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Difficulty: HardSufficient Assumption

Paleoanthropologist: Any technological practice that requires the multi-stage thermal alteration of mineral raw materials demonstrates that its practitioners possessed working-memory capacity equivalent to that of modern humans. In the Middle Stone Age, the fabrication of silcrete micro-blades invariably required multi-stage thermal alteration. Recent excavations at the southern coastal site of Pinnacle Point have uncovered an abundance of complex composite tools bound by organic adhesives. Therefore, the Middle Stone Age inhabitants of Pinnacle Point possessed working-memory capacity equivalent to that of modern humans.

The paleoanthropologist's conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

  1. A
    Any hominin population that develops working-memory capacity equivalent to that of modern humans engages in the multi-stage thermal alteration of mineral raw materials.
  2. B
    No hominin group could fabricate silcrete micro-blades without also possessing the ability to produce organic adhesives.
  3. All composite tools bound by organic adhesives that were produced at Pinnacle Point incorporated silcrete micro-blades.Answer
  4. D
    The multi-stage thermal alteration of mineral raw materials was the only technological practice in the Middle Stone Age that required working-memory capacity equivalent to that of modern humans.
  5. E
    The presence of complex composite tools bound by organic adhesives at an archaeological site confirms that the site was inhabited continuously throughout the Middle Stone Age.

Answer

The statement that all composite tools bound by organic adhesives produced at Pinnacle Point incorporated silcrete micro-blades logically guarantees the conclusion.
The conclusion claims that the inhabitants of Pinnacle Point possessed modern working-memory capacity. The premises establish that fabricating silcrete micro-blades guarantees multi-stage thermal alteration, which in turn guarantees modern working memory. The archaeological evidence at Pinnacle Point only establishes the presence of composite tools bound by organic adhesives. Assuming that all such composite tools produced at Pinnacle Point incorporated silcrete micro-blades connects the physical evidence to the beginning of the deductive chain, proving the conclusion with 100% certainty.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Deconstruct the argument into formal premises and identify the conclusion.
Premise 1: Multi-stage thermal alteration of minerals implies working-memory equivalent to modern humans. Premise 2: Fabricating silcrete micro-blades implies multi-stage thermal alteration. Premise 3: Inhabitants of Pinnacle Point produced composite tools bound by organic adhesives. Conclusion: Inhabitants of Pinnacle Point possessed working-memory equivalent to modern humans.
Sufficient assumption questions require identifying the exact gap in the deductive chain.
2
Determine the conditional chain established by the premises.
Fabrication of silcrete micro-blades leads to multi-stage thermal alteration, which in turn proves modern working-memory capacity.
Combining the first two conditional premises establishes the pathway to the conclusion.
3
Identify the unlinked term in the evidence and bridge it to the conditional chain.
The evidence only mentions composite tools bound by organic adhesives. To reach the conclusion, this evidence must guarantee the starting point of the chain: the fabrication of silcrete micro-blades.
Connecting adhesive-bound composite tools directly to silcrete micro-blades deductively forces the conclusion to follow.

Key Concept

Sufficient Assumption Deductive Bridging
Estimated Time:1m 45s
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Topics

Sufficient Assumption

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