Critical Reasoning

A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditation techniques and the most commonly prescribed drugs are equally effective if the selected treatment is followed as directed over the long term. Half the patients given drugs soon stop taking them regularly, whereas eighty percent of the study's participants who were taught meditation techniques were still regularly using them five years later. Therefore, the meditation treatment is the one likely to produce the best results.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. People who have high blood pressure are usually advised by their physicians to make changes in diet that have been found in many cases to reduce the severity of the condition.
B. The participants in the study were selected in part on the basis of their willingness to use meditation techniques.
C. Meditation techniques can reduce the blood pressure of people who do not suffer from high blood pressure.
D. Some of the participants in the study whose high blood pressure was controlled through meditation techniques were physicians.
E. Many people with dangerously high blood pressure are unaware of their condition.

OA : B

Please discuss in detail the solid ground for rejecting Option C?

richachampion wrote:A study of high blood pressure treatments found that certain meditation techniques and the most commonly prescribed drugs are equally effective if the selected treatment is followed as directed over the long term. Half the patients given drugs soon stop taking them regularly, whereas eighty percent of the study's participants who were taught meditation techniques were still regularly using them five years later. Therefore, the meditation treatment is the one likely to produce the best results.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. People who have high blood pressure are usually advised by their physicians to make changes in diet that have been found in many cases to reduce the severity of the condition.
B. The participants in the study were selected in part on the basis of their willingness to use meditation techniques.
C. Meditation techniques can reduce the blood pressure of people who do not suffer from high blood pressure.
D. Some of the participants in the study whose high blood pressure was controlled through meditation techniques were physicians.
E. Many people with dangerously high blood pressure are unaware of their condition.

The premise is about participants in the study (they were using the mediation techniques five years later).
The conclusion is about the general population (meditation is likely to produce the best results).
The argument assumes that the PARTICIPANTS IN THE STUDY are representative of the GENERAL POPULATION.
One way to weaken the conclusion is to attack this assumption: to show that the participants in the study are NOT representative of the general population.
B: The participants in the study were selected in part on the basis of their willingness to use meditation techniques.
Here, the participants in the study constitute a SPECIAL CASE -- a group with a willingness to meditate -- implying that they are not representative of the general population.

The correct answer is B.

richachampion wrote:OA : B

Please discuss in detail the solid ground for rejecting Option C?

We're trying to weaken the conclusion that meditation is a better treatment than medication for dealing with high blood pressure. C is irrelevant. Why would it matter that meditation can reduce the blood pressure of people who don't have high blood pressure, and therefore don't need treatment? (Moreover, according to the argument, the issue is less about whether the treatments work than about whether patients are likely to be consistent in employing them.)

Hi,

How does any of this hurt the conclusion that 'Meditation is the best technique '?

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Kaustubhk wrote:Hi,

How does any of this hurt the conclusion that 'Meditation is the best technique '?

The argument concludes that meditation is the better high blood pressure treatment because participants in the study continued to practice meditation techniques even five years after the end of the study.
The OA indicates that participants in the study were selected because of their willingness to meditate.
Since the general population is not guaranteed to be willing to meditate, the argument cannot conclude that meditation will be the better treatment for the general population.

richachampion wrote:Please discuss in detail the solid ground for rejecting Option C?

It is given as a PREMISE the meditation is effective at reducing high blood pressure -- as effective as medication.
C: Meditation techniques can reduce the blood pressure of people who do not suffer from high blood pressure.
If anything, this option reaffirms the premise that meditation is effective at reducing blood pressure.
Any answer choice that attempts to strengthen or weaken a premise is wrong.
A premise is a FACT: it cannot be strengthened or weakened.
Eliminate C.