The following appeared as part of a letter to the editor of a scientific journal.
"A recent study of eighteen rhesus monkeys provides clues as to the effects of birth order on an individual's levels of stimulation. The study showed that in stimulating situations (such as an encounter with an unfamiliar monkey), firstborn infant monkeys produce up to twice as much of the hormone cortisol, which primes the body for increased activity levels, as do their younger siblings. Firstborn humans also produce relatively high levels of cortisol in stimulating situations (such as the return of a parent after an absence). The study also found that during pregnancy, first-time mother monkeys had higher levels of cortisol than did those who had had several offspring."
Write a response in which you discuss one or more alternative explanations that could rival the proposed explanation and explain how your explanation(s) can plausibly account for the facts presented in the argument.
The argument states a study which was conducted on eighteen rhesus monkeys to study the effects of birth order on an individuals level of stimulation. Stimulation refers to a situation where the bodily functions are increased leading to activated responses. To study stimulations a number of factors have to be considered. There are many flaws with the proposed study.
Firstly, to study any particular trait in a large species studying only eighteen individuals will not provide substantial evidence to conclude the studies. Thus the eighteen monkeys could have been selected from a single region or having the same environment not validating the study. To study such traits it is important to collect data or samples in this case the rhesus monkeys from various environments to study a single factor and how the response varies within a species. Thus the data set or sample space should be larger for the study to be validated.
Secondly, the basic factor for stimulation studied in the argument is the absence or presence of care taker or mother. Only a single condition is provided to study its effects and the production of cortisol hormone. It is stated that the first born monkey showed twice as much cortisol production when compared to his younger siblings. This observation could be argued as it may so happen that the younger siblings require a certain age or more stimulating environments for producing the same amount of cortisol hormone as the first born and thus to conclude that the younger siblings are incapable of that much hormone production will be a flaw in the study.
The statement that the first time mother monkeys had higher levels of cortisol than those who had several off springs does not provide any substantial evidence for the conclusion of the study. It may so happen that the cortisol levels in the body have nothing to do with the times the monkey has been pregnant but is a basic phenomena that occurs in the monkey system and thus decreases with each time the monkey becomes pregnant again.
The stimulation conditions are based on only one study of absence and presence of the mother and thus flaw the argument as the cortisol production could vary with more stimulating or different environment conditions. The scientist could have considered other factors that led to the response of the hormone production if only on the set of eighteen rhesus monkeys.
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flaws:
This is a new GRE essay topic which is a bit different to those arguments essays.
You don't need to find flaws from the arguments but are asked to 'discuss one or more alternative explanations that could rival the proposed explanation...'
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