Critical Reasoning Flashcards

A company's annual report states that revenue increased by 15% while employee satisfaction scores dropped by 20%. A union representative concludes that the company is prioritizing profits over employee well-being. Which of the following, if true, most weakens the union representative's conclusion?

Answer: The revenue increase was primarily driven by automated systems that reduced repetitive tasks

If automated systems drove revenue growth while reducing repetitive tasks, the company may actually be improving working conditions. The correlation between rising revenue and falling satisfaction would be coincidental.

All students who passed the advanced mathematics module also passed the statistics module. Maria did not pass the statistics module. Which of the following must be true?

Answer: Maria did not pass the advanced mathematics module

Since all students who passed advanced mathematics also passed statistics, and Maria did not pass statistics, by contrapositive reasoning, Maria could not have passed advanced mathematics.

A school principal argues that replacing paper textbooks with tablets will improve student learning outcomes because students in a pilot program using tablets scored 12% higher on standardized tests. What is the most significant flaw in this reasoning?

Answer: The pilot program may have selected above-average students or included additional support not available to all students

The most significant flaw is selection bias. If the pilot group was not representative of the general student population, or received additional resources, the 12% improvement cannot be attributed solely to the tablets.

Consider the following statements: (1) No experienced researchers publish in predatory journals. (2) Some members of the faculty are not experienced researchers. Which conclusion can be validly drawn?

Answer: Some faculty members might publish in predatory journals

Since some faculty members are not experienced researchers, they are not covered by Statement 1's restriction. They might or might not publish in predatory journals.

A study found that countries with higher chocolate consumption per capita have more Nobel Prize winners. A journalist reports this as evidence that chocolate consumption enhances cognitive ability. Which reasoning error does the journalist commit?

Answer: Confusing correlation with causation

The journalist assumes that because two variables are correlated, one causes the other. This ignores confounding variables such as wealth, education spending, and research infrastructure.

If a proposed regulation would reduce industrial pollution by 30% but increase consumer prices by 8%, which of the following would be most relevant to evaluating whether the regulation should be implemented?

Answer: The total health care cost savings from reduced pollution-related illnesses

Healthcare cost savings directly allows a cost-benefit comparison with the 8% price increase, making it the most relevant factor for evaluation.