Q5 - Psychologist: There are theories that posit

[kmewmewblue]

I got why (B) is correct.

But, I want to make sure why (D) is wrong.

I interpreted this as "they are using same standard to justify the the prediction." because if they are comparing the prediction of different area, they cannot say "It is more successful at predicting."

Right now I am thinking this was wrong interpretation.
Is this saying how "successful predicting procedure occurs"?

[noah]

Tricky answer choice! I think you're missing the first part of it, where it focuses us on how to measure a theory's predictive success. I'll get to that in a moment - let me explain the rest of this question first:

We're looking for a necessary assumption for this argument.

What's the conclusion? That we should abandon Freud's theories for other ones. Why? Because these other ones are better at predicting human behavior.

So, what gaps do you see?

For me, this comes up: perhaps I like Freud's theories even through they aren't the most predictive - maybe they offer something else (like the chance to say the word "id" and "superego" over an over again ).

(B) addresses this issue. We have to assume that being better at predicting behavior makes one theory more preferable than another. If this were not true, why would we abandon Freud's theories because of its sub-optimal predicting power?

As for the wrong answers:

(A) is out of scope of the core. We already know that Freud's theories have problems - the question is whether the predicting problem is grounds for abandoning the theory.

(C) is tempting. However, we already know that Freud's theories aren't as predictive as others - we don't need to know if his theories are somewhat predictive. This was an attractive answer choice if you thought you had to address this possible question: "But what if Freud's theories are pretty good at predicting behavior, though not as good as others - shouldn't we still keep it around?" However the core is this: Freud less predictive --> Abandon Freud. So, more detail about the level of predictiveness doesn't give us anything new.

(D) is confusing! In short, it's saying that how we measure a theory's predictive success is based on thinking about other theories (that are looking at the same issues). But, who cares what the measurement involves? And, we especially don't care whether the measurement involves looking at other theories. Even if it didn't we still must accept the premise that Freud's theories are less predictive than others.

(E) is about practicality - out of scope.

I hope that helps!

[griffin.811]

So on my first run through the answer choices, I eliminated B because I was thinking, does it necessarily need to be "scientifically" preferrable? what if its just socially preferrable or something similar.

Eventually I realized this was the only answer that made sense, so I went back and selected it.

Is there an error in my original thought process?

Thanks

[noah]

So on my first run through the answer choices, I eliminated B because I was thinking, does it necessarily need to be "scientifically" preferrable? what if its just socially preferrable or something similar.

Eventually I realized this was the only answer that made sense, so I went back and selected it.

Is there an error in my original thought process?

Thanks

Good point!

Overall, I think it's a good lesson in having a lighter touch when working wrong-to-right.

To geek out a bit more, we'll have to work backwards from the fact that LSAC likes (B) to figure out why "scientifically" is acceptable here. For one, this whole question is framed as a statement by a psychologist, suggesting this is a professional discussion. But, what seals it for me is that the argument is about evaluating theories, a rather scientific undertaking. If (B) had just said "preferable" then we might be talking about how that is too broad. "We might find a theory is scientifically weak but socially preferable" we might have argued in explaining why just "preferable" is too broad since we are only talking about whether to discard a theory.

I realize I don't have a definitive answer for you here, but I hope that helps.