A recent study reveals that television advertising does not significan

I chose A.

Conclusion : ads don't impact choice of cereals.
Premise : study of 2 groups,first didnt watch TV and ads. Second watched TV and ads of sugary cereal. Both groups preferred sugary cereal.

If the children who don't watch TV are influenced by those who do watch TV and its ads, then ultimately it's TV and ads which is influencing choice of cereals.

B sounds very general. E is talking about adults so out of scope. D is kind of strengthening the argument.

C isn't correct because it doesn't impact the conclusion which is kids are ad agnostic. Maybe they're aware of the cereals from the ads only.

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Nice question.Can get this wrong if we don't think straight.

Conclusion : Television does not affect children cereal eating

Weakening statement : television affects children eating.

A fits the bill.

A student asked me to comment on this question.

PREMISE: Two groups: TV watchers and non-TV watchers
PREMISE: Both prefer sugary cereals
CONCLUSION: TV ads have little effect on kids' cereal preferences
ASIDE: The idea here is that, if TV ads have an effect, then the TV watchers should want sugary cereal, and the NON-TV watchers should not want sugary cereal.

As we read the answer choices, we should remind ourselves of the conclusion

(A) The preferences of children who do not watch television advertising are influenced by the preferences of children who watch the advertising.
Does this weaken the conclusion that TV ads have little effect on kids' cereal preferences?
YES!
If the ads affect the TV watchers' cereal choices, and then those same TV watchers go on to influence the NON-TV watchers' cereal preferences, then we can see that the TV ads have (indirectly) influenced the NON-TV watchers.
As such, it seems that the ads HAVE, indeed, influenced both groups of children.
KEEP this answer choice

(B) The preference for sweets is not a universal trait in humans and can be influenced by environmental factors such as television advertising.
Does this weaken the conclusion that TV ads have little effect on kids' cereal preferences?
NO.
It just says that TV ads CAN have an effect, but the object of the study is the determine whether the ads actually DO have an effect.
ELIMINATE

(C) Most of the children in the group that had watched television were already familiar with the advertisements for these cereals.
Does this weaken the conclusion that TV ads have little effect on kids' cereal preferences?
NO.
The fact that the TV watchers have already seen the ads does not affect the conclusion that TV ads have little effect on kids' cereal preferences
ELIMINATE

(D) Both groups rejected cereals low in sugar even when these cereals were heavily advertised on television.
Does this weaken the conclusion that TV ads have little effect on kids' cereal preferences?
This actually strengthens the argument by suggesting that TV ads have little effect on kids' cereal preferences ALSO WHEN the cereals in question are low in sugar.
ELIMINATE

(E) Cereal preferences of adults who watch television are known to be significantly different from the cereal preferences of adults who do not watch television.
Does this weaken the conclusion that TV ads have little effect on kids' cereal preferences?
NO.
The conclusion is specifically about KIDS' cereal preferences.
The fact that adults behave differently from kids (with regard to cereal preferences) does not affect the CHILD-centered conclusion.

Answer: A

Cheers,
Brent

Fact - The two groups had the same preference for cereals
Hypothesis - television advertising does not significantly affect children’s preferences for breakfast cereals.

To weaken, find an alternate explanation for the given fact. Why did we see equal preference in the two groups?
Choice A says that Children who watched television told about the cereal ads to the other children. That is why both groups had equal high preference and not because television ads have no influence on children.

The idea here is that from a given fact we can generate multiple hypothesis/ explanations. These arguments focus on just one hypothesis.

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