#10 - A traditional view of Neanderthals is that they lacked

[Administrator]

Please post your questions below!

[KSL]

Hello,

This one got me on the test and during my BR. I was certain that the main conclusion was “it is there for likely the painting was made by a Neanderthal” that mad me pick b as my answer since it was an assumption and I wanted to fill in the gap at th emits basic level.

I am guessing that the main conclusion is sentence two referring to sentence one.

I had a hard time negating B but if I simply take away the No(first word) it a tually strengthens the argument a bit I suppose and C does crush it.

Ok I think I get it. Could you please tell me if I am correct that I mistook what the kver all conclusion is?

Are we supposed to assume it couldnt have been someone else_ maybe this is a common sense assumption and I’m just missing it “sighs”

R,

[Adam Tyson]

Two issues here, KSL - first, you're right that the second sentence, rather than the last, is the conclusion. Consider the relationship between those two statements. Is it:

a. Those people were wrong, therefore a Neanderthal probably painted it?

or

b. A Neanderthal probably painted it, therefore those people are wrong?

The latter makes more sense, and shows that "they are wrong" is the main conclusion here.

The real problem with answer B is the word "any." The author did not have to assume that no other hominids lived ANY part of Europe at that time; he only had to assume that no other hominids live in THAT part of Spain at that time!

The main issue, though, is as you surmised - it's about the link between the premises/evidence about the painting, and the conclusion that is about symbolic thought. The author had to assume that there was some link between those two concepts, that painting required or indicated symbolic thought. Sure, along the way he apparently assumed that there was nobody else around in that time and place more likely than Neanderthal to have done the painting, but that was not an available answer choice. Instead, it was fertile ground for a very attractive wrong answer.

[whitney96lor]

I chose B as my answer choice because I thought that in order for these Neanderthals to have created these cave paintings, they would have had to have been there, right?

However, in order to create the paintings, you have to have the ability to think symbolically. So, even if they were there, they would have to still have that ability.

I understand now, however, that was a frustrating question on my end because I was sure that I got this one right.

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Whitney!

As Adam points out above, the tricky thing with this question is identifying the correct main conclusion. The main conclusion is not that a Neanderthal made the painting--rather the conclusion is that the view that Neanderthals lacked the ability to think symbolically is mistaken. That conclusion has information that is not linked to the premises (the concept of "symbolic thinking"). For this Neanderthal painting to be proof that Neanderthals can, in fact, think symbolically, the author must be assuming that the painting indicates symbolic thinking. Answer choice (C) provides us with this Supporter Assumption that links the intermediate conclusion (it is likely a Neanderthal created this painting) to the conclusion (the view that Neanderthals lacked the ability to think symbolically is mistaken).

So, again, we're not looking for an answer choice that is necessary for a Neanderthal to have created this painting. We are looking for an answer choice that is necessary for Neanderthals to be capable of symbolic thinking.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kelsey

[Delanoking1]

I do not think that the author needs to assume that no other hominid lived in northern Spain at the time for the argument to hold; the sub-conclusion relevant to this assumption is one of likelihood. The stimulus is not concluding for certain that neanderthals made the painting but that it is likely that they did so. For B to be right, its negation will have to say that they did not comprise the majority of hominids in northern Spain, because the conclusion can still hold even with the presence of other hominids in northern spain given that they comprise a minority and the neanderthals significantly outnumber them making it likely that the painting was made by one.

[Adam Tyson]

Good point, Delanoking1! I'll revise what I said earlier in this thread to match your understanding: the author has to assume that even if some other hominids lived in that same area, it's still more likely that Neanderthals painted this painting than that some other hominid did so. They certainly don't have to assume that there were no other hominids in northern Spain at the time, let alone that there were none anywhere in all of Europe. Excellent analysis, thanks for the clarification!