LSAT Explanation PT 37, S4, Q6: In a study, infant monkeys given

LSAT Question Stem

Which one of the following is most supported by the information above? 

Logical Reasoning Question Type

This is a Most Strongly supported question. 

Correct Answer

The correct answer to this question is E. 

LSAT Question Complete Explanation

Let's first analyze the information in the passage. The study presents infant monkeys with two sets of choices:

1. A bare wire structure with a milk bottle vs. a soft, suede-covered wire structure with a milk bottle. The monkeys chose the soft, suede-covered structure.

2. A bare wire structure with a milk bottle vs. a soft, suede-covered wire structure without a milk bottle. The monkeys chose the bare wire structure with the milk bottle.

From this, we can infer that the monkeys prefer the soft, suede-covered structure but prioritize the presence of the milk bottle.

The question type is MSS (Most Strongly Supported), which means we need to find the answer choice that is most supported by the information in the passage.

Let's evaluate each answer choice:

a) Infant monkeys' desire for warmth and comfort is nearly as strong as their desire for food.

- This choice is tempting, but we cannot determine the level of preference for warmth and comfort compared to food. We know that the monkeys chose milk over no-milk in the second experiment, but we cannot compare that desire to the preference for the soft structure in the first experiment.

b) For infant monkeys, suede is a less convincing substitute for their mother's touch than animal fur would be.

- This choice is not supported by the passage. We cannot make a comparison to fur when the experiment only involves a distinction between suede and wire.

c) For infant monkeys, a milk bottle is a less convincing substitute for their mother's teat than suede is for their mother's touch.

- This choice is not supported by the passage. The experiment only involves comparisons between soft/wire and milk/no-milk, so we cannot make any inferences about how comparable the experimental conditions were to "real" mother conditions.

d) For infant monkeys, a milk bottle is an equally convincing substitute for their mother's teat as suede is for their mother's touch.

- This choice is not supported by the passage. We cannot make a comparison to the features of a real monkey mother when this experiment only involves a distinction between suede and wire.

e) Infant monkeys' desire for food is stronger than their desire for warmth and comfort.

- This choice makes a statement about which of the two types of desire (for food/ for warmth) wins out when in conflict. If the monkeys preferred the soft mother all other things being equal, but when confronted with a choice between soft/no food and wire/food went with the wire/food mother, this indicates that their previous preference was overpowered by the food/no food distinction. This is the correct answer.

While we do need to make some assumptions to connect suede to warmth and comfort and milk bottle to food, answer choice E requires the smallest leaps among all the choices and is most strongly supported by the passage.