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Absolute, or perfect, pitch - the ability to identify the pitch of an isolated musical note - is rare in the general population, but relatively common among trained musicians. A survey of fifteen- year-old music students showed that absolute pitch was more common among those who had been studying music since a very early age than among those who started studying a few years later. Thus very early musical training aids in the development of absolute pitch.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
| Absolute, or perfect, pitch - the ability to identify the pitch of an isolated musical note - is rare in the general population, but relatively common among trained musicians. |
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| A survey of fifteen-year-old music students showed that absolute pitch was more common among those who had been studying music since a very early age than among those who started studying a few years later. |
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| Thus very early musical training aids in the development of absolute pitch. |
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The argument starts by establishing what absolute pitch is and that musicians have it more often than regular people. Then it presents survey evidence showing that among music students, those who started early have absolute pitch more frequently than those who started later. Finally, it concludes that early training causes or helps develop absolute pitch.
Very early musical training aids in the development of absolute pitch.
This is a causal argument. The author uses the correlation found in the survey (early starters have absolute pitch more often than later starters) as evidence to support a causal claim (early training helps develop absolute pitch). The logic assumes that the timing difference is what causes the difference in absolute pitch rates.
Weaken - We need to find information that would reduce our belief in the conclusion that very early musical training aids in the development of absolute pitch
The argument makes a causal claim about the relationship between timing of musical training (very early vs later start) and development of absolute pitch ability. The key comparison is between 15-year-old music students who started early versus those who started later.
To weaken this causal argument, we need to find alternative explanations for why early starters have absolute pitch more often than later starters. We should look for scenarios that suggest the correlation isn't due to early training helping develop absolute pitch, but rather due to other factors. We can attack the causal relationship by showing reverse causation, third variable explanations, or sampling issues.
This choice tells us that young children with absolute pitch might not realize they have it until adolescence. However, this doesn't weaken the argument at all. The survey looked at 15-year-old students who would be adolescents, so by this point they would have realized their ability. This choice doesn't provide any alternative explanation for why early starters have absolute pitch more often than later starters.
This choice states that having absolute pitch can reduce enjoyment of musical performances. This is completely irrelevant to the argument. We're trying to determine whether early training helps develop absolute pitch, not whether absolute pitch is good or bad for musical enjoyment. This choice doesn't address the causal relationship between training timing and absolute pitch development.
This choice says most musicians with absolute pitch started training before age seven. This actually strengthens rather than weakens the argument, as it supports the idea that early training is associated with absolute pitch. If anything, this provides additional evidence for the conclusion that early training aids absolute pitch development.
This choice states that developing absolute pitch is never the goal of early musical training. However, this doesn't weaken the argument because the argument doesn't claim that early training intentionally develops absolute pitch - just that it aids in development. Many biological and cognitive developments happen as unintended side effects of activities, so the lack of intentionality doesn't undermine the causal claim.
This choice provides a powerful alternative explanation for the survey findings. Instead of early training developing absolute pitch, this suggests reverse causation: children who naturally have absolute pitch are more motivated to continue their musical studies from an early age, while children without this ability are more likely to quit. This means the survey would naturally find more absolute pitch among early starters not because training developed the ability, but because children with the ability were more likely to persist in training from early ages. This seriously undermines the argument's causal conclusion.