What's The Flaw? Stretching Your Critical Reasoning Skills
Weve talked about various types of Assumption Family questions in the past (find the assumption, strengthen, weaken, and evaluate the conclusion), but we havent yet tackled a Flaw question. This is the least frequently tested of the 5 Assumption Family question types, so you can ignore this type if you arent looking for an extra-high score. If you do want an 85th+ percentile verbal score, though, then you have to make sure you know how to tackle Flaw questions.
If you havent yet, read this article before we try our GMATPrep problem. Then set your timer for 2 minutes and go!
* Reviewer: The book Arts Decline argues that European painters today lack skills that were common among European painters of preceding centuries. In this the book must be right, since its analysis of 100 paintings, 50 old and 50 contemporary, demonstrates convincingly that none of the contemporary paintings are executed as skillfully as the older paintings.Which of the following points do the most serious logical flaw in the reviewers argument?
(A) The paintings chosen by the books author for analysis could be those that most support the books thesis.(B) There could be criteria other than the technical skill of the artist by which to evaluate a painting.
(C) The title of the book could cause readers to accept the books thesis even before they read the analysis of the paintings that supports it.
(D) The particular methods currently used by European painters could require less artistic skill than do methods used by painters in other parts of the world.
(E) A reader who was not familiar with the language of art criticism might not be convinced by the books analysis of the 100 paintings.
Okay, now that youve got an answer, lets use our 4-step CR process.
Step 1: Identify the Question
First, we read the question stem:
Which of the following points do the most serious logical flaw in the reviewers argument?
The key identifying language is typical in this example. The language most serious logical flaw indicates that we have a Flaw question. The question stem itself does not provide any information about what that conclusion is; well have to find it in the argument. This is an Assumption Family question, so we may be able to brainstorm some assumptions while we read the argument. If so, that will help us with our task: to find an answer that points out a flaw in the reasoning of the argument.
Step 2: Deconstruct the Argument
First, the argument was written by the reviewer and I was asked to find a flaw in the reviewers argument. I need to keep that in mind.
The first sentence tells me the books conclusion: European painters today arent as good as European painters of the past. The reviewer then agrees with this premise because, according to the reviewer, a certain piece of evidence demonstrates (this) convincingly. The reviewers argument, then, is contained in the second sentence and thats what I need to attack.
Your notes might look something like this (though there are lots of ways to write notes!):
R: AD says EP today worse than EP before
R: book is right bc 100 pntg anal shows this
[assumptions: the 100 paintings are fully representative of both eras; the author didnt selectively choose 50 great old paintings and 50 mediocre contemporary paintings, etc.]
Note that I used abbreviations; you can use any you want as long as they make sense to you. Also note that I added some assumptions that I brainstormed; I may not actually write these down on the real thing, but I wrote them down for you.
Is the argument implying or assuming anything else? Im brainstorming a scenario: the paintings that still survive from 200 or 300 years ago are only the absolute best paintings from those eras so its literally impossible to pick bad examples for the 50 old paintings set, because the bad paintings no longer exist. That would skew the argument, so the author is assuming that this has NOT happened.
Step 3: State the Goal
Our goal is to find an answer choice that points out a flaw in the reasoning of the argument. We can think of this flaw as a bad assumption: the author is assuming a certain thing to be true, but the author might be wrong. The wording of the correct answer, then, will tell us the opposite of the assumption. For example, if I say that Marielle must be a great basketball player because shes six feet tall, Im assuming that all you need to be a great basketball player is height. The flaw might be worded in this way: Its not necessarily the case that someone will be a great basketball player simply because shes tall. Alternatively, the flaw might be: someone can be tall and still not be a great basketball player.
The most common trap on this type of question is one involving an irrelevant distinction or comparison. For example, an incorrect answer choice might discuss alternate plans or paths when we were asked to comment on a particular plan given in the argument. Alternatively, an incorrect choice might discuss a detail or distinction that does not actually affect the conclusion.
Step 4: Work from Wrong to Right
(A) The paintings chosen by the books author for analysis could be those that most support the books thesis.
This is similar to one of the assumptions I brainstormed: the reviewer assumes that the chosen paintings are fully representative and that the books author didnt have a skewed group of paintings for some reason. If the books author specifically chose paintings that most support a predetermined thesis, then that would be a major flaw in the reviewers argument that the evidence of the 100 paintings validates the book authors thesis. This one looks pretty good so far but lets check the other answers.
(B) There could be criteria other than the technical skill of the artist by which to evaluate a painting.
I agree, there are certainly other ways by which to evaluate a painting! This doesnt address the particular argument at hand, though: finding a flaw in an argument that is specifically about the technical skill of European painters today and in the past. This is one of those irrelevant distinction or comparison answer choices: we dont want to talk about other criteria because the argument itself focuses on technical skill. Eliminate B.
(C) The title of the book could cause readers to accept the books thesis even before they read the analysis of the paintings that supports it.
Once again, I agree that this is a potential danger. We were asked to find a flaw in the researchers reasoning, however, and this answer discusses a flaw in the readers reasoning. Eliminate C.
(D) The particular methods currently used by European painters could require less artistic skill than do methods used by painters in other parts of the world.
This is yet another irrelevant distinction trap! The argument is very specific in comparing contemporary European painters with European painters of the past. Painters in other parts of the world are not a part of this argument. Eliminate D.
(E) A reader who was not familiar with the language of art criticism might not be convinced by the books analysis of the 100 paintings.
This sounds familiar it sounds a bit like answer C. This would be a problem with the readers reasoning, but we were asked to find a flaw in the researchers reasoning, and the researcher doesnt address what the readers might think or do. Eliminate E.
The correct answer is A.
Key Takeaways for Solving Flaw CR Problems:
(1) Know how to recognize this type. The question stem will typically use some variation of the word flaw, though it can occasionally contain alternate wording, such as vulnerable to criticism. Note: Weaken questions can also use the word flaw in the question stem. Weaken questions will also use some variation on the language if true. Flaw questions will not use if true language.
(2) Know what to do with Flaw questions. The argument will contain premises and a conclusion, and may also contain counter-premises. Such arguments always have assumptions, and we should note any that we might brainstorm. Our goal is to find an answer that points out that a particular assumption might not be true or valid.
(3) Watch out for traps! The answer choices often contain irrelevant distinction or comparison traps, trying to draw us away from the scope of the argument. We saw examples of this in all 4 wrong answers on this problem. B and D tried to change the details on us so that we were no longer talking about the primary issues or situation discussed in the argument. C and E answered the wrong question: we dont care what the readers think. We care about the reviewers reasoning.
* GMATPrep questions courtesy of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Usage of this question does not imply endorsement by GMAC.