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Zorluk: OrtaNecessary Assumption

Ethologist: Scrub jays cache food for winter consumption and frequently re-cache their food stores if competing birds are present during the initial caching. In a controlled experiment, jays cached food either in complete isolation or while a competitor watched from behind a transparent barrier. The jays re-cached their food significantly more often when observed through the barrier than when caching in isolation. Therefore, this re-caching behavior is driven by the jays' cognitive assessment of a competitor's visual perspective.

Which of the following are unstated assumptions on which the ethologist's argument depends? (Select all that apply.)

  1. The elevated re-caching frequency in the presence of a competitor was not merely a generalized physiological stress response triggered by seeing another bird.Cevap
  2. B
    Any animal that alters its food-caching behavior in the presence of conspecifics possesses an awareness of other individuals' mental states.
  3. The scrub jays would not exhibit an identical increase in re-caching frequency if the barrier were completely opaque and blocked the competitor's line of sight.Cevap
  4. D
    Scrub jays re-cache their food only when they have determined with certainty that an observing competitor intends to steal the cache.
  5. E
    Scrub jays that cache their food in complete isolation never lose their stored food to competing scavengers.

Cevap

The argument strictly depends on the assumptions that the increased re-caching was not simply a non-cognitive stress response to the sight of another bird, and that jays would not show the exact same re-caching increase if the competitor's line of sight were completely blocked by an opaque barrier.
The conclusion claims that the re-caching behavior is specifically driven by the jays' cognitive assessment of another bird's visual perspective. For this causal cognitive claim to stand, the author must assume both that a non-cognitive alternative explanation (such as generalized physiological stress caused by the mere visual presence of another bird) is not the sole cause, and that the competitor's actual line of sight is essential to the effect (meaning an opaque barrier blocking the view would not elicit an identical increase). Negating either of these statements completely severs the logical connection between the experimental data and the conclusion.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Analyze the stimulus argument structure
Premise: Jays re-cached food more often when observed through a transparent barrier than when in isolation. Conclusion: The behavior is driven by a cognitive assessment of the competitor's visual perspective.
Identifying the explicit premises and conclusion reveals the gap between the experimental observation (difference in behavior) and the cognitive claim (visual perspective assessment).
2
Identify unstated gaps and apply the Negation Test to candidate assumptions
Negating the statement ruling out a non-cognitive stress response shows that stress alone could account for the result. Negating the statement regarding an opaque barrier shows that if line of sight does not matter, the behavior cannot be driven by visual perspective.
A necessary assumption must fatally undermine the conclusion when logically negated.
3
Evaluate distractors for common logical fallacies
The remaining choices either state an unnecessarily broad sufficient principle, impose an extreme standard of certainty, or address out-of-scope cache loss rates.
Necessary assumptions must be strictly required, avoiding extreme qualifiers or broader-than-necessary scope.

Anahtar Kavram

Necessary Assumption (Supporter and Defender models with Negation Test)
Tahmini Süre:1m 30s
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Konular

Necessary Assumption

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