LSAT Explanation PT 42, S2, Q3: People with high blood pressure are

LSAT Question Stem

The reasoning in the argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the ground that the argument 

Logical Reasoning Question Type

This is a Flaw question. 

Correct Answer

The correct answer to this question is D. 

LSAT Question Complete Explanation

Let's start by analyzing the argument in the passage. The argument states that people with high blood pressure are generally more nervous and anxious than those who don't have high blood pressure. The author then concludes that this combination of personality traits, referred to as the "hypertensive personality," is likely to cause a person with these traits to develop high blood pressure.

The structure of the argument is as follows:

Premise: People with high blood pressure are generally more nervous and anxious than those without.

Conclusion: The hypertensive personality is likely to cause a person with these traits to develop high blood pressure.

To make this more understandable, let's use a simple example. Suppose we observe that people who live near the beach are generally happier than those who don't. We might then conclude that living near the beach causes people to be happier.

Now, let's come up with an "Evaluate" question for the argument: "Is there any other factor that could cause both high blood pressure and the associated personality traits?"

The question type for this problem is Flaw, and we're asked to identify the main vulnerability in the argument.

Let's go through each answer choice:

a) The argument does provide a definition for "hypertensive personality" as the combination of nervousness and anxiety. So, this choice is incorrect.

b) Although the argument might implicitly assume that people have permanent personality traits, this is not the main flaw in the argument. The main issue is the leap from correlation to causation.

c) The argument does provide evidence for the claim that there is a "hypertensive personality" - the observation that people with high blood pressure are generally more nervous and anxious. The flaw lies in the conclusion drawn from this observation, not in the claim itself.

d) This answer choice correctly identifies the main flaw in the argument. The author takes the correlation between personality traits and high blood pressure as proof that the traits cause high blood pressure, without considering other possible explanations or factors.

e) While it's true that the argument focuses on nervousness and anxiety, these are the traits defined as the "hypertensive personality." Other personality traits are not relevant to the argument, so this choice is incorrect.

Therefore, the correct answer is D. The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the ground that it takes a correlation between personality traits and high blood pressure as proof that the traits cause high blood pressure.