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- Wed Jan 21, 2015 12:00 am
#73611
Complete Question Explanation
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (E).
This is an anti-causal argument, wherein the author argues that motivational posters will not cause greater productivity at certain companies because the workers at those companies are already motivated to be productive. This of course overlooks the possibility that they could still be motivated more and become even more productive. Look for that concept in the answer choices to this Flaw question.
Answer choice (A): This answer is irrelevant, because the conclusion is only about the companies that were described in the stimulus, which are the ones that are already hanging up the posters and which already have motivated, productive workers. What might happen at other companies has no bearing on what will or will not happen at these particular companies. It is not a flaw to overlook something that is not relevant to the argument!
Answer choice (B): It is not relevant whether the companies in the stimulus are representative of companies in general, or if they are some extreme outliers. This is because the evidence, and the conclusion, are limited to those companies that are currently hanging up motivational posters. They don't need to be representative of anything else, because they aren't being used to draw conclusions about anything else.
Answer choice (C): Other possible benefits of the posters don't matter, so it doesn't matter that the author overlooked them. Again, it is not a flaw to overlook or fail to consider things that don't matter.
Answer choice (D): Once again, this answer describes something that, while it is true (the author did not address any factors that contribute to productivity other than employee motivation), is not a flaw, because the argument did not require any examination of those other factors in order to conclude that this particular action will not have the intended effect.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. This is a perfect match for the prephrase - even a motivated and productive employee might become more motivated and more productive, and so the motivational posters may indeed have the intended effect.
Flaw in the Reasoning. The correct answer choice is (E).
This is an anti-causal argument, wherein the author argues that motivational posters will not cause greater productivity at certain companies because the workers at those companies are already motivated to be productive. This of course overlooks the possibility that they could still be motivated more and become even more productive. Look for that concept in the answer choices to this Flaw question.
Answer choice (A): This answer is irrelevant, because the conclusion is only about the companies that were described in the stimulus, which are the ones that are already hanging up the posters and which already have motivated, productive workers. What might happen at other companies has no bearing on what will or will not happen at these particular companies. It is not a flaw to overlook something that is not relevant to the argument!
Answer choice (B): It is not relevant whether the companies in the stimulus are representative of companies in general, or if they are some extreme outliers. This is because the evidence, and the conclusion, are limited to those companies that are currently hanging up motivational posters. They don't need to be representative of anything else, because they aren't being used to draw conclusions about anything else.
Answer choice (C): Other possible benefits of the posters don't matter, so it doesn't matter that the author overlooked them. Again, it is not a flaw to overlook or fail to consider things that don't matter.
Answer choice (D): Once again, this answer describes something that, while it is true (the author did not address any factors that contribute to productivity other than employee motivation), is not a flaw, because the argument did not require any examination of those other factors in order to conclude that this particular action will not have the intended effect.
Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. This is a perfect match for the prephrase - even a motivated and productive employee might become more motivated and more productive, and so the motivational posters may indeed have the intended effect.