Critical Thinking and Argumentation Flashcards

An executive argues: 'Our new product launch was a success because sales increased last quarter.' Which of the following most seriously weakens this argument?

Answer: Overall market sales for all competitors also increased last quarter due to seasonal demand.

If all competitors also saw increased sales due to seasonal demand, the rise cannot be attributed specifically to the product launch.

Which of the following is an example of a hasty generalization?

Answer: I met two rude people from City X, so everyone from City X must be rude.

Concluding that all people from a city are rude based on only two encounters is a hasty generalization from an insufficient sample.

Premise 1: All strategy consultants are strong analytical thinkers. Premise 2: Maria is a strong analytical thinker. What can be validly concluded?

Answer: Maria might or might not be a strategy consultant.

Being a strong analytical thinker is a necessary condition for strategy consultants but not sufficient; other people can also be strong analytical thinkers.

A politician says: 'You are either with us on this policy, or you are against progress.' This statement is an example of which fallacy?

Answer: False dichotomy

Presenting only two options when more exist is a false dichotomy; one can oppose the specific policy without opposing progress in general.

A company report states: 'Employee engagement scores rose 15% after the new wellness program launched. Therefore, the wellness program caused greater engagement.' Which assumption is the argument relying on?

Answer: No other significant changes occurred in the company during the same period.

The causal claim requires ruling out confounding factors; if other changes occurred simultaneously, they might explain the increase instead.

Read the argument: 'Reducing working hours will decrease productivity. Therefore, we should not reduce working hours.' Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the argument?

Answer: A meta-analysis of 50 companies found that productivity fell in 80% of cases after working-hour reductions.

Evidence from 80% of companies in a large meta-analysis directly supports the premise that reducing hours decreases productivity.

Which of the following best describes the logical structure of this argument? 'Students who study daily perform better on exams. Carlos performs well on exams. Therefore, Carlos studies daily.'

Answer: Affirming the consequent

The argument commits the fallacy of affirming the consequent: it wrongly infers the cause from the effect when other causes may produce the same effect.