Meerkat "sentinels," so–called because they watch for predators while other meerkat group members forage, almost neve...

teddyteddted on August 10, 2018

Errr, what?

Can you translate answer choice C into a way that I can understand in case I see it again on a future test?

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MichelleRod on August 15, 2018

Hey @teddyteddted thank you for your question

Answer choice C reads "Inferring from an effect produced by an action that a purpose of the action was to produce the effect."

Let me give you an everyday example. Let's say you went to the beach to go surfing. While at the beach, you get a sunburn. If I then say, "your reason for going to the beach was to get a sunburn," I would be committing the error described in answer choice C. I would be inferring from an effect (sunburn) produced by an action (going to the beach) that the purpose of that action was to produce that effect.

The author of this stimulus also infers from an effect (alerts the group) produced by an action (the bark) that the purpose of that action was to produce an effect. In other words, we don't really know what motivates the meerkat's bark.