Self-study
Support Amoebas, like human beings, generally withdraw from stimuli that cause them physical damage. ██████ ██ ████ ███████ ████ ███████ █████ ████ █████ ████ ███ ███████████ █████████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████ █████
Method of Reasoning
The author states that humans and amoebas both respond to harmful stimuli by moving away from them and that humans do so because such stimuli cause them to feel pain. The author concludes that all microscopic organisms, a superset of which amoebas are a member, must also be able to feel pain.
Identify and Describe Flaw
This author commits the cookie-cutter flaw of hasty generalization. His premises concern one specific type of microorganism, the amoeba. However, his conclusion is much broader, applying to all microscopic organisms. The author never provided support to believe that any other organism withdraws from harmful stimuli or possibly feels pain. The scope of his premises and conclusion do not match. Additionally, the author assumes that humans and amoebas have the same reason for withdrawing from these stimuli without providing support for that contention. Perhaps amoebas do not have a pain response to such stimuli, but rather withdraw because of an instinct of self-preservation.
15.
Which one of the following ████████ ██████ █████████ ████ ███████ ██ ████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████
a
Poets, like people █████ █████████ ██████████ ███ ████████ ██ ████ ████████████████ █████ ██████ █████ ████████ ██ ████ ███████ █████ ███████████ ███ █████ ████ █████ ██ ████ ███████ ████ ███ ███████ ████ ████ █████ ███████████ ████ ████ ██████ █████
This answer choice makes a hasty generalization between poets and all types of artists, much as the author did between amoebas and all types of microorganisms. Additionally, this answer choice assumes that poets and people under hypnosis use odd language for the same reason, just as the author of the stimulus assumed that pain must be the motivator for withdrawing from harmful stimuli in both humans and amoebas.
b
Like nonprofit organizations, ████████████ ███████ ███████ ████ ████ ██████ █████████ █████████ █████████████ ██ ████ ██████ ███████ ██ █████ ████████ ██████ ██ ████ ███ █████ █ ██████ ██████ ████ ████ ██ ████████ ████ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ████ █████████████
Wrong flaw. While this answer choice assumes that the motives of a corporation must be the same as a nonprofit, which is similar to how the stimulus assumed the motives of a human are the same as an amoeba, this answer choice lacks the hasty generalization present in the stimulus.
c
Most professional athletes ████████ █████████ ███ ███ ████ ███████ ████████████ ██████ █████ ███████ █████ █ ███ ██████████ ██ █████ ██ █████ ██ ████████████ ████ ████████████ ███████ ████████ ████ ████████ ██ █████ ██ █████ ██ ████████████
Wrong flaw. While this answer choice assumes the motives of two groups must be the same, like the stimulus does, this answer choice uses a “most” relationship where the stimulus has none. Additionally, this argument doesn’t make a hasty generalization in the same way as the stimulus. The stimulus generalizes between a set of things and a member of that set, whereas this answer choice generalizes between two members of a set.
d
Predatory birds, like ████ █████████ ████████ ███ █████████ ████████ ████████ ████ █████████ ███████ ████ █████ ███████ █████ ██ ███ ██████ ████ ██ ███████ █ ████ ██ ████ ██ ███ █████ ████ ██████ █████ ███ █████████ ██████ ████████ ████ ██████
No flaw. The conclusion that a type of predatory bird, hawks, are likely solitary hunters follows from the premise that predatory birds are usually solitary hunters.
e
Hiking trails in ███████ █████████ ████ █████ ██ ███ ███████ ███ ████████████ ██ ███████████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ████ ██ ██████ ███████ █████████ █████ ███ ███ ███ ███ ████ ███ ███████████ ███████ ████ ██████ ████ ████ ████ ████ ███████████ ██████ ██ █████████ █████ ██ ███████ █████████
Wrong flaw. This argument assumes the reason for British Columbia’s lack of low-lying hiking trails must be the same as New Mexico’s, much as the stimulus assumes the reason for humans withdrawing from harmful stimuli must be the same as amoebas’. However, this answer choice lacks the flaw of hasty generalization present in the stimulus. The author would have had to generalize about some superset which included British Columbia, such as all hiking trails in Canada, for this to match the stimulus.