Flawed Parallel ReasoningDiff: Hardest
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: In college towns, police hand out way more tickets when school is in session than during breaks, so the author assumes students are the ones getting most of those tickets.
Conclusion: Students are the recipients of the majority of parking citations issued in university towns.
Reasoning: There is a significant increase in the number of parking tickets issued during the months when students are present in town compared to when they are away.
Analysis: This argument suffers from a correlation-to-causation flaw, specifically regarding a 'part-to-whole' relationship. The author sees a spike in the total number of tickets when a specific group (students) arrives and assumes that group is responsible for the bulk of the total. However, it's possible that the presence of students causes police to be more active in ticketing *everyone*, or that visitors to the university are the ones being ticketed. To parallel this, look for an argument that attributes a majority of a total count to a specific group simply because the total rises when that group is present.
Conclusion: Students are the recipients of the majority of parking citations issued in university towns.
Reasoning: There is a significant increase in the number of parking tickets issued during the months when students are present in town compared to when they are away.
Analysis: This argument suffers from a correlation-to-causation flaw, specifically regarding a 'part-to-whole' relationship. The author sees a spike in the total number of tickets when a specific group (students) arrives and assumes that group is responsible for the bulk of the total. However, it's possible that the presence of students causes police to be more active in ticketing *everyone*, or that visitors to the university are the ones being ticketed. To parallel this, look for an argument that attributes a majority of a total count to a specific group simply because the total rises when that group is present.
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage24.Which one of the following is most similar in its flawed reasoning to the flawed reasoning in the argument above?
Correct Answer
E
It matches the bad inference: when other people’s children visit, parents give out more snacks; therefore, most of the snacks parents buy go to other people’s children. This mirrors the move from a temporal increase associated with a group’s presence to a majority attribution to that group.
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