In an experiment, researchers posed simple questions in geometry to

Question

In an experiment, researchers posed simple questions in geometry to children from varied backgrounds. One group consisted of 7-to-13-year-old children of the Mundurucu, an isolated indigenous group in the Amazon basin. The Mundurucu children, who had no formal training in geometry, answered the questions just as quickly and accurately as did French chidlren of the same ages who did have formal training in geometry. In contrast, 5-year-old North American children had much more trouble answering the questions. The researchers concluded that some basic geometric knowledge is innate, but this innate knowledge typically develops only after age 5.

In the table, select the statement that would, if true, most strengthen the researchers' conclusion and most weaken it, respectively. Make only two selections, one in each column.

Sajjad1994 · Accepted Answer

Official Explanation

If the researchers had posed the same questions to 5-year-old French and Mundurucú children as they posed to the 7-to-13-year-old children, the results may or may not have corroborated the researchers’ conclusion.

If, however, the Mundurucú children who were 5 years old had the same difficulty in answering the questions as their North American counterparts, then the researchers would have further evidence that the ability is not present in children under the age of 5 but appears to develop thereafter.

The correct answer is Mundurucú children who were 5 years old had just as much trouble answering the questions as did the 5-year-old North American children.

If it were true that North American children 7 to 13 years old had much more trouble answering the questions than did the Mundurucú of the same ages, then this would provide some evidence that the ability is not innate.

The correct answer is North American children 7 to 13 years old had much more trouble answering the questions than did the Mundurucú of the same ages.

Apt0810 · Answer

Most strengthen: Mundurucu children who were 5 years old had just as much trouble answering the questions as did the 5-year-old North American children,since if Mundurucu children also faced difficulty that actually strengthens the claim that innate knowledge develops after 5.
Most weaken: North American children 7 to 13 years old had much more trouble answering the questions than did the Mundurucu of the same ages,this point weakens the claim since North American students are weaker than Mundurucu children so the claim related to age is weakened

Posted from my mobile device

bond001 · Answer

statement 1 weakens the statement
statement 2 neither strengthen nor weakens the argument it just provides facts 
statement 3 strengthen the argument 
statement 4 again the fact irrelevant
Statement 5 does not affect the conclusion in any way

zoezhuyan · Answer

hi  Sajjad1994

what's the problem of D? if the difficult level is same, then it is more likely to be innate.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

With respect to the conclusion of the argument, D is unrelated, as it neither strengthens nor weakens the argument.

adityaprateek15 · Answer

D seems to be the underlying assumption for the researcher's conclusion to hold true. It doesn't strengthen/weaken the argument.

shwetakoshija · Answer

Given:  An experiment tested basic geometric knowledge among three groups:
 
 Groups of children and their performance:
 
 Group 1: Mundurucu children (7–13 years, no formal geometry training) 
 Group 2: French children (7–13 years, formal geometry training) 
 Group 3: North American children (5 years, no formal geometry training)  
 
 Groups 1 and 2 answered questions equally quickly and accurately. 
 Researchers’ conclusion: Basic geometric knowledge is innate but develops only after age 5.

To Find: 
 
 The statement that most strengthens the researcher’s conclusion. 
 The statement that most weakens this conclusion.

Solution:

First note that:
 
 To  strengthen , we need a statement that supports:
 
 Geometric knowledge is innate. 
 But it  emerges only after age 5 .  
 
 To  weaken , we need a statement that suggests geometry ability  depends on learning , not innateness.

Let’s evaluate all statements carefully to find the ones that best our characterization above:

Statement 1: North American children 7 to 13 years old had much more trouble answering the questions than did the Mundurucu of the same ages. 
 
 This weakens the idea of innate ability that develops after 5. If there really is innate ability and it does develop after 5, then the North Americans children should have performed similarly to the Mundurucu children of the same age. 
  Potential Weakener

Statement 2: None of the 5-year-old North American children had ever studied any geometry. 
 
 Neutral — does not affect the conclusion about innate knowledge after age 5 (expected for 5-year-olds).

Statement 3:   Mundurucu children who were 5 years old had just as much trouble answering the questions as did the 5-year-old North American children. 
 
 This  supports  the conclusion. It shows that before age 5, children from both groups (one trained, one not) struggle equally — suggesting the knowledge is innate but not fully developed till after age 5. 
  Strong Strengthener

Statement 4:   The researchers posed the same questions to 5-year-old French and Mundurucu children as they posed to the 7-to-13-year-old children. 
 
 Neutral — just describes methodology.

Statement 5: Most of the children studied answered one or more of the questions incorrectly. 
 
 Neutral — does not affect the age-based innate ability conclusion.

Correct Answer: 
 
 Most Strengthen: Statement 3 
 Most Weaken: Statement 1

Shweta Koshija  
 GMAT, GRE, SAT Coach for 10+ years

Usernamevisible · Answer

While solving TPA, is it advisable to look at one statement at a time for strengthen and not try to find both strengthen and weaken else it will create a complete mess ?

canopyinthecity · Answer

Why D does not strengthen? Can anyone explain?  bb   hr1212

Bunuel · Answer

The key is to look at what the stem actually tells us and then compare that with what (D) adds.

From the stem, we know:

Mundurucu children aged 7 to 13 did well. 
 French children aged 7 to 13 did equally well. 
 North American 5-year-olds had much more trouble.

That leads the researchers to think the geometric ability is innate but normally develops only after age 5.

Now look at (C). It gives us an actual new  result :  5-year-old Mundurucu children also struggled.  That is strong support because children from a very different culture show the same age pattern.

(D), however, tells us only that the researchers  asked  5-year-old French and Mundurucu children the same questions. It never tells us how those children answered.

If they struggled, that would strengthen the conclusion. If they answered perfectly, that would weaken it. Since we do not know the results, (D) by itself tells us nothing useful about whether the conclusion is correct.

So the key difference is simple: (C) gives us a  result . (D) only tells us that another test was performed.

canopyinthecity · Answer

But we already know the result as per the stem:

Mundurucu children aged 7 to 13 did well. 
 French children aged 7 to 13 did equally well. 
 North American 5-year-olds had much more trouble.

When this conclusion is made, if the same questions are asked to all groups, it strengthens the conclusion. 
Also in case of its negation, if different level questions were asked, then the conclusion cannot be reliably made. 
Hence, the negation weakens.

So, I agree (C) strengthens. It is just that (D) also seems to be strengthening.

Bunuel · Answer

I think you are overcomplicating it. Again, what you say would help only if (D) also told us how the 5-year-old French and Mundurucu children performed. But where does (D) tell us that? It does not. So (D) gives us no new result, while (C) does.

In an experiment, researchers posed simple questions in geometry to

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

Most strengthen	Most weaken	Statements
		North American children 7 to 13 years old had much more trouble answering the questions than did the Mundurucu of the same ages.
		None of the 5-year-old North American children had ever studied any geometry.
		Mundurucu children who were 5 years old had just as much trouble answering the questions as did the 5-year-old North American children.
		The researchers posed the same questions to 5-year-old French and Mundurucu children as they posed to the 7-to-13-year-old children.
		Most of the children studied answered one or more of the questions incorrectly.

GMAT Two-part Analysis (TPA) Questions

In an experiment, researchers posed simple questions in geometry to

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia