December 2005 LSAT Section 4 Question 2

Sleep research has demonstrated that sleep is characterized by periods of different levels of brain activity. People ...

Abigail-Okereke on January 2, 2023

help

Hi, For this stimulus I diagrammed as follows: PD--> REMS not REMS --> IW conclusion: REM --> not IW Looking at the explanation under the answer choices, I see that the first sentence about people dreaming and rem sleep wasn't pivotal to the argument. B/c I didn't catch that I was looking for an answer choice that connected dreams to irritability of stress, causing me to choose b. Do you have any tips on how I can improve knowing what parts of the argument will lead me to the correct answer choice?

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Emil-Kunkin on January 8, 2023

Hi, I would not diagram this question. This is a strengthen question, and there is not much in the way of sufficient and necessary language. Rather, I would try to look for ways that the conclusion could be incorrect, even if the premises are true.

Let's try to imagine a way that the author hasn't proved that REM sleep relieves stress. The author thinks this because lack of REM is associated with greater irritability. However, this doesn't prove the conclusion. Perhaps causation goes the other way, or some third thing causes both of them?

To strengthen, we should find something that rules out alternative explanations, or suggests that the relationship is causal.