A small percentage of dogs are believed to be able to detect the onset

Question

A small percentage of dogs are believed to be able to detect the onset of seizures in their owners. A dog with this ability will display characteristic behaviors, such as staring intently at its owner, just before a seizure occurs. Observations of epilepsy patients do not reveal any noticeable change in odor, behavior, or appearance before a seizure. However, seizure-detecting dogs can predict a seizure even when the patient is in another room.

If the statements above are true, which of the following is most strongly supported by them?

(A) Seizure-detecting dogs are not appreciably more accurate in predicting seizures when they are in the room with a patient than when they are in another room.

(B) No dogs are able to detect the onset of a heart attack in their owners.

(C) Some dogs must be able to recognize a change in odor that medical science has not yet identified.

(D) Seizure-detecting dogs do not rely on visual information to predict a seizure.

(E) When a seizure-detecting dog stares intently at its owner, the owner is likely to have a seizure.

GH-04.16.13

igotthis · Answer

Conclusion: seizure-detecting dogs can predict a seizure even when the patient is in another room. 
Premise: dogs are believed to be able to detect the onset of seizures in their owners. They state at their owners right before the seizure
Premise 2:Observations of epilepsy patients do not reveal any noticeable change in odor, behavior, or appearance before a seizure.

So clearly, the conclusion does not support the premise since the dogs can predict even when in another room. There has to be something else that the answer will give us to prove that dogs don't need, odo,r behavior, or appearance.
A - Actually weakens the argument and does not explain why they can predict when in another room
B - Out of scope. Who asked about heart attack?!
C- Ok, even if they do recognize change in odor, it does not explain how they can predict from another room. besides how reliable is medial science. this one is a strong contender, but the next one is bang on
D- Yesss. Dogs dont really rely on visual information. Great! which means that they dont need to be in the same room to predict seizures. This is it
E - This completely changes the meaning of the statement and blames the poor dog and says that a dog has seizure. Def. out of scope (Sorry, I like dogs :p)

Correct answer is D.

avohden · Answer

Official Explanation   
 
Answer: D

This is an inference question. The passage suggests several ways in which dogs are superior to human methods of detecting seizures. We don't know how dogs can detect seizures, but we know some things about their behavior when they do detect seizures, and we know they can do so even when in another room. We also find out that epileptics do not display any number of "noticeable" changes before undergoing a seizure. Consider each choice, looking for a reasonable inference:

(A) The passage says nothing about accuracy of prediction, so this is not a reasonable inference.

(B) The passage is limited to information about seizures, so we know nothing about heart attack detection.

(C) This is one possible explanation of dogs' seizure detection abilities, but it is not supported by the passage, since there are other ways in which dogs might detect the onset of a seizure.

(D) This is correct. It is based directly on the information that dogs do not have to be in the same room as a patient. We don't know how they detect the onset of a seizure, but we know it isn't reliant on visual information.

(E) This choice reverses causality. The dog stares intently in response to the onset of a seizure; the seizure does not occur because the dog stares intently.

Hope this helps.

vaibhav_bisht · Answer

Hi could you please explain why option E is not a correct option

guddo · Answer

A small percentage of dogs are believed to be able to detect the onset of seizures in their owners. A dog with this ability will display characteristic behaviors, such as staring intently at its owner, just before a seizure occurs. Observations of epilepsy patients do not reveal any noticeable change in odor, behavior, or appearance before a seizure. However, seizure-detecting dogs can predict a seizure even when the patient is in another room. 
 
If the statements above are true, which of the following is most strongly supported by them?

The key point is that these dogs can predict seizures even when they cannot see the patient. So visual cues cannot be necessary for their prediction.

(A) Seizure-detecting dogs are not appreciably more accurate in predicting seizures when they are in the room with a patient than when they are in another room.

This is too strong. The passage only says they can predict seizures from another room, not that their accuracy is the same.

(B) No dogs are able to detect the onset of a heart attack in their owners.

The passage says nothing about heart attacks.

(C) Some dogs must be able to recognize a change in odor that medical science has not yet identified.

This is possible, but not strongly supported. The passage says no noticeable change in odor has been observed, but it does not prove odor is the cue.

(D) Seizure-detecting dogs do not rely on visual information to predict a seizure.

This is the best answer. Since they can predict a seizure even when the patient is in another room, they do not need visual information to do so.

(E) When a seizure-detecting dog stares intently at its owner, the owner is likely to have a seizure.

This reverses the evidence. We are told that such dogs may stare before a seizure, not that every such stare makes a seizure likely.

Answer: (D)

Also check the official solution  HERE .

A small percentage of dogs are believed to be able to detect the onset

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A small percentage of dogs are believed to be able to detect the onset

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