A group of students of different ages participated in a study where they were presented with scenarios involving individuals who caused harm, some doing so on purpose and others by mistake. When asked about suitable consequences for those who caused harm, the younger students, unlike their older counterparts, suggested consequences that did not change based on whether the harm was intentional or accidental. This suggests that younger students do not consider intentions important when determining consequences.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion above?

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Correct answer marked below

Younger students are just as likely to cause harm unintentionally as older students.

The older students assigned consequences in a manner similar to how adults would in a comparable study.

Correct

In these scenarios, the extent of the harm caused was explicitly described.

The younger students assigned consequences that varied based on the extent of the harm caused by the individuals in the scenarios.

Interpreting these scenarios required a relatively advanced understanding of human psychology to distinguish between intentional and accidental harm.

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Official Explanation

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To weaken the conclusion that younger students do not regard intentions as relevant to punishment, we need evidence that suggests they might actually consider intentions in some way. Option (D) states that the older students assigned consequences similarly to adults, which implies that there is a…

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Comments

KingdomApr 15, 2025

Amazing

RadhikaApr 21, 2025

thankss

SUMANFeb 17, 2024

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lucianApr 5, 2025

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What this question tests

What it tests

Whether you can identify the option that most undermines an argument's conclusion.

Common trap

Choosing an irrelevant objection or one that attacks the premise rather than the reasoning.