BCAT Critical Thinking

Question 1

A BCAT candidate reads: 'All law students who passed the BCAT scored above 60. James scored above 60.' What conclusion can be drawn?

Accepted Answer

James may or may not have passed the BCAT

Answer

Scoring above 60 is a necessary condition for passing, not a sufficient one — James could have scored above 60 for other reasons.

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of an ad hominem fallacy in a legal argument?

Accepted Answer

Attacking the opponent's character rather than their argument

Answer

Ad hominem attacks the person making the argument rather than addressing the substance of the argument itself.

Question 3

In critical thinking for the BCAT, a 'straw man' fallacy occurs when:

Accepted Answer

You misrepresent an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack

Answer

A straw man replaces an opponent's real argument with a distorted version that is easier to defeat.

Question 4

Which reasoning error is present in: 'We should reject the new evidence because the lawyer who presented it has been wrong before'?

Accepted Answer

Ad hominem

Answer

Dismissing evidence based on the presenter's past record rather than evaluating the evidence itself is ad hominem.

Question 5

A BCAT passage states: 'Either the defendant was at the scene or he is innocent.' This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

A false dichotomy

Answer

This is a false dichotomy because there may be other possibilities, such as being at the scene but still innocent.

BCAT - Bar Course Aptitude Test Practice Test