General Critical Thinking and Problem Solving 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The 'straw man' fallacy occurs when someone:
- Relies on emotion instead of evidence
- Misrepresents an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack (Correct answer)
- Appeals to an authority that is not relevant to the topic
- Uses circular reasoning to support a claim
Correct answer: Misrepresents an opponent's argument to make it easier to attack
The straw man fallacy involves distorting or exaggerating someone else's position to make it easier to refute, rather than addressing the actual argument.
Question 2: Which of the following is an example of inductive reasoning?
- All mammals breathe air; whales are mammals; therefore whales breathe air
- The sun has risen every morning for millions of years; therefore it will rise tomorrow (Correct answer)
- If it rains, the ground gets wet; the ground is wet; therefore it rained
- Either it is day or it is night; it is not day; therefore it is night
Correct answer: The sun has risen every morning for millions of years; therefore it will rise tomorrow
Inductive reasoning draws probable conclusions from observed patterns or repeated events, making the sun-rising example a classic case of inductive inference.
Question 3: When brainstorming solutions to a problem, which approach is MOST effective?
- Evaluate and reject ideas as they are suggested
- Focus only on conventional, proven solutions
- Generate as many ideas as possible without immediate judgment (Correct answer)
- Limit ideas to what resources are currently available
Correct answer: Generate as many ideas as possible without immediate judgment
Effective brainstorming encourages quantity and suspends judgment during the idea-generation phase so that creative solutions are not prematurely dismissed.
Question 4: What is the primary purpose of a 'root cause analysis'?
- To assign blame for a problem
- To identify the fundamental reason a problem occurred (Correct answer)
- To generate a list of possible solutions
- To document the history of past problems
Correct answer: To identify the fundamental reason a problem occurred
Root cause analysis aims to identify the underlying, fundamental cause of a problem so that it can be permanently resolved rather than just treating symptoms.
Question 5: The '5 Whys' technique is primarily used to:
- Evaluate five potential solutions to a problem
- Ask five stakeholders for their perspectives
- Drill down to the root cause by repeatedly asking 'why' (Correct answer)
- Identify five key risks in a project
Correct answer: Drill down to the root cause by repeatedly asking 'why'
The 5 Whys technique involves asking 'why' up to five times in succession to move past surface-level symptoms and uncover the root cause of a problem.
Question 6: Which term describes the cognitive error of overestimating the likelihood of events based on how easily examples come to mind?
- Anchoring bias
- Availability heuristic (Correct answer)
- Sunk cost fallacy
- Dunning-Kruger effect
Correct answer: Availability heuristic
The availability heuristic leads people to judge probability based on how quickly related examples come to mind, which can distort risk assessment.
Question 7: A cost-benefit analysis is used to:
- Track the expenses incurred during a project
- Compare the total expected costs against the total expected benefits of a decision (Correct answer)
- Identify all possible risks of a new initiative
- Measure employee performance against targets
Correct answer: Compare the total expected costs against the total expected benefits of a decision
Cost-benefit analysis systematically compares the costs and benefits of a course of action to determine whether it is worth pursuing.
General Critical Thinking and Problem Solving 2
The 'straw man' fallacy occurs when someone: