Syllogism Question

[Davik]

I have a question about a problem on one of the tests. It says:

If there is a spaceship then there will be an uprising.
There is not a spaceship.

1. There was a cover-up.
2. There will be no uprising.
3. There is an uprising.
4. None of the above.

I chose #4 because there could still be an uprising even if there was no spaceship. There is no "Only if" clause in the first premise to preclude it. But according to the answer key, the answer was #2. "There will be no uprising." The logic the given was:

"If A then B.
Not A.
Not B."

I think it is mistaken. For one, I do not see this formula in the prep material. The closest one is 'If A then B. Not B. Not A." But that is different. Furthermore, as the instructor on the video said: Nothing in the statement ‘If A then B’ indicates that all other avenues to B are excluded, e.g., ‘If C then B.’ ‘If D then B.’ etc. Am I missing something here or is the answer given by the site wrong? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Jules2013]

Hi,

I have my PATI in a couple of days and I am still finding the Syllogisum section of the test a problem.
Any thoughts of how I can better understand and get my marks up??

Thanks

[hummerh1]

The way I approach syllogisms is to try and solve it before I even look at the possible answers.
If you search this forum I believe it was goldenbug took the time and made a great post on how to solve these problems and good luck on the test

[jgarcia]

If A then B
Not A...

then..

not B

there will be no Uprising.

As for your question about this:
I think it is mistaken. For one, I do not see this formula in the prep material. The closest one is 'If A then B. Not B. Not A." But that is different. Furthermore, as the instructor on the video said: Nothing in the statement ‘If A then B’ indicates that all other avenues to B are excluded, e.g., ‘If C then B.’ ‘If D then B.’ etc. Am I missing something here or is the answer given by the site wrong? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

You can follow that guidelines if the syllogism continues giving you more options, you can't assume anything that isn't there. In this particular scenario there are not C and D options, it is only A and B. The correct answer is #2.

cheers.