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Logical Structure question

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by [email protected] » Wed Jun 13, 2012 10:45 pm
Bill recently read a newspaper story that listed several symptoms of depression. One symptom was sleeping more than 12 hours a day. Bill does not want to develop depression, so he buys an alarm clock and makes sure to sleep no more than 8 hours a day.
If the article also noted that excessive sleeping is caused by reduced serotonin levels that result from depression, which of the following best describes the logical flaw in Bill's reasoning?

A] Bill has mistaken an explanation for an argument.

B] Bill has mistaken an argument for an explanation.

C] Bill has mistaken a premise for a conclusion.

D] Bill has mistaken a cause for an indicator.

E] Bill has mistaken an indicator for a cause.


The OA is E.

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by Kasia@EconomistGMAT » Wed Jun 13, 2012 11:36 pm
Sleeping more than 12 hours a day is mentioned as one of the SYMPTOMS. However, there isn't an explanation as to WHY a person suffering from depression would sleep for such a long time. Therefore, buying an alarm clock and sleeping shorter would only make the symptom disappear. However, it would not influence the real CAUSE of the problem.

Also we can look at this argument from another point of view. According to Bill's conclusion all people who sleep 12 hours should suffer from depression. However, it is the other way round - some patients who suffer from depression also sleep too long. So Bill has mistaken a SYMPTOM for a CAUSE.

Therefore answer e is correct.
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by Birottam Dutta » Wed Jun 13, 2012 11:46 pm
Yes, the actually cause of sleeping may be the reduced serotonin that results from depression.

So, lack of sleep is CAUSED by depression.

What Bill interprets from reading the initial part of the article is that lack of sleep CAUSES depression.

So, A is not correct as there is neither an explanation nor any argument.
b is in correct for the same reasons.
C is incorrect because there is no premise here, just a cause and effect.
D is incorrect because Bill has mistaken an indicator for a cause, not its reverse.
E is correct.

Hence, E!
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by jimmyjimmy » Thu Jun 14, 2012 4:38 pm
[email protected] wrote:Bill recently read a newspaper story that listed several symptoms of depression. One symptom was sleeping more than 12 hours a day. Bill does not want to develop depression, so he buys an alarm clock and makes sure to sleep no more than 8 hours a day.
If the article also noted that excessive sleeping is caused by reduced serotonin levels that result from depression, which of the following best describes the logical flaw in Bill's reasoning?

A] Bill has mistaken an explanation for an argument.

B] Bill has mistaken an argument for an explanation.

C] Bill has mistaken a premise for a conclusion.

D] Bill has mistaken a cause for an indicator.

E] Bill has mistaken an indicator for a cause.


The OA is E.

Getting this was not that difficult, just try it once...

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premise, cause, indicator, argument, explanation - cn u give one xamples for each? pls.,(its silly but getting confused every now and then)..
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by Bill@VeritasPrep » Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:28 am
A classic correlation/causation mixup. Another good one is that ice cream sales and the murder rate both rise during the summer, so clearly ice cream makes people murderous :o

I wish I could sleep 12 hours a day :(
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