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Following question falls under what type of CR question

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by vidhya16 » Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:28 pm
Scientist: My research indicates that children who engage in impulsive behavior similar to adult thrill-seeking behavior are twice as likely as other children to have a gene variant that increases sensitivity to dopamine. From this, I conclude that there is a causal relationship between this gene variant and an inclination toward thrill-seeking behavior.

Which one of the following, if true, most calls into question the scientist's argument?

A) Many impulsive adults are not unusually sensitive to dopamine.

B) It is not possible to reliably distinguish impulsive behavior from other behavior.

C) Children are often described by adults as engaging in thrill-seeking behvaior simply because they act impulsively.

D) Many people exhibit behavioral tendencies as adults that they did not exhibit as children.

E) The gene variant studied by the scientist is correlated with other types of behavior in addition to thrill-seeking behavior.




Ta
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Source: — Critical Reasoning |

by ldoolitt » Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:55 pm
In the question stem, replace "calls into question" with "weaken". It reads

"Which of the following, if true, most weakens the scientist's argument"

Which is obviously a weaken problem.
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by Tani » Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:22 pm
From another perspective, this is also a "causal" argument. The conclusion says one thing "causes" another. WIth such arguments we always first look for "overlooked" causes. In other words, if we are told that X causes Y. To weaken we should first ask whether Z causes Y. We can also ask whether Y causes x (rare), or whether the relationship is pure coincidence.
Tani Wolff
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by singh181 » Fri Apr 08, 2011 10:54 pm
Question Type: Weaken (Causation)

IMO E
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by vidhya16 » Sat Apr 09, 2011 12:23 am
Thank you guys.. I referenced this question from another website.. Answer is not posted. Sorry for inconvenience..
Last edited by vidhya16 on Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by sandy217 » Sat Apr 09, 2011 7:25 am
vidhya16 wrote:Scientist: My research indicates that children who engage in impulsive behavior similar to adult thrill-seeking behavior are twice as likely as other children to have a gene variant that increases sensitivity to dopamine. From this, I conclude that there is a causal relationship between this gene variant and an inclination toward thrill-seeking behavior.

Which one of the following, if true, most calls into question the scientist's argument?

A) Many impulsive adults are not unusually sensitive to dopamine.

B) It is not possible to reliably distinguish impulsive behavior from other behavior.

C) Children are often described by adults as engaging in thrill-seeking behvaior simply because they act impulsively.

D) Many people exhibit behavioral tendencies as adults that they did not exhibit as children.

E) The gene variant studied by the scientist is correlated with other types of behavior in addition to thrill-seeking behavior.




Ta
I go with C.Nullifying the effect of gene variant
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by Tani » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:00 pm
B says you can't tell impulsive behavior from other behavior. If you can't tell whether behavior is impulsive or not, how can you tell whether it is correlated with a gene?
Tani Wolff
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by Asher » Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:45 am
Tani, thanks for the ans.

Could you please explain why C is not the answer
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by Target2009 » Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:55 am
IMO - E.
Weaken by stating other cause of result.
Regards
Abhishek
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MasterGmat Student
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by Tani » Mon Apr 11, 2011 11:46 am
We are told that these children have impulsive behavior. It never says they are described as thrill-seeking.
Tani Wolff
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