Critical Thinking and Argumentation Flashcards

A researcher concludes: 'Countries with higher chocolate consumption have more Nobel laureates per capita; therefore, eating chocolate boosts cognitive performance.' Which statement best identifies the error?

Answer: Wealth is a confounding variable — richer countries afford more chocolate and also invest more in education and research.

National wealth explains both higher chocolate consumption and greater Nobel Prize output; the correlation does not imply a causal link between chocolate and intelligence.

Which of the following arguments is logically valid?

Answer: All mammals breathe air. Dolphins are mammals. Therefore, dolphins breathe air.

This syllogism is valid: if all mammals breathe air and dolphins are mammals, it necessarily follows that dolphins breathe air.

A manager says: 'We have always done it this way, and the company has been profitable, so we should continue.' Which fallacy is this?

Answer: Appeal to tradition

Justifying a practice purely because it has been followed historically, without evaluating its merits, is an appeal to tradition.

Which of the following best represents a valid modus tollens argument?

Answer: If the system fails, alerts trigger. Alerts did not trigger. Therefore, the system did not fail.

Modus tollens: 'If P then Q; not Q; therefore not P.' Alerts not triggering allows the valid inference that the system did not fail.

An entrepreneur argues: 'Critics said social media would ruin communication, but it has connected billions of people. Critics must be wrong about artificial intelligence harming jobs too.' What is the main flaw?

Answer: Being wrong about one prediction does not make a critic wrong about an entirely different prediction.

A poor track record in one domain does not invalidate a source's judgement on an unrelated topic; each claim must be evaluated on its own merits.

Which of the following best describes circular reasoning?

Answer: Using a premise as its own evidence: 'This policy is good because it is beneficial.'

Circular reasoning (begging the question) uses the conclusion itself as a premise, offering no independent support for the claim.

A business school applicant argues: 'My GMAT score is in the 95th percentile, so I will definitely succeed in the MBA program.' Which assumption is most critical to examine?

Answer: GMAT scores are the sole determinant of MBA success.

The argument implicitly treats a high GMAT score as a sufficient condition for MBA success, ignoring other critical factors like teamwork, leadership, and resilience.