Psychologist: Violence in video games can have a severe effect on

Question

Psychologist: Violence in video games can have a severe effect on children, even impelling them towards committing violent acts. A recent study indicated an incident in which an eleven-year-old boy played a video game that contained excessive images of violence, and then he perpetrated a violent crime similar to the one portrayed in the video game. Violent video games then lead to violence among children, and they should be carefully restricted.

The weakness in the psychologist’s argument is similar to the weakness in which of the following examples of reasoning?

(A) A homeschooled student has won the national spelling bee due to the excellent education received at home. Therefore, homeschooling is shown to be a valid form of education, and all homeschooled students may be expected to excel.

(B) A popular home decorating program offers excellent do-it-yourself tips for those who would like to decorate their own homes without employing an expensive designer. Therefore, all homeowners planning to redecorate can utilize the resources of this program to decorate their homes.

(C) A university known for its strong program for training elementary school teachers has over 200 students graduated and ready to enter the school system. Due to the value of the skills provided in the university’s program, the school system can expect that all of the graduates will make excellent teachers.

(D) A well-known celebrity has experienced positive results from taking a rather questionable supplement not yet approved by the FDA. Due to the significance of the celebrity’s results, our nutritional supplement company will begin stocking this product.

(E) Studies show that music classes broaden the minds of students and provide increased awareness for other subjects. Therefore, schools should begin adding music classes to the curriculum to benefit students.

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chanhthang1802 · Answer

The answer is (A). Both the stimulus and (A) draw the conclusion on a population based only on a single sample.

Abhiswarup · Answer

Answer should be A.

Analyzing the passage following can be obtained:
Violence in video games have effect on child. One child played violent video game and caused violence. Thus video games should be restricted. There should be one cause and effect and then followed by conclusion.

(A) A homeschooled student has won the national spelling bee due to the excellent education received at home. Therefore, homeschooling is shown to be a valid form of education, and all homeschooled students may be expected to excel. Homeschooling is valid form of education & homeschool student won national spelling bee (Cause & effect) and therefore all homeschooled students expected to excel (conclusion) Correct answer.

(B) A popular home decorating program offers excellent do-it-yourself tips for those who would like to decorate their own homes without employing an expensive designer. Therefore, all homeowners planning to redecorate can utilize the resources of this program to decorate their homes. No example give to explain the effect. Eliminate.

(C) A university known for its strong program for training elementary school teachers has over 200 students graduated and ready to enter the school system. Due to the value of the skills provided in the university’s program, the school system can expect that all of the graduates will make excellent teachers. No cause and effect. Eliminate

(D) A well-known celebrity has experienced positive results from taking a rather questionable supplement not yet approved by the FDA. Due to the significance of the celebrity’s results, our nutritional supplement company will begin stocking this product. Negate the causse itself, rather effect is shown. Conclusion is present however. Eliminate.

(E) Studies show that music classes broaden the minds of students and provide increased awareness for other subjects. Therefore, schools should begin adding music classes to the curriculum to benefit students. Cause is present no effect. Conclusion is present. Eliminate

anon766 · Answer

I am confused between A and D. D as well is concluding the safety of the supplement based on a single sample (the well known celebrity). How would you go about deciding between the two?

Dereno · Answer

The weakness of the psychologist statement is : an isolated incident of an eleven year old indulging in violent crimes because of playing video games containing excessive violence.

This isolated event cannot be generalised.  So, we need to look for an option where an isolated event is generalised.

(A) A homeschooled student has won the national spelling bee due to the excellent education received at home. Therefore, homeschooling is shown to be a valid form of education, and all homeschooled students may be expected to excel.

A single instance of homeschooled student wining the National spelling bee is given a broad generalised conclusion. This reasoning is similar to the reasoning of psychologist.

(B) A popular home decorating program offers excellent do-it-yourself tips for those who would like to decorate their own homes without employing an expensive designer. Therefore, all homeowners planning to redecorate can utilize the resources of this program to decorate their homes.

Tips to those who would like to decorate. It’s not generalised. Out of scope.

(C) A university known for its strong program for training elementary school teachers has over 200 students graduated and ready to enter the school system. Due to the value of the skills provided in the university’s program, the school system can expect that all of the graduates will make excellent teachers.

