LSAT Explanation PT 25, S4, Q12: The school principal insisted that student

LSAT Question Stem

The flawed pattern of reasoning in the above is most similar to that in which one of the following? 

Logical Reasoning Question Type

This is a Parallel Flaw question. 

Correct Answer

The correct answer to this question is D. 

LSAT Question Complete Explanation

Let's first analyze the structure of the argument in the passage. The principal believes that bad teaching causes student failures (premise). Then, the failing grades disappeared from the school (premise). The principal concludes that the teaching has improved at the school (conclusion). The problem with this argument is that the principal assumes that the disappearance of failing grades must be due to improved teaching, without considering other possible reasons for the change. This is a flaw in the reasoning.

To help you understand this flaw, let's use a simple example: Imagine a person who believes that cloudy weather causes them to feel sad (premise). One day, they notice that they are no longer feeling sad (premise). They then conclude that the weather must have become sunny (conclusion). However, there could be other reasons for their improved mood, such as receiving good news or spending time with friends.

An "Evaluate" question for this argument could be: "Were there any other factors that could have contributed to the disappearance of failing grades?"

Now, let's discuss the question type and answer choices. This is a parallel flaw question, asking us to identify the answer choice with a flawed pattern of reasoning most similar to the one in the passage.

a) This answer choice does not match the flaw. It states that overeating causes weight gain, and then overeating stops. The nutritionist concludes that weight gain has stopped. However, the nutritionist is not implicating a particular cause for the weight loss. This is different from the passage, where the principal assumes a specific cause for the disappearance of failing grades.

b) This answer choice contains a term shift and does not match the flaw in the passage. The manager concludes that the working environment has improved, which is a shift from the initial premise about workers filing complaints due to having too many tasks.

c) Similar to answer choice (a), the nutritionist does not implicate a cause of the result in this choice. They are just reporting the results, which is different from the passage where the principal assumes a specific cause for the change in failing grades.

d) This is the correct answer. Although the premise does not explicitly describe a causal argument, it follows the same flawed pattern of reasoning as the passage. The manager believes that workers who filed complaints did not have enough to do (premise), and then the complaints stopped (premise). The manager concludes that the workers are now productively filling their time (conclusion). However, just as in the passage, there could be other reasons for the disappearance of complaints, such as workers deciding to stop filing them.

e) This answer choice has the same issue as (a) and (c). The nutritionist is not implicating a cause for the result, just reporting the results. This is different from the passage where the principal assumes a specific cause for the change in failing grades.