At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi : Critical Reasoning (CR)

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

14 Aug 2018, 06:24

I don't understand why c... can anyone explain it?

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

14 Aug 2018, 06:38

IMO, ANS B

Conclusion: chess-playing has likely contributed as one of the factor in school achievements, in areas requiring intelligence.

One of the weakener to the argument is to present a counter statement in which this performance increment could be attributed to factor other than leaning chess, such as a raised level of self confidence after completing the program.

Ans choice B works as such a weakener by stating that the group of students who could not complete the program lost self confidence and showed a drop in performance at school.

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

14 Aug 2018, 07:30

Can some one explain, why C, not D is the official answer? May I miss something? Please clear my misconception...

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

14 Aug 2018, 11:32

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Classic case of co-relation leading to causation--->
Chess-----> improved intelligence, achievement level

To undermine -
Prove the opposite or an alternate cause of the effect

C hits the bull eye.

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

15 Aug 2018, 05:55

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TaN1213 wrote:

rinkumaa4 wrote:

Can some one explain, why C, not D is the official answer? May I miss something? Please clear my misconception...

Conclusion says that the significant increase in achievement levels in all of their schoolwork is because of playing Chess that increased the students' reasoning power.
If there exists any other reason that warrants the increase in achievement levels , the conclusion is weakened.

C : Many of the children who completed the program subsequently sought membership on a school chess team that required a high-grade average for membership.

C says that many such students wanted a membership and to get that membership they are required to get higher grades, an alternative reason that explains the increase in achievement levels. So, in such a case, it is not the reasoning power due to playing chess , but personal motive of seeking membership that resulted in higher achievement levels.

I still disagree. C may be interpreted as high-grade average would be a result of playinf chess. That is why i think this is bad question. Option C would be better if it would be "many of the children who completed the program had peronal motives because they wanted to seek membership on a school chess team"

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

09 Nov 2018, 04:18

spent a lot of time reading e.planation still couldnt find out appropriate reasoning for the OA .

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

09 Nov 2018, 13:09

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Hey guys - sumit411 nailed it on this one...it's a total correlation-vs.-causation flaw here and if you train yourself to see that as a flaw these types of problems get much more manageable.

There's also some precision-in-language in play here that I think can address Konstantin's point.

Look at the conclusion: it is likely that the reasoning power and spatial intuition exercised in chess-playing also contribute to achievement in many other areas of intellectual activity.

That's a really specific cause that the argument is inferring from the points that "kids joined an after school chess program, and afterward their school achievement improved." Note how really, really specific that is - even if you credit "chess" in general, this conclusion rules out "because they now had friends they liked going to school more" and "chess club helped them form positive relationships with teachers in the school," and all kinds of other ways that "chess" in general could have led to that improvement. To me that's a huge key here - it's an eerily specific conclusion that suggests a very particular cause/effect relationship, and you know that CR problems are often built with a correlation/causation flaw.

Note that C just suggests a different way that "chess" could have led to that improvement - it wasn't the spatial thinking and reasoning power, it was that in order to keep participating in this activity they liked, the kids had to get their grades up. An alternate cause is the best answer to a Weaken question that has a correlation/causation flaw.

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

19 Nov 2018, 09:40

rinkumaa4 wrote:

Can some one explain, why C, not D is the official answer? May I miss something? Please clear my misconception...

In my opinion, it is Cause-Cnosequence. The question says that Chess playing caused Higher performance and hence higher grades. Option C reverses them and says that students worked to get Higher Grades to register for Chess. By reversing the causal relationship, the original argument is weakened. Even I got the answer wrong.

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At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

07 Dec 2020, 08:54

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VeritasPrepBrian wrote:

Hey guys - sumit411 nailed it on this one...it's a total correlation-vs.-causation flaw here and if you train yourself to see that as a flaw these types of problems get much more manageable.

There's also some precision-in-language in play here that I think can address Konstantin's point.

Look at the conclusion: it is likely that the reasoning power and spatial intuition exercised in chess-playing also contribute to achievement in many other areas of intellectual activity.

That's a really specific cause that the argument is inferring from the points that "kids joined an after school chess program, and afterward their school achievement improved." Note how really, really specific that is - even if you credit "chess" in general, this conclusion rules out "because they now had friends they liked going to school more" and "chess club helped them form positive relationships with teachers in the school," and all kinds of other ways that "chess" in general could have led to that improvement. To me that's a huge key here - it's an eerily specific conclusion that suggests a very particular cause/effect relationship, and you know that CR problems are often built with a correlation/causation flaw.

Note that C just suggests a different way that "chess" could have led to that improvement - it wasn't the spatial thinking and reasoning power, it was that in order to keep participating in this activity they liked, the kids had to get their grades up. An alternate cause is the best answer to a Weaken question that has a correlation/causation flaw.

Hey VeritasPrepBrian,

You are correct in saying that we have to look for an alternate cause in such correlations. But can you please explain why B can not be a weakener?

This is how I understood B - some students who didn't complete the chess course already had lower performance/achievement levels than the students who completed it.

Isn't this attacking the conclusion, which states that the chess course helped the students to perform well? I chose B because of this reason.

Kindly help.

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

13 Mar 2021, 17:25

sssanskaar wrote:

VeritasPrepBrian wrote:

Hey guys - sumit411 nailed it on this one...it's a total correlation-vs.-causation flaw here and if you train yourself to see that as a flaw these types of problems get much more manageable.

There's also some precision-in-language in play here that I think can address Konstantin's point.

