LSAT 148 – Section 1 – Question 09

LSAT 148 - Section 1 - Question 09

December 2016

You need a full course to see this video. Enroll now and get started in less than a minute.

Ask a tutor

Target time: 0:52

This is question data from the 7Sage LSAT Scorer. You can score your LSATs, track your results, and analyze your performance with pretty charts and vital statistics - all with a Free Account ← sign up in less than 10 seconds

Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT148 S1 Q09
+LR
Sufficient assumption +SA
Causal Reasoning +CausR
Net Effect +NetEff
Link Assumption +LinkA
A
1%
154
B
0%
C
2%
156
D
97%
162
E
0%
151
120
129
139
 +Easiest 142.771 +SubsectionEasier

J.Y.’s explanation

You need a full course to see this video. Enroll now and get started in less than a minute.

Some managers think that the best way to maximize employee performance is to institute stiff competition among employees. However, in situations where one competitor is perceived to be clearly superior, other competitors become anxious and doubt their own ability to perform. Thus, stiff competition can undermine the result it was intended to achieve.

Summary
The author concludes that stiff competition can undermine employee performance. This is based on the fact that if one competitor is perceived to be clearly superior, other competitors become anxious and doubt their own ability to perform.

Missing Connection
The conclusion asserts that competition can hurt employee performance. But the premise establishes only that competition might lead to other competitors becoming anxious and having self-doubt about their performance. Do these feelings actually undermine performance? We have no reason to think so. Maybe those feelings actually spur people to perform better? To make the argument valid, we want to establish that feelings of anxiety or self-doubt about one’s ability to perform undermine employee performance.

A
Those who are perceived to be clearly superior almost always win.
(A) doesn’t establish anything about what undermines employee performance. Since neither this answer nor the premise establishes that something undermines employee performance, it cannot make the argument valid.
B
The winner of a competition is often the competitor who exerts the most effort.
(B) doesn’t establish anything about what undermines employee performance. Since neither this answer nor the premise establishes that something undermines employee performance, it cannot make the argument valid.
C
When competitors perceive the competition as winnable, their overall performance generally improves.
(C) doesn’t establish anything about what undermines employee performance. Since neither this answer nor the premise establishes that something undermines employee performance, it cannot make the argument valid. In addition, (C) tells us what improves performance. We’re trying to conclude that something hurts performance.
D
Doubting one’s own ability to perform can decrease one’s overall performance.
(D) connects doubting one’s own ability to perform to undermining employee performance. If (D) is true, stiff competition, because it can lead to self-doubt about ability to perform, hurts employee performance.
E
Competitors who work to undermine the confidence of other participants often do better in competitions.
(E) doesn’t establish anything about what undermines employee performance. Since neither this answer nor the premise establishes that something undermines employee performance, it cannot make the argument valid.

Take PrepTest

Review Results

LSAT PrepTest 148 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Reading Comprehension

Section 3 - Logical Reasoning

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

Get full LSAT course

Leave a Reply