In an experiment, chimpanzees of a certain species gave researchers tokens from a bucket in exchange for grapes. For presentation...
GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions
In an experiment, chimpanzees of a certain species gave researchers tokens from a bucket in exchange for grapes. For presentation of a grey token, the chimpanzee who presented it got one grape; while presentation of red token brought two grapes; one grape for that chimpanzee and another grape for an unfamiliar chimpanzee visible through a screen. The chimpanzees usually choose the red tokens. The researchers concluded that chimpanzees of that species are motivated by the desire to help other chimpanzees as well as themselves.
Performing one or more experiments to answer which of the following question would contribute most to evaluate the interpretation given to the experiment described above?
Passage Analysis:
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
| In an experiment, chimpanzees of a certain species gave researchers tokens from a bucket in exchange for grapes. |
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| For presentation of a grey token, the chimpanzee who presented it got one grape; while presentation of red token brought two grapes; one grape for that chimpanzee and another grape for an unfamiliar chimpanzee visible through a screen. |
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| The chimpanzees usually choose the red tokens. |
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| The researchers concluded that chimpanzees of that species are motivated by the desire to help other chimpanzees as well as themselves. |
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Argument Flow:
The argument moves from experimental setup to results to interpretation. We start with the basic token-for-grape exchange, then learn the specific rules (grey = selfish, red = helpful), then see the results (mostly red choices), and finally get the researchers' explanation for why this happened.
Main Conclusion:
Chimpanzees are motivated by wanting to help other chimps, not just themselves.
Logical Structure:
The researchers use the chimps' preference for red tokens (which help another chimp) over grey tokens (which only help themselves) as evidence that chimps have altruistic motivations. The logic is: if chimps only cared about themselves, they'd pick grey tokens since both give them the same reward, but since they pick red tokens, they must care about helping others too.
Prethinking:
Question type:
Evaluate - We need to find experiments that would help us determine whether the researchers' interpretation (that chimps are motivated to help others) is actually correct or if there might be other explanations for why chimps chose red tokens.
Precision of Claims
The key claim is about motivation - specifically that chimps have a 'desire to help other chimpanzees.' This is making a claim about internal psychological states and intentions based on observed behavior (choosing red tokens more often).
Strategy
For evaluate questions, we need to think of assumptions the researchers are making and then create scenarios that would either strengthen or weaken their conclusion when tested. The researchers assume that choosing red tokens = wanting to help others. But what if there are other reasons chimps prefer red tokens? We should think of alternative explanations and ways to test them.
This asks about fruit preferences (grapes vs. other fruits), but this doesn't help us evaluate the interpretation. Whether chimps prefer grapes or not doesn't affect why they chose red tokens over grey tokens when both led to getting grapes. The question is about their motivation for the token choice, not their fruit preferences.
This asks about changing the number of grapes given for each token color. While this might provide some insights, it doesn't directly address potential alternative explanations for why chimps chose red tokens. It's more focused on reward quantity rather than the core question of whether the choice was motivated by helping others or other factors.
Testing different ape species would tell us about generalizability across species, but it wouldn't help us evaluate whether the researchers' interpretation of THIS experiment is correct. We need to understand why these chimps made their choices, not whether other species would do the same.
This directly addresses a key assumption in the researchers' interpretation. If chimps naturally prefer red objects over grey objects, this would provide an alternative explanation for their token choice that has nothing to do with wanting to help others. Testing color preferences is crucial because it could show that the red token preference was about color preference, not altruistic motivation. This experiment would either strengthen the researchers' conclusion (if no color preference exists) or weaken it significantly (if chimps do prefer red).
This asks whether the helping behavior is instinctive or learned, but this assumes that the behavior IS actually helping behavior. We first need to establish that the token choice was actually motivated by a desire to help (which is what the researchers concluded) before we can investigate whether such helping is instinctive or learned. This puts the cart before the horse.