FAST Critical Thinking and Decision Making 5

Question 1

A team must decide quickly under time pressure with incomplete information. The best critical thinking approach is to:

Accepted Answer

Identify the most critical unknowns, make the best decision possible, and build in a review checkpoint

Answer

Delay all decisions until complete information is available

Answer

Assign the decision to the most senior person to avoid blame

Answer

Use the solution that worked in the most recent similar situation

Question 2

Which of the following best demonstrates inductive reasoning?

Accepted Answer

Every project completed on Monday this year finished under budget, so Monday project starts tend to be cost-efficient

Answer

All mammals are warm-blooded; whales are mammals; therefore whales are warm-blooded

Answer

If a rule applies universally, it must apply in this specific case

Answer

The policy states all vendors must be pre-approved, so this vendor requires pre-approval

Question 3

A risk assessment rates an event as high-impact but very low-probability. The most rational response is to:

Accepted Answer

Develop a contingency plan proportional to the potential impact

Answer

Ignore it since it is unlikely to occur

Answer

Treat it with the same urgency as a high-probability event

Answer

Eliminate all activities associated with the risk immediately

Question 4

An employee notices her team consistently attributes project failures to external factors (bad luck, poor client) but takes full credit for successes. This pattern is called:

Accepted Answer

Self-serving bias

Answer

Confirmation bias

Answer

Fundamental attribution error

Answer

Optimism bias

Question 5

When evaluating an argument, which question is most useful for identifying a hidden assumption?

Accepted Answer

What must be true for the conclusion to follow from the premises?

Answer

How long did the author spend writing this?

Answer

Does the author have any academic credentials?

Answer

How many sources are cited in the argument?

Question 6

A decision tree shows two paths: Path X yields $80,000 with 70% probability and -$20,000 with 30% probability. Path Y yields $50,000 with certainty. What is the expected value of Path X?

Accepted Answer

$56,000

Answer

$50,000

Answer

$60,000

Answer

$62,000

Question 7

Which of the following is the strongest evidence that a conclusion is well-supported?

Accepted Answer

Multiple independent, peer-reviewed studies consistently reach the same conclusion

Answer

The conclusion is held by the majority of people in the organization

Answer

A highly respected expert personally endorses the conclusion

Answer

The conclusion has been published in a widely read industry magazine