LSAT 111 | Section 1 | Logical Reasoning: Q9

LR Question 9 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Researcher: The rate of psychological problems is…

QUESTION TYPE: Role in Argument

CONCLUSION: It is not necessarily divorce that causes psychological problems amongst children of divorced parents.

REASONING: It is equally likely that the children simply learn bad habits from their dysfunctional parents. It is these bad habits that both increase the likelihood of divorce and cause children to have psychological problems.

ANALYSIS: This is a reasonable argument. It could be that divorce causes psychological problems but it’s just as reasonable that dysfunctional behavior both leads to divorce and teaches children bad habits that lead to have psychological problems.

The sentence in question is a fact the author attempts to explain.

___________

1. The conclusion is that it would be a mistake to think that divorce is definitely the cause of children’s psychological problems.
2. The argument tries to explain the fact that children of divorced parents have more problems. It doesn’t argue with the fact that they do have more problems.
3. Actually the argument argues against the claim that divorce itself is harmful. Kids would still be harmed even if dysfunctional parents stayed together. 
4. It’s the other way around. Certain behaviors are responsible for divorce and could also explain that children of divorced parents tend to have psychological problems. 
5. CORRECT. The author says that there is more than one possible explanation for this finding. It could be divorce or it could be poor learned behaviors that cause psychological problems.