Critical Thinking and Argumentation Flashcards

A marketing manager argues: 'Our ad campaign must have worked — brand awareness jumped 20% after we ran it.' Which of the following, if true, most undermines this conclusion?

Answer: A viral news story unrelated to the campaign prominently featured the company during the same period.

A viral news story provides an alternative explanation for the awareness increase, undermining the claim that the ad campaign caused it.

Which of the following is an example of an appeal to authority used invalidly?

Answer: A famous actor endorses a brand of running shoes as superior for athletic performance.

An actor's fame does not qualify them to judge athletic shoe performance; this is an invalid appeal to celebrity rather than relevant expertise.

Statement: 'If the economy grows, unemployment falls. The economy has not grown. Therefore, unemployment has not fallen.' What type of reasoning error does this represent?

Answer: Denying the antecedent

Denying the antecedent occurs when someone incorrectly concludes that because the condition is absent, the result must also be absent, ignoring other possible causes.

An analyst claims: 'Ice cream sales and drowning rates both peak in summer; therefore, ice cream causes drowning.' This is an example of:

Answer: Confusing correlation with causation

Both variables are driven by a third factor (hot weather and increased outdoor activity), not by a causal relationship between ice cream and drowning.

Which of the following most accurately identifies a hidden assumption in this argument? 'We should invest in renewable energy because fossil fuel reserves are finite.'

Answer: Finite fossil fuel reserves make renewable energy a worthwhile investment.

The argument implicitly assumes that the finiteness of fossil fuels is a sufficient reason to switch investment to renewables, linking the premise to the conclusion.

A CEO says: 'Our competitor failed because they expanded too quickly. We must therefore never expand quickly.' Which flaw in reasoning does this illustrate?

Answer: Overgeneralizing from a single case to form a universal rule

Drawing a universal rule ('never expand quickly') from one competitor's failure is an overgeneralization; rapid expansion succeeds in many other cases.

Evaluate the following argument: 'This investment must be safe because no investor has complained about losses.' What is the primary weakness?

Answer: Absence of complaints does not prove safety; investors may be unaware of losses or reluctant to report them.

Silence (absence of evidence) is not evidence of absence; investors may not yet have realized losses or may not report them.