chocolate lovers

[uytrebla]

Chocolate lovers often consume excessive amounts of chocolate when they are under stress. Since this overconsumption is often followed by an acne episode, it follows that eating chocolate is one cause of acne attacks in those individuals susceptible to acne.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument above?

C) Overconsumption of rich sweets other than chocolate has been found to be correlated with acne episodes.
D) Hormonal changes associated with stress often lead to acne episodes.



Answer: choice D. Hormonal changes associated with stress often lead to acne episodes.

Quesiton: I kinda understand why D is a better answer but I just need someone to explain to me why choice C is wrong ( Overconsumption of rich sweets other than chocolate has been found to be correlated with acne episodes) Is it because the overconsumption of rich sweets does not CAUSE but correlates to acne episode.

Thank you

[Erin]

D is the classic "other cause" answer to weaken.

C says that other sweets also causes increases in acne. Just because other things cause the same reaction doesn't mean that chocolate doesn't cause it. In fact, if other sweets cause it, it's quite possible that chocolate could also cause it, since chocolate is also sweet. At any rate, we would need information that people actually 'overconsumed' rich sweets, too, which we don't have.

Here's a simpler, analogous CR:

Some people consume excessive amounts of food when they are under stress. Since these people often gain weight afterward, eating excessive amounts of food must cause people to gain weight.

Weaken:

C) Consuming excessive amounts of liquor has also been found to cause weight gain (but do we know that these people drink more when they are stressed out????)
D) Decreases in one's energy level when people are stressed out make them less physically active (other cause--perhaps it's not the overconsumption of food that is causing the weight gain, it is the decrease in physical activity that is causing it)