It’s an outcome that’s expected to occur. Hence, irrelevant.

(D) A well-known celebrity has experienced positive results from taking a rather questionable supplement not yet approved by the FDA. Due to the significance of the celebrity’s results, our nutritional supplement company will begin stocking this product.

This option is flawed, but the weakness is more about relying on a single celebrity endorsement for a business decision.

(E) Studies show that music classes broaden the minds of students and provide increased awareness for other subjects. Therefore, schools should begin adding music classes to the curriculum to benefit students.

This is not an incident, but has occured at a broad spectrum of students. Hence out of scope.

Answer is  Option A

cburchfield · Answer

The stem presents the argument:

Violence in video games + children playing them = children acting out violently.

This follows a structure similar to a recipe:

A (real cause) + B (real cause) = C (real effect).

Now, let's analyze the answer choices:
 
  Choice A:   A child winning a spelling bee (A) + being homeschooled (B) = homeschooling is a viable form of education (C). 
 
 This follows the same pattern: both A and B are real, leading to a tangible outcome.  
 
  Choice D:   A well-known celebrity has experienced positive results from taking a questionable supplement not yet approved by the FDA. 
 
 This doesn’t follow the same structure. 
 What is A? The celebrity's experience, but we don’t know if the supplement truly caused the results. 
 What is B? There isn’t a clear second ingredient. 
 The conclusion (C) is more of an assumption than a verified outcome.  
  
Thus, D doesn’t align with the logical flow presented in the stem. I hope that helps.

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Overview:

Question presents statements made by a psychologist about the potential dangers of violent video games. The psychologist cites an incident in which an eleven-year-old boy played a violent video game and then committed an act of violence that resembled the violent crime in the video game. As a result, the psychologist concludes, violent video games can lead to violence and should be restricted. The question then asks the student to compare the weakness in the psychologist’s reasoning with the answer choices and locate a similarity. The student should first identify the problem with the psychologist’s reasoning: in this case, the weakness follows the line of reasoning that one event makes a trend. In other words, one example of a child playing violent video games and committing an act of violence guarantees further such events; therefore, violent video games should be restricted. The psychologist does not provide multiple accounts but instead offers only one incident and tries to build a case for a larger conclusion based on it. The correct answer choice will reflect a similar problem.

The Correct Answer:

A Answer choice (A) correctly provides a statement with a similar weakness. A home-schooled student who received a good education at home won a national spelling bee; therefore, all homeschooled students must be similarly equipped with a good education. Again, the weakness is that a case is built upon a single example, with a single example representing a trend. Answer choice (A) is correct.

The Incorrect Answers:

B The weakness in answer choice (B) is the suggestion that one program can be of universal benefit to all homeowners who are planning to redecorate. This, however, is not the same as the problem of one example creating a trend. Had the answer choice claimed that because one homeowner benefited all would benefit, the weakness would be comparable. As it is, though, answer choice (B) is incorrect.

C The weakness in answer choice (C) is, in many ways, similar to the weakness in answer choice (B). Answer choice (C) claims that a university has an excellent program for training elementary school teachers; therefore, all of the students who graduate from the program will be good teachers. Had the answer choice claimed that because one student who graduated from the program was a good teacher all would be, the weakness would be similar. Again, it is not, so answer choice (C) is incorrect.

D What makes answer choice (D) incorrect is primarily the presentation of the statement. The claim is made that a single celebrity benefited from a “questionable” product not yet approved by the FDA. As a result, a nutritional supplement company has decided to begin stocking the products. On the one hand, this implies that the company believes the product to be beneficial. But no specific recommendation is made based on the celebrity’s experience. Instead, a decision is made to sell the product. Because the nutritional supplement company does not follow up with a statement of who would benefit, answer choice (D) does not contain enough similarities to be correct and may be eliminated.

E Answer choice (E) bears virtually no similarity to the statements made in question 7. This answer choice claims that because music classes are shown to “broaden the minds of students and provide increased awareness for other subjects” all schools should incorporate them. There is no suggestion of a single incident making a trend; in fact, the answer choice suggests that a study has been done, a study that might very well have included many students. Answer choice (E) cannot be correct.

Psychologist: Violence in video games can have a severe effect on

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GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

Psychologist: Violence in video games can have a severe effect on

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