Critical Analysis Flashcards
7 cards from real LNAT practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Critical Analysis flashcards as text
A politician states: 'Crime rates fell every year I was in office, proving my policies worked.' What is the primary flaw in this reasoning?
Answer: Correlation is mistaken for causation
Falling crime rates during a tenure does not prove the politician's policies caused the decline, as many other factors could be responsible.
Which of the following best describes a 'straw man' fallacy?
Answer: Misrepresenting an opponent's position to make it easier to attack
A straw man fallacy involves distorting or exaggerating an opponent's argument to make it easier to refute.
A study claims that people who eat breakfast daily earn higher salaries. A newspaper headline reads: 'Eating Breakfast Makes You Richer.' What error has the newspaper made?
Answer: Inferring causation from correlation
The newspaper wrongly implies breakfast causes higher salaries, when the study only shows an association that could be explained by other variables.
An arguer claims: 'Either you support this new law or you are against public safety.' This is an example of which fallacy?
Answer: False dichotomy
The argument presents only two options when in reality there are more nuanced positions possible.
A passage argues that because medieval scholars believed the Earth was flat, people today should question scientific consensus. Which principle best counters this argument?
Answer: Past errors in belief do not invalidate the current scientific method
The fact that past beliefs were wrong does not mean current well-evidenced consensus is similarly flawed; the argument conflates historical error with perpetual doubt.
Which of the following is the strongest counterargument to: 'We should not legalize marijuana because it is a gateway drug'?
Answer: The gateway drug claim lacks robust empirical support and ignores social factors
Challenging the empirical basis and causal mechanism of the gateway claim is the most direct and logically strong response.
In evaluating an argument's validity, which question is most important to ask?
Answer: Does the conclusion follow necessarily from the premises if they are true?
Validity concerns the logical relationship between premises and conclusion, not the popularity or source of the argument.