Loading...
Scientist: In an experiment, dogs had access to a handle they could pull to release food into a nearby enclosure that contained a familiar dog and nothing else, contained an unfamiliar dog and nothing else, or was empty. The dogs typically released more food to the familiar dog than to the unfamiliar dog. This suggests that dogs are more motivated to help other dogs they know than to help unfamiliar dogs.
The scientist's argument would be most strengthened if it were true that, in the experiment, the dogs with access to the handle tended to release more food when
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| In an experiment, dogs had access to a handle they could pull to release food into a nearby enclosure that contained a familiar dog and nothing else, contained an unfamiliar dog and nothing else, or was empty. |
|
| The dogs typically released more food to the familiar dog than to the unfamiliar dog. |
|
| This suggests that dogs are more motivated to help other dogs they know than to help unfamiliar dogs. |
|
The scientist starts with experimental setup, presents the key finding about food distribution patterns, and then draws a conclusion about dog motivation based on this behavior pattern.
Dogs are more motivated to help other dogs they know than to help unfamiliar dogs.
The scientist uses experimental evidence (dogs gave more food to familiar dogs) to support a claim about underlying motivation (dogs are more motivated to help familiar dogs). The link assumes that giving more food directly reflects higher motivation to help.
Strengthen - We need to find information that would make the scientist's conclusion more believable. The conclusion is that dogs are more motivated to help familiar dogs than unfamiliar ones.
The key claim is about motivation/preference - dogs being 'more motivated' to help familiar dogs. The evidence is behavioral - releasing 'more food' to familiar vs unfamiliar dogs. We need to bridge the gap between observed behavior and claimed motivation.
To strengthen this argument, we need information that rules out alternative explanations for why dogs gave more food to familiar dogs, or provides additional evidence that this behavior specifically reflects helping motivation rather than other factors like excitement, recognition patterns, or non-helping behaviors.