<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Causality – GRE</title> <atom:link href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/tag/causality/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre</link> <description>GRE Prep | Best GRE Test Preparation | Manhattan Prep GRE</description> <lastBuildDate>Fri, 30 Aug 2019 16:38:42 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2</generator> <item> <title>Causality on the GRE</title> <link>https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/causality-on-the-gre/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Neil Thornton]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 05 Jul 2017 17:06:11 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Current Studiers]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Prep]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GRE Strategies]]></category> <category><![CDATA[How To Study]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Life Hacks]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reading Comp]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Study Tips]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Verbal]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Writing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Causality]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Causality on the GRE]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Correlation]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/?p=10461</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Ready to take the plunge? Check out our upcoming courses here. You may have heard the maxim “correlation does not imply causation” before. It’s a common expression, but what does it mean for your GRE score? Lots. Suppose […]</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/causality-on-the-gre/">Causality on the GRE</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-10477" src="//cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/06/causality-on-the-gre-neil-thornton.png" alt="Manhattan Prep GRE Blog - Causality on the GRE by Neil Thornton" width="1200" height="628" srcset="https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/06/causality-on-the-gre-neil-thornton.png 1200w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/06/causality-on-the-gre-neil-thornton-300x157.png 300w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/06/causality-on-the-gre-neil-thornton-768x402.png 768w, https://cdn2.manhattanprep.com/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2017/06/causality-on-the-gre-neil-thornton-1024x536.png 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p> <p><b><i>You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free. Ready to take the plunge? </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i></i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may have heard the maxim “correlation does not imply causation” before. It’s a common expression, but what does it mean for your GRE score? Lots.</span><span id="more-10461"></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Suppose you develop a bad stomachache. Where does your brain go? Most of us start to analyze the past few hours or days to seek a reason, an explanation, or—in GRE terms—a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">cause</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for that stomachache. What did I eat? Am I stressed out? What did I drink? Is it something worse? Appendicitis?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you’re superstitious, you may start attributing odd and unrelated causes to your ache. Was it that black cat that crossed my path? Did I forget to knock on the door three times? Are my mortal enemies in the underworld stabbing a voodoo doll?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A huge part of our intelligence as a species is linked to our ability to figure out WHY events occur. If your caveman pal Ogg suddenly turns purple and dies, you have a vested interest in knowing the cause of his death, so you don’t eat the same berries. Those who attributed causation properly survived.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Causality lies at the heart of science (</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why is the universe here? Why did we evolve thumbs?</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">), criminal justice (</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Who shot J.R.?</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">), and politics (</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Why did the economy decline? Who or what is responsible for the change in crime statistics?</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">).</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You’ll see causality on the GRE all over the Verbal section in many Reading Comprehension passages, especially the logic-based RC questions, not to mention the Analysis of an Argument writing sample. </span></p> <h4><b>What You’ll See</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">An event occurs that begs an explanation (</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">The dinosaurs go extinct. The earth develops a moon. A company’s profits increased.</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">). The passage may also list another event that occurred at the same time or right before it (correlation). The author eventually concludes that one event (</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">A big volcano. A giant meteor. An increase in sales</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">.) best explains </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">why</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that event occurred (causation).</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The GRE will then ask one of several questions related to that conclusion:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">-What assumption is the author making?<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">-What would best strengthen that conclusion?<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">-What would weaken that conclusion?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take two events: Event A and Event B might have happened close in time, or one right before the other. This is called “correlation.” If the author of the argument makes the conclusion that A was the cause of B, this is called “causation.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anyone who leaps to this conclusion is making a pretty big series of assumptions:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">– A was the ONLY cause of B.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">– There was NO OTHER cause of B.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">– B didn’t cause A.<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">– It’s not a coincidence.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Back to my stomachache: At a street festival, I ate some undercooked chicken skewers (Event A). Later, I got sick (Event B). Therefore, I must have gotten sick because of the chicken (A caused B). </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This is a classic causal argument, and my conclusion may or may not be correct. (Keep an eye out for keywords: <em>due to</em>, <em>result of</em>, <em>cause</em>, <em>because</em>, <em>reason why</em>, etc. to help spot these.)