Which of the following best identifies a misuse of evidence or logic in the passage?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When evaluating which choice best identifies a misuse of evidence or logic in the passage, I will examine each option for typical red flags such as misapplied statistics, inappropriate authority, outdated or irrelevant sources, or evidence that overgeneralizes.
Option a) 'The citation of the American Pediatric Society's screen time statistics' In many contexts, citing a professional society for screen time statistics is a legitimate way to support claims about child development or health. The misuse would only occur if the statistics were taken out of context, misrepresented, or applied to a population or outcome not covered by the source. As stated, this option does not inherently indicate a misuse.
Option b) 'The quotation from Dr. Romero about developmental milestones' Quoting a clinician or expert about developmental milestones can be appropriate evidence, provided Dr. Romero is a qualified professional and the quote accurately reflects established knowledge or consensus. A potential issue would be if the quotation is taken out of context, is misattributed, or presents a personal opinion as a general rule. In isolation, this option does not definitively show misuse, but context matters.
Option c) 'The reference to the 2022 review in Child Development' Citing a peer-reviewed review from a reputable journal is typically strong evidence, especially if the review is relevant to the claim and up-to-date. A misuse would occur if the passage ignores limitations of the review, cherry-picks findings, or applies conclusions beyond what the review supports. Without such caveats, this option seems like a solid source rather than misuse.
Option d) 'The survey reporting that 92% of parents observed "no negative effects"' This choice signals several common logical and evidentiary problems. Surveys about parental observations can suffer from self-selection bias, non-representative samples, lack of definitions for what counts as "negative effects," and absence of a control or causal linkage. Additionally, parental perception does not establish objective outcomes and can be influenced by placebo effects, social desirability, or misattribution. When a passage relies on such a survey to assert broad normative claims without addressing these limitations, it constitutes a misuse of evidence or logic.
Across the options, the core issue to watch for is whether the source and context actually support the claim, or whether the passage relies on an evidence form that is prone to bias, misinterpretation, or overgeneralization. The most problematic candidate is the one that introduces a fragile or inappropriate inference from a weak or biased data point to broad conclusions about effects, causality, or general applicability, which aligns with the typical misuse patterns in evidence-based reasoning. The other options, while potential concerns in some contexts, do not inherently demonstrate misuse without additional contextual flags such as misquotation, misattribution, or misapplication of the source.

Which of the following best identifies a misuse of evidence or logic in the passage?

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