ISAT Analyzing and Extending Ideas 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An argument concludes that online learning is inferior because dropout rates are higher than in traditional classes. Which piece of information would most weaken this argument?
- Online classes cost less than traditional ones
- Online learners often face greater socioeconomic barriers that independently predict dropout (Correct answer)
- Traditional classrooms have better social environments
- Online platforms offer more course variety
Correct answer: Online learners often face greater socioeconomic barriers that independently predict dropout
If online students face more obstacles unrelated to the format, dropout rates reflect student circumstances, not learning quality.
Question 2: A report states that countries with higher chocolate consumption have more Nobel Prize winners per capita. The most defensible conclusion is:
- Eating chocolate enhances cognitive performance
- Wealth drives both chocolate consumption and conditions that enable Nobel Prize achievement (Correct answer)
- Nobel Prize committees favor candidates from chocolate-loving nations
- Scientists should eat more chocolate to improve their chances
Correct answer: Wealth drives both chocolate consumption and conditions that enable Nobel Prize achievement
Wealth is a plausible confounding variable that independently drives both chocolate consumption and Nobel Prize success.
Question 3: Which question best evaluates the strength of an analogy used in an argument?
- Is the analogy entertaining to the audience?
- Are the compared situations similar enough in relevant ways to support the conclusion? (Correct answer)
- Does the analogy use vivid language?
- Has the analogy been used in previous arguments?
Correct answer: Are the compared situations similar enough in relevant ways to support the conclusion?
An analogy's strength depends on whether the similarities between the cases are relevant to the point being argued.
Question 4: A student reads that mindfulness reduces anxiety in adults. She wants to extend this finding to a program for high school students. What is her most important next step?
- Implement the adult program unchanged in schools
- Investigate whether the mechanisms and conditions apply equally to adolescents (Correct answer)
- Assume the finding applies because teenagers also experience anxiety
- Discard the adult research as irrelevant
Correct answer: Investigate whether the mechanisms and conditions apply equally to adolescents
Applying findings across age groups requires verifying that the underlying factors operate similarly in the new context.
Question 5: A politician claims, 'My opponent voted against the infrastructure bill, so he clearly doesn't care about roads.' What fallacy is present?
- Slippery slope
- Straw man (Correct answer)
- Appeal to emotion
- Bandwagon
Correct answer: Straw man
The politician misrepresents the opponent's position by oversimplifying the reason for the vote.
Question 6: A passage argues that because ancient Romans used lead pipes and declined as a civilization, lead exposure must have caused the decline. What is the primary flaw?
- The argument uses too much historical data
- It confuses temporal sequence with causation and ignores alternative explanations (Correct answer)
- Ancient Rome is not relevant to modern analysis
- The argument is based on physical evidence
Correct answer: It confuses temporal sequence with causation and ignores alternative explanations
Post hoc reasoning assumes that because one event followed another, the first caused the second, ignoring other factors.
Question 7: Which revision most improves the logical extension of this claim: 'Reading fiction builds empathy, so it should be mandatory'?
- Reading fiction builds empathy, so all non-fiction should be banned
- Reading fiction builds empathy, making it a valuable component of education curricula (Correct answer)
- Reading fiction builds empathy, but only for certain readers
- Fiction reading is unnecessary if empathy can be taught other ways
Correct answer: Reading fiction builds empathy, making it a valuable component of education curricula
Framing fiction as a valuable curricular component is proportional and practical, unlike the mandatory or exclusionary alternatives.
ISAT Analyzing and Extending Ideas 4
An argument concludes that online learning is inferior because dropout rates are higher than in traditional classes.
Which piece of information would most weaken this argument?