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you spot a causal argument on the GRE, ask a few questions.</span></p> <h4><b>Could there be other causes? </b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Perhaps multiple causes? If a friend of yours, George, lost a lot of weight recently, he might claim it was due to his diet alone. Sure, it might be due to diet. It might also be due to exercise. It might also be due to illness, surgery, or a myriad of other causes.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The most common </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">assumption</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is “No other causes.”</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">“George made no other changes to his lifestyle other than diet.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the GRE, to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">strengthen</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> an argument like this, look for an answer that removes other causes.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">“George did not increase his level of activity.”</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">“George did not recently undergo drastic surgery.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">weaken</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, suggest another cause.</span></p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">“George adopted a vigorous exercise regimen.”</span></p> <h4><b>Could cause and effect be reversed?</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Suppose an argument finds a correlation between heavy drinking and depression. “People who drink more than 5 drinks a day are, on average, more likely to suffer from depression than those who do not. Therefore, drinking is a cause of depression.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That might be the case. However, it’s also likely that people who are depressed are more likely to drink heavily, and therefore the depression caused the drinking. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">assumption</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is that the cause was before the effect. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">strengthen</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> this, prove the cause came first.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">weaken</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> it, prove the cause came second.</span></p> <h4><b>Could it be a coincidence? Would it have happened anyway?</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Coincidences may be the source of all superstition. Somebody broke a mirror and later had some bad luck, a correlation becomes a causation in someone’s mind, and a superstition is born. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You’ve often heard the argument that marijuana is a “gateway drug.” It’s easy to reach this conclusion: if you ask all the heroin addicts in the world whether or not they smoked pot, perhaps 99% will say yes. Sounds like a compelling link, eh?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, you have to ask yourself the opposite question. How many pot smokers go on to use heroin? That percentage is MUCH smaller.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By the same logic, by the way, you can prove that milk is a “gateway drug” to serial killing. Every serial killer drank milk, right?</span></p> <h4><b>What happens if you remove the purported cause?</b></h4> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Does the effect go away or does it remain? In medical studies, this is called a “control” group.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you believe you have a gluten allergy, the best way to test it is to cut gluten out of your diet and make NO OTHER CHANGES to your diet or lifestyle whatsoever. If your symptoms disappear, you may be allergic to gluten. However, there are always other causes to consider: placebo effect, a lack of excess calories, etc.</span></p> <h4><b>To sum it up:</b></h4> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keywords: <em>due to</em>,<em> result of</em>, <em>cause</em>, <em>because</em>, <em>reason why</em>, etc.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Conclusion: Event A caused Event B (causation).</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Premises: Event A occurred. Event B also occurred (correlation).</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Assumptions: Event A is the only cause. There are no other causes. Event B did not cause Event A (not reversed). It’s not a coincidence.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">To strengthen: Provide evidence for a causal link. Eliminate potential other causes. Show that the purported cause happened first (and very close in time). With a control group, show what happens when you remove the proposed cause (no cause = the effect should go away).</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">To weaken: Show evidence of another cause. Prove it was a coincidence. Show the cause without the effect. Show the effect without the cause. Show that B was actually the cause of A. </span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keep an eye out for causality on the GRE and it may cause you to get a higher score! </span></p> <hr /> <p><b><i>Want more guidance from our GRE gurus? You can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GRE courses absolutely free! We’re not kidding. </i></b><a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><b><i>Check out our upcoming courses here</i></b></a><b><i>.</i></b></p> <hr /> <p><b><i><a href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/mondays-with-neil/?utm_source=manhattanprep.com%2Fgre%2Fblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=GRE%20Blog%20Mondays%20with%20Neil%20Plug&utm_campaign=GRE%20Blog%20Product%20Push"><img decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-9096 size-thumbnail" src="https://d27gmszdzgfpo3.cloudfront.net/gre/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2016/06/neil-thornton-150x150.png" alt="Neil Thornton Instructor Headshot" width="150" height="150" /></a></i></b><i><em><strong>When not onstage telling jokes, <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/neil-thornton/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Neil Thornton</a> loves teaching you to beat the GRE and GMAT.</strong> Since 1991, he’s coached thousands of students through the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, and SAT and trained instructors all over the United States. He scored 780 on the GMAT, a perfect 170Q/170V on the GRE, and a 99th-percentile score on the LSAT. <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/classes/#instructor/35" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out Neil’s upcoming GRE course offerings here</a> or join him for a free online study session twice monthly in <a id="bloglink" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/mondays-with-neil/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mondays with Neil</a>.</em></i></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre/blog/causality-on-the-gre/">Causality on the GRE</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://www.manhattanprep.com/gre">GRE</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss>