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Explanations

PT114.S4.Q18

SECTION 1 · lr

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15 Question 16 Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20 Question 21 Question 22 Question 23 Question 24

SECTION 2 · lr

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15 Question 16 Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20 Question 21 Question 22 Question 23 Question 24 Question 25 Question 26

SECTION 3 · rc

PASSAGE 1
Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8

PASSAGE 2
Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14

PASSAGE 3
Question 15 Question 16 Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20

PASSAGE 4
Question 21 Question 22 Question 23 Question 24 Question 25 Question 26 Question 27

SECTION 4 · lr

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15 Question 16 Question 17 Question 18 Question 19 Question 20 Question 21 Question 22 Question 23 Question 24 Question 25 Question 26

PrepTest 114 - Section 4 - Question 18

Question

Explanation

Analytics

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Anders: The physical structure of the brain plays an important role in thinking. ██ ███████████ ██████████ █████████ █████████████████████ ████ ███ ████ █████████ █████ ██ ████ ██████ █████ ███ ███████ ██████████████████ ███████ █████ █████ ████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ██████

█████ █████████ ████ ███ ████ ██████████ █████ ████ ██ ██████ ███████ ███████ ███████ ██ █████ ███ ███████ ████████ ████████ ███ ████████████ ████ █████████ ████ ██████ ██ ████████ ████████ ███████ ███████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ █████ ██ ██████████ █ ████████ ████████ ████████ ███████████ █████ █████████ ████████ █████ ███████ ██ ███████ ██ ████ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ████████ ███ ██████ ██████ ███ ████████ ██████████

Summarize Argument: Counter-Position

Yang disagrees with Anders that researchers developing thinking machines should model them on the brain’s structure. Rather, Yang concludes that that those researchers would be more successful if they focus on the brain’s function and ignore its structure. As support, Yang uses an analogy: since all flying machines modeled on birds failed, thinking machines structurally modeled on the brain are also likely to fail. While the brain’s structure may be important for the function of thinking, according to Yang, it is not essential for performing the function of thinking.

Identify Argument Part

The statement in the question stem is a sub-conclusion. It is supported by the analogy about birds and airplanes, and it supports Yang’s main conclusion that researchers should focus on the brain’s function and ignore the its structure to develop a thinking machine.

Analysis by ZoeLight

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18.

The statement "thinking machines closely ███████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ █████ ██████ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ █████ ██ ██████ █████████

the main conclusion ██ ███ ████████

The main conclusion of Yang’s argument is that researchers should focus on the brain’s function and ignore its physical structure; the claim in the question stem supports this conclusion.

a subsidiary conclusion ████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ████ ██████████

The claim in the question stem is a subsidiary conclusion. It is supported from one part of the argument: the premise that no flying machine closely modeled on birds worked. The claim also provides support for Yang’s main conclusion, making it a subsidiary conclusion.

a principle of ████████ ███████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ██████████

The claim in the question stem is not used as a general principle of research; instead, it is a prediction based on the analogous case of airplanes and birds.

a particular example ████████████ █ ███████ █████

Yang’s argument is not illustrating a general claim; the conclusion of Yang’s argument is specific to thinking machines. Because of this, the subsidiary conclusion referenced in the question stem can not be said to be “illustrating a general claim.”

background information providing █ ███████ ███ ███ ████████

The statement in the question stem is not used as context. Instead, it is a sub-conclusion.

Difficulty

Question

83% of people who answer get this correct

This is a moderately difficult question.

CURVE

Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right

25% 134

144

75% 155

Analysis

Question Stem Tags

Argument part

Stems that quote an excerpt from the stimulus, then ask what role it plays in the argument (e.g. premise, conclusion, background).

Stimulus Tags

Analogy

Stimuli that feature arguments by analogy, where the success or failure of that analogy informs the answer choices.

Answer Popularity

Popularity Avg. score

13%

155

83%

163

153

156

155

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