the first attending physician.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know from the stimulus whether the second attending physician was aware or unaware of the first occasion.
D
On the second occasion, exactly one of the students tested for the medical condition that actually caused the patient’s symptoms.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know from the stimulus whether any of the diagnoses the medical students tested were correct.
E
At least some of the medical students were unaware that the patients’ symptoms could be the result of medical conditions other than the one suggested by the original attending physician.
This answer is unsupported. We don’t know anything about the medical students’ awareness or knowledge from the stimulus. It could be the case that the medical students were aware but nevertheless followed the attending physician’s suggestions.
Summarize Argument: Phenomenon-Hypothesis
The author hypothesizes that the correlation observed in teenagers between between broken bones and drinking carbonated beverages with caffeine is due to caffeine consumption. The author supports this hypothesis by the fact that caffeine causes people to excrete a lot of calcium, and calcium deficiency can make bones more brittle.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that the main factor causing the correlation observed in teenagers between broken bones and consumption of carbonated beverages is caffeine consumption. The author also assumes that if teenagers who drink carbonated beverages with caffeine have calcium deficiency, that this is mainly due to the beverages rather than some other cause.
A
Teenagers who drink large quantities of carbonated beverages containing caffeine tend to drink smaller quantities of calcium-rich beverages than other teenagers do.
This provides an alternate explanation for the correlation between broken bones and the beverage consumption. If teens who drink the beverage drink less calcium-rich beverages (ex. milk) than other teens, the disparity in calcium-rich beverages could be the primary causal factor.
B
Teenagers engage in the types of activities that carry a high risk of causing broken bones much more often than both older and younger people do.
This compares teenagers vs. older people. We want a comparison between teenagers who drink the caffeine-rich carbonated beverages and teenagers who don’t drink the beverages.
C
Some teenagers have calcium deficiencies even though they do not consume any caffeine.
The author never assumed that calcium deficiency can never be caused by anything else besides caffeine consumption. The author’s theory requires only that caffeine consumption increases the likelihood that a child will have calcium deficiency and broken bones.
D
Some of the less popular carbonated beverages contain even more caffeine than the more popular ones.
The correlation and the conclusion do not make any distinction between different kinds of carbonated beverages with caffeine.
E
The more calcium a person ingests as a regular part of his or her diet, the more calcium that person will tend to excrete.
So, eating more calcium leads to more excretion of calcium. This doesn’t change the fact that eating caffeine causes people to excrete a lot more calcium than they otherwise would.