Flawed Parallel ReasoningDiff: Easy
Logic Breakdown
Passage Summary: Some studies said a new medicine worked, but those studies were done poorly, so the argument concludes the medicine probably does not work at all.
Conclusion: The muscle pain treatment is likely ineffective.
Reasoning: Although initial results were positive, the three studies supporting the treatment were methodologically flawed.
Analysis: The flaw here is that 'absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.' Just because the studies proving the treatment works were bad does not mean the treatment itself is a failure; it just means we do not have good proof yet. To parallel this, we need to find an argument that dismisses a claim entirely just because the evidence for that claim was found to be unreliable. Look for a structure that moves from 'the proof is bad' to 'the thing being proved is false.'
Conclusion: The muscle pain treatment is likely ineffective.
Reasoning: Although initial results were positive, the three studies supporting the treatment were methodologically flawed.
Analysis: The flaw here is that 'absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.' Just because the studies proving the treatment works were bad does not mean the treatment itself is a failure; it just means we do not have good proof yet. To parallel this, we need to find an argument that dismisses a claim entirely just because the evidence for that claim was found to be unreliable. Look for a structure that moves from 'the proof is bad' to 'the thing being proved is false.'
Passage Stimulus
Passage Redacted
Unlock Full Passage11.The flawed nature of the argument above can most effectively be demonstrated by noting that, by parallel reasoning, we could conclude that
Correct Answer
A
A matches the flaw. It goes from “the process for selecting the winner was flawed (no uniform criteria)” to “the cake that won is probably a bad one.” That mirrors concluding “probably ineffective” merely because the positive studies are methodologically flawed.
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