Critical Thinking Flashcards
7 cards from real Mettl 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 Thinking flashcards as text
A company's HR director says: 'Our top performers all drink coffee, so we should encourage all employees to drink coffee to improve performance.' The weakest point in this argument is:
Answer: Top performance may cause coffee drinking, not the reverse—or both may share a common cause.
The argument ignores reverse causality and confounding variables—high performers may simply have habits that include coffee without coffee causing their success.
Which of the following best defines a 'red herring' fallacy?
Answer: Introducing an irrelevant topic to distract from the original issue
A red herring diverts attention from the real issue by raising something unrelated.
A researcher concludes: 'Because no studies have proven that this supplement is harmful, it must be safe.' This reasoning is flawed because:
Answer: Absence of evidence of harm is not the same as evidence of safety.
The 'appeal to ignorance' fallacy treats a lack of disproof as proof of the positive claim.
A CEO argues: 'We've always done it this way, and the company has been profitable.' Which fallacy is this?
Answer: Appeal to tradition
Appealing to tradition assumes that past practice is justified simply because it is established, ignoring whether alternatives might be better.
In a logical argument, what is the role of a 'premise'?
Answer: A statement offered as evidence or reason to support the conclusion
Premises are the supporting statements from which a conclusion is derived.
Which of the following scenarios demonstrates confirmation bias?
Answer: A recruiter only remembers interview answers that confirm their initial impression of a candidate.
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek, favor, and recall information that supports existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence.
A product manager says: 'Expert consultant Dr. Smith recommends our pricing strategy, so it must be optimal.' Which fallacy is present?
Answer: Appeal to authority
An appeal to authority uses an expert's endorsement as a substitute for evidence, without evaluating the strategy on its merits.