Identifying Logical Fallacies Flashcards
6 cards from real HSRT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Identifying Logical Fallacies flashcards as text
A physician argues: 'Either we prescribe this new expensive antibiotic, or the patient will die.' The patient has a mild urinary tract infection. This argument commits which fallacy?
Answer: False dilemma — the argument artificially restricts options to two when multiple alternatives exist
A false dilemma presents only two options when more exist. For a mild UTI, multiple antibiotic options, watchful waiting, and other treatments are available.
During a team meeting, a senior surgeon says: 'I've done this procedure for 25 years without complications, so there's no need to update our protocol.' Which fallacy is this?
Answer: Appeal to tradition — past practice is used to justify resistance to evidence-based updates
Appealing to 'how it's always been done' as justification for not updating practice is the appeal to tradition fallacy.
A clinical ethics committee member argues: 'If we allow terminally ill patients to refuse treatment, soon doctors will be pressured to euthanize all elderly patients.' This argument exemplifies:
Answer: Slippery slope — an unwarranted assumption that one action will inevitably lead to a series of extreme consequences
A slippery slope argument assumes, without justification, that one action leads inevitably through a chain of events to a harmful extreme outcome.
A nurse says to a patient: 'Dr. Smith is an expert in cardiology, so his recommendation that all patients should take aspirin daily must be correct.' This exemplifies:
Answer: Appeal to authority — expertise in one domain does not make all claims in that domain automatically correct
While expertise is a factor in credibility, inferring that a statement must be correct simply because an expert said it is an appeal to authority.
A hospital administrator argues against hiring more night nurses: 'The last nurse we hired for nights called in sick three times in two months. You can see why night nurses are unreliable.' This commits which fallacy?
Answer: Hasty generalization — drawing a broad conclusion about all night nurses from a single case
Generalizing from one data point (one nurse's absenteeism) to an entire category (all night nurses) is a hasty generalization.
During a clinical debate, a colleague says: 'You think we should reduce antibiotic prescribing, but you also took antibiotics last year. You're a hypocrite.' This is an example of:
Answer: Ad hominem (tu quoque) — attacking the person's alleged inconsistency rather than addressing the argument
Tu quoque ('you too') attacks the speaker's personal behavior rather than addressing the substance of the argument, which is a form of ad hominem.