Mettl Critical Thinking 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: 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:
- Coffee is widely available.
- Top performance may cause coffee drinking, not the reverse—or both may share a common cause. (Correct answer)
- Not all employees like coffee.
- The sample of top performers may be small.
Correct 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.
Question 2: Which of the following best defines a 'red herring' fallacy?
- Attacking the person making an argument rather than the argument itself
- Introducing an irrelevant topic to distract from the original issue (Correct answer)
- Claiming that because something is popular it must be correct
- Assuming what you are trying to prove
Correct answer: Introducing an irrelevant topic to distract from the original issue
A red herring diverts attention from the real issue by raising something unrelated.
Question 3: A researcher concludes: 'Because no studies have proven that this supplement is harmful, it must be safe.' This reasoning is flawed because:
- Supplements are always regulated.
- Absence of evidence of harm is not the same as evidence of safety. (Correct answer)
- The researcher should have conducted the study herself.
- Safety data is irrelevant to supplement use.
Correct 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.
Question 4: A CEO argues: 'We've always done it this way, and the company has been profitable.' Which fallacy is this?
- Appeal to authority
- Appeal to tradition (Correct answer)
- Hasty generalization
- Circular reasoning
Correct answer: Appeal to tradition
Appealing to tradition assumes that past practice is justified simply because it is established, ignoring whether alternatives might be better.
Question 5: In a logical argument, what is the role of a 'premise'?
- The final statement that the argument aims to prove
- A statement offered as evidence or reason to support the conclusion (Correct answer)
- An unstated assumption that is taken for granted
- A counterexample used to refute an opposing view
Correct answer: A statement offered as evidence or reason to support the conclusion
Premises are the supporting statements from which a conclusion is derived.
Question 6: Which of the following scenarios demonstrates confirmation bias?
- A scientist accepts a hypothesis after it survives attempts to disprove it.
- A recruiter only remembers interview answers that confirm their initial impression of a candidate. (Correct answer)
- A judge evaluates both sides of an argument before deciding.
- An analyst seeks data that contradicts her current model.
Correct 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.
Question 7: A product manager says: 'Expert consultant Dr. Smith recommends our pricing strategy, so it must be optimal.' Which fallacy is present?
- Appeal to authority (Correct answer)
- Slippery slope
- False equivalence
- Bandwagon fallacy
Correct 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.
Mettl Critical Thinking 4
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: