Critical Reasoning

Historian: One traditional childrearing practice in the nineteenth century was to make a child who misbehaved sit alone outside. Anyone passing by would conclude that the child had misbehaved. Nowadays, many child psychologists would disapprove of this practice because they believe that such practices damage the child’s self-esteem and that damage to children’s self-esteem makes them less confident as adults. However, no one disagrees that adults raised under that traditional practice were, on average, as confident as adults not so raised.

Which one of the following can be properly inferred from the historian’s statements?

A. The beliefs of many present-day child psychologists about the consequences of loss of self-esteem are incorrect

B. Some of the most confident adults, as well as some of the least confident adults, were raised under the traditional practice in question

C. With the traditional childrearing practice, passerby did not always make correct inferences about children's behavior by observing them outdoors

D. The most confident adults are those who developed the highest level of self-esteem in childhood

E. If children's loss of self-esteem makes them less confident as adults, then the traditional childrearing practice in question did not tend to cause significant loss of self-esteem

OA E