Question 130·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Craft and Structure

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Text 1

Ecologist Mina Serrano argues that researchers should distinguish a social cue's influence on behavior from the value of acting on that cue. Evidence that making a cue available changes an animal's choice can establish cue use. But to determine whether animals rely on the cue less under one environmental condition than another, researchers should not simply compare choice rates when the cue is available: those rates may partly reflect differences in choices that would occur without the cue. Instead, researchers should compare the effect of cue availability within each condition. Whether acting on the cue improves the outcome should be assessed separately.

Text 2

Asha Malik and colleagues studied nectar-feeding bats under two schedules. Under the persistent schedule, a feeder cluster visited by a demonstrator was replenished before a focal bat's release; under the fleeting schedule, the nectar was moved elsewhere. A screen revealed or concealed only the demonstrator's return corridor, while other sights, sounds, and feeder odors were held constant across screen conditions. When the corridor was visible, 72 percent of bats under the persistent schedule and 56 percent under the fleeting schedule chose the demonstrated cluster. When the corridor was concealed, the corresponding rates were 51 percent and 35 percent. Seeing the route shortened search time only under the persistent schedule. The researchers concluded that the bats used the route, that the route's value depended on resource persistence, and that the bats reduced their reliance on it under the fleeting schedule, citing the lower visible-corridor choice rate in that schedule.

Based on the texts, how would Serrano most likely evaluate Malik and colleagues' conclusion?

A question about two texts tests whether you can use one author's reasoning to judge the other's claims. Read the question to find who answers whom, then put each text's main point in a few words. When a conclusion has several parts, judge each part separately. Use the responding author's own reason, because agreement or disagreement alone doesn't tell you enough. A choice goes too far if any part lacks support in the texts.

Hints

Hint 1
Serrano is the one evaluating the study. Break Malik's conclusion into its three claims so you can judge each using Serrano's rules.
Hint 2
Look for what Serrano says to compare within each condition. Apply that comparison to the visible and concealed rates for each nectar schedule.
Hint 3
Calculate the change from concealed to visible under each schedule. Then ask which part of Malik's conclusion the search-time result helps you judge.

Step-by-step

Judge each claim by Serrano's rules
Step 1
Separate the three claims
Malik concludes that the bats used the route, its value depended on persistence, and reliance fell under the fleeting schedule. Who judges these three claims? The question names Serrano, so we'll use Serrano's own reasons to judge each part of Malik's conclusion.
Step 2
Find Serrano's test
What does Serrano count as reliance? She says to compare the effect of cue availability within each condition, so we'll subtract the concealed rate from the visible rate for each schedule. Serrano separates influence from value. Value asks whether acting on the cue improves the outcome, such as by shortening the bats' search.
Step 3
Compare visibility's effect
How much did seeing the route change choices? Under the persistent schedule, 72 − 51 = 21 percentage points; under the fleeting schedule, 56 − 35 = 21 percentage points. Both increases show route use because the other cues were held constant, and the cue's effect is the same size. The fleeting schedule also has a lower concealed rate, so its lower visible rate doesn't show that the bats reduced their reliance on it under the fleeting schedule.
Step 4
Use search time to judge value
What about the route's value? Seeing the route shortened search time only under the persistent schedule. That benefit supports the claim that value depends on persistence, so Serrano would accept only part of the conclusion. The choice with reject the claim of reduced reliance keeps the supported use and value claims. Choice D.

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SAT Reading: Craft and StructureAdvancedCoreText 1 and Text 2: how would one author respond?

Question 130·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Craft and Structure

Text 1

Text 2

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