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Cats and Dogs

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Cats and Dogs

by nileshdalvi » Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:14 am
Cats used to be characterized as independent animals
who do not need contact with other animals or
humans. Dogs, on the other hand, previously were
thought of as animals who are devoted to other
animals and humans. When experiments on feline
and canine behavior are examined, however, what
was thought of as unstereotypical behavior proves to
be instances of stereotypical behavior of all animals,
including humans.
Which one of the following is a flaw in the
argument?
(A) The claim that what stereotypical behavior
used to be believed to be is not actually
relevant.
(B) No evidence is provided to show that animals
ever act in stereotyped ways more than
unstereotyped ways, or vice versa.
(C) The argument relies on two different uses of
the term "stereotypical."
(D) The argument assumes that some stereotyped
behavior is unique to all animals.
(E) The argument does not mention specific
human behavior.
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by badpoem » Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:42 am
(A) The claim that what stereotypical behavior used to be believed to be is not actually relevant. --> It is relevant.

(B) No evidence is provided to show that animals ever act in stereotyped ways more than unstereotyped ways, or vice versa. --> the question is not about more or less. So eliminating.

(C) The argument relies on two different uses of the term "stereotypical." --> where?

(D) The argument assumes that some stereotyped behavior is unique to all animals. --> is this not the assumption? The argument wrongly assumes that some behaviors are stereotypical to dogs and some are stereotypical to cats and then negates this very assumption. This, IMO is the flaw.

(E) The argument does not mention specific human behavior. --> irrelevant.

IMO (D). OA?
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by nileshdalvi » Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:47 am
OA is C
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by prashant.mishra » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:30 pm
D would have been right if it were to mention the OPPOSITE.

IMO E. (I m not sure on this one.. :))

OA ?

I think the experiment is based on dogs and cats and their behaviors. Based on these experiments, the argument assumes this to be true for ALL ANIMALS, INCLUDING HUMANS. what was believed to be true, the stereotypes, were pertinent to the two animals only- dogs and cats. Thus we don't know anything about other animals from the argument and therefore it would be wrong to give a conclusion based on the experiments above on other animals such as HUMANS.
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by navami » Wed Sep 07, 2011 12:14 pm
C.
This time no looking back!!!
Navami
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by nileshdalvi » Mon Sep 12, 2011 10:56 am
@navami: Can you please provide your reasoning/analysis????
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by n@resh » Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:38 am
nileshdalvi wrote:Cats used to be characterized as independent animals
who do not need contact with other animals or
humans. Dogs, on the other hand, previously were
thought of as animals who are devoted to other
animals and humans. When experiments on feline
and canine behavior are examined, however, what
was thought of as unstereotypical behavior proves to
be instances of stereotypical behavior of all animals,
including humans.
Which one of the following is a flaw in the
argument?
(A) The claim that what stereotypical behavior
used to be believed to be is not actually
relevant.
(B) No evidence is provided to show that animals
ever act in stereotyped ways more than
unstereotyped ways, or vice versa.
(C) The argument relies on two different uses of
the term "stereotypical."
(D) The argument assumes that some stereotyped
behavior is unique to all animals.
(E) The argument does not mention specific
human behavior.
Though i stopped first at 'D', but i understand it is exactly opposite to argument's assumption! " unstereotypical behavior proves to be instances of stereotypical behavior of all animals"
C is the only option which explains the flaw, which is a common behavior (i.e. of canine and feline) proves to be instances of special behavior of all animals!
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by nileshdalvi » Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:51 am
@naresh: can you please elaborate on what you have just mentioned?
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by n@resh » Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:16 pm
nileshdalvi wrote:@naresh: can you please elaborate on what you have just mentioned?
Here's the word: Stereotypical means 'common Conception' or 'generalization'!

Argument: Earlier assumption of uncommon behavior of cats and dogs proves to be as a common behavior of all the animals including humans.

now the point is how come we form an opinion for all the animals based on the two different uses of cats and dogs: i.e. Cat's don't need contact and dog's devoted to other animals and humans?
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by nileshdalvi » Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:24 pm
So how does this argument lead to choosing answer C? Answer C says that the use of word stereotypical is used in different sense at the two places. I wanted to know what are the two different senses/interpretations of the word stereotypical being used here.
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by n@resh » Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:40 pm
nileshdalvi wrote:So how does this argument lead to choosing answer C? Answer C says that the use of word stereotypical is used in different sense at the two places. I wanted to know what are the two different senses/interpretations of the word stereotypical being used here.
well, as per my understanding w.r.to this line: 'however, what was thought of as unstereotypical behavior proves to be instances of stereotypical behavior of all animals '
two different uses of how stereotypical were: one as an assumption and other as an occurence.
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by nileshdalvi » Mon Sep 12, 2011 12:49 pm
Thanks Naresh, but I am somehow not convinced with that answer. Because the next time I attempt this question, I don't think I will select this as a right answer.

However, going more into detail, can you explain what was the assumption here which you had mentioned in your explanation. I would also post the OE here which is precisely useless..:D

In the phrase "unstereotypical behavior" the
word "stereotypical" is being used with the usual
meaning. But in the phrase "stereotypical behavior"
the word is being used with a different
meaning. Thus, the argument equivocates. The
answer is (C).
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