Look at the conclusion: it is likely that the reasoning power and spatial intuition exercised in chess-playing also contribute to achievement in many other areas of intellectual activity.

That's a really specific cause that the argument is inferring from the points that "kids joined an after school chess program, and afterward their school achievement improved." Note how really, really specific that is - even if you credit "chess" in general, this conclusion rules out "because they now had friends they liked going to school more" and "chess club helped them form positive relationships with teachers in the school," and all kinds of other ways that "chess" in general could have led to that improvement. To me that's a huge key here - it's an eerily specific conclusion that suggests a very particular cause/effect relationship, and you know that CR problems are often built with a correlation/causation flaw.

Note that C just suggests a different way that "chess" could have led to that improvement - it wasn't the spatial thinking and reasoning power, it was that in order to keep participating in this activity they liked, the kids had to get their grades up. An alternate cause is the best answer to a Weaken question that has a correlation/causation flaw.

Hey VeritasPrepBrian,

You are correct in saying that we have to look for an alternate cause in such correlations. But can you please explain why B can not be a weakener?

This is how I understood B - some students who didn't complete the chess course already had lower performance/achievement levels than the students who completed it.

Isn't this attacking the conclusion, which states that the chess course helped the students to perform well? I chose B because of this reason.

Kindly help.

I said B was the answer...and my thought is those children who succeeded in the program were perhaps already pre-dispositioned to do well...nullifying the cause.

C I thought actually strengthened.

B

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

04 Apr 2021, 11:50

VeritasPrepBrian wrote:

Hey guys - sumit411 nailed it on this one...it's a total correlation-vs.-causation flaw here and if you train yourself to see that as a flaw these types of problems get much more manageable.

There's also some precision-in-language in play here that I think can address Konstantin's point.

Look at the conclusion: it is likely that the reasoning power and spatial intuition exercised in chess-playing also contribute to achievement in many other areas of intellectual activity.

That's a really specific cause that the argument is inferring from the points that "kids joined an after school chess program, and afterward their school achievement improved." Note how really, really specific that is - even if you credit "chess" in general, this conclusion rules out "because they now had friends they liked going to school more" and "chess club helped them form positive relationships with teachers in the school," and all kinds of other ways that "chess" in general could have led to that improvement. To me that's a huge key here - it's an eerily specific conclusion that suggests a very particular cause/effect relationship, and you know that CR problems are often built with a correlation/causation flaw.

Note that C just suggests a different way that "chess" could have led to that improvement - it wasn't the spatial thinking and reasoning power, it was that in order to keep participating in this activity they liked, the kids had to get their grades up. An alternate cause is the best answer to a Weaken question that has a correlation/causation flaw.

Apart from causation-effect reasoning that helps to correctly answer weakening questions,for the given question, it is talking specifically about students who enrolled in program and also completed it.

Only option C talks about such student and also provides an alternative cause for their higher level of achievement.

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

08 Nov 2021, 02:53

The argument concludes that it is likely that the reasoning power and spatial intuition exercised in chess-playing also contribute to achievement in many other areas of intellectual activity.

B states that those children who began the program but who did not successfully complete it had lower preprogram levels of achievement than did those who eventually did successfully complete the program. Even if this is the case, the conclusion still stands -- that the reasoning power and spatial intuition exercised in chess-playing also contribute to achievement in many other areas of intellectual activity. Choice B doesn't give us a reason to doubt the conclusion. Children who completed the program may have higher preprogram levels of achievement, but it's still possible that the skills exercised in chess-playing contributes to many other areas of intellectual ability.

C, on the other hand, suggests that children showed significant increase in achievement levels in all of their schoolwork in order to join a school chess team.

C is the answer.

B

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

08 Nov 2021, 13:54

Konstantin1983 wrote:

TaN1213 wrote:

rinkumaa4 wrote:

Can some one explain, why C, not D is the official answer? May I miss something? Please clear my misconception...

Conclusion says that the significant increase in achievement levels in all of their schoolwork is because of playing Chess that increased the students' reasoning power.
If there exists any other reason that warrants the increase in achievement levels , the conclusion is weakened.

C : Many of the children who completed the program subsequently sought membership on a school chess team that required a high-grade average for membership.

C says that many such students wanted a membership and to get that membership they are required to get higher grades, an alternative reason that explains the increase in achievement levels. So, in such a case, it is not the reasoning power due to playing chess , but personal motive of seeking membership that resulted in higher achievement levels.

I still disagree. C may be interpreted as high-grade average would be a result of playinf chess. That is why i think this is bad question. Option C would be better if it would be "many of the children who completed the program had peronal motives because they wanted to seek membership on a school chess team"

I agree with you, this question is poorly written. I rarely blame the questions, but "seeking membership at a team afterwards that required a high-grade average " could just be the result of already achieved higher grades allowing them entrance to an exclusive club. Speculating that it gave them motivation is a big IF in my eyes.

B

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

28 Aug 2023, 01:18

This problem tests the concept of "causation vs. correlation". The passage suggests that completion of the program will improve schoolwork and other intellectual activities. This is a causal relationship. To weaken this logic, one must show that the logic is linked not by causation, but by correlation. C says those who have high grades are eligible to become members of the chess team. In other words, it is possible that those who completed the program are originally smart, so they perform well in schoolwork and other intellectual activities. Therefore, C makes the conclusion questionable although it does not disprove it.

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Re: At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi [#permalink]

28 Aug 2023, 01:18

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

At a large elementary school, researchers studied a small group of chi