Passage Summary: A study found that depressed people eat a lot of chocolate, so the researchers concluded that if you stop eating chocolate, you'll stop being depressed.

Conclusion: Adults can almost certainly improve their mood by reducing excessive chocolate consumption.

Reasoning: A study of 1,000 adults found that those who ate the most chocolate were also the most likely to feel depressed.

Analysis: This is a classic case of confusing correlation with causation. The researchers found two things happening at the same time—chocolate eating and depression—and jumped to the conclusion that the chocolate causes the depression. It is just as likely that being depressed causes people to reach for a candy bar for comfort, or that some third factor causes both. Look for an answer that points out this failure to consider the direction of cause and effect.