Reporter: A team of scientists has recently devised a new test that for the first time accurately diagnoses autism in children as young as 18 months old. When used to evaluate 16,000 children at their 18-month checkup, the test correctly diagnosed all 10 children later confirmed to be autistic, though it also wrongly identified 2 children as autistic. Autistic children can therefore now benefit much earlier in life than before from the treatments already available.
Question: Which one of the following is an assumption on which the reporter’s argument depends?
Options:
A. No test intended for diagnosing autism at such an early age existed before the new test was devised.
B. A diagnostic test that sometimes falsely gives a positive diagnosis can still provide a reasonable basis for treatment decisions.
C. The new test can be used to evaluate all children, regardless of the level of development of their verbal skills.
D. Those children incorrectly identified as autistic will not be adversely affected by treatments aimed at helping autistic children.
E. There was no reliable evidence that autism could affect children so young until the advent of the new test.
Answer: B