SAT Reading & Writing · Command of Evidence (textual)
Cleaner wrasse fish sometimes "cheat" by biting a client fish's protective mucus instead of removing parasites as expected, but…
Cleaner wrasse fish sometimes "cheat" by biting a client fish's protective mucus instead of removing parasites as expected, but researchers observed that wrasse behave more cooperatively when other potential future clients are watching the interaction. A marine biologist proposes that this audience-dependent behavior demonstrates the fish possess human-like moral reasoning about reputation. Which finding would most directly undermine this proposal?
Answer and explanation
Answer: D: The same audience-dependent shift toward cooperative behavior has been documented in several other fish and invertebrate species not considered capable of moral reasoning, suggesting the pattern can…
The biologist's claim is specifically about the sophistication of the underlying mechanism, human-like moral reasoning, not just about the existence of the behavior pattern. D directly challenges that mechanism by showing the same audience-sensitive pattern shows up in animals with far simpler cognition, which means moral reasoning isn't a necessary explanation for the pattern. A describes baseline cooperative behavior without observers, which doesn't address the audience-effect claim at all. C and B are true background facts about client relationships and interaction frequency that don't bear on the mechanism question.
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