HSRT Identifying Logical Fallacies 2

Question 1

A physician argues: 'Either we prescribe this new expensive antibiotic, or the patient will die.' The patient has a mild urinary tract infection. This argument commits which fallacy?

Accepted Answer

False dilemma — the argument artificially restricts options to two when multiple alternatives exist

Answer

A false dilemma presents only two options when more exist. For a mild UTI, multiple antibiotic options, watchful waiting, and other treatments are available.

Question 2

During a team meeting, a senior surgeon says: 'I've done this procedure for 25 years without complications, so there's no need to update our protocol.' Which fallacy is this?

Accepted Answer

Appeal to tradition — past practice is used to justify resistance to evidence-based updates

Answer

Appealing to 'how it's always been done' as justification for not updating practice is the appeal to tradition fallacy.

Question 3

A clinical ethics committee member argues: 'If we allow terminally ill patients to refuse treatment, soon doctors will be pressured to euthanize all elderly patients.' This argument exemplifies:

Accepted Answer

Slippery slope — an unwarranted assumption that one action will inevitably lead to a series of extreme consequences

Answer

A slippery slope argument assumes, without justification, that one action leads inevitably through a chain of events to a harmful extreme outcome.

Question 4

A nurse says to a patient: 'Dr. Smith is an expert in cardiology, so his recommendation that all patients should take aspirin daily must be correct.' This exemplifies:

Accepted Answer

Appeal to authority — expertise in one domain does not make all claims in that domain automatically correct

Answer

While expertise is a factor in credibility, inferring that a statement must be correct simply because an expert said it is an appeal to authority.

Question 5

A hospital administrator argues against hiring more night nurses: 'The last nurse we hired for nights called in sick three times in two months. You can see why night nurses are unreliable.' This commits which fallacy?

Accepted Answer

Hasty generalization — drawing a broad conclusion about all night nurses from a single case

Answer

Generalizing from one data point (one nurse's absenteeism) to an entire category (all night nurses) is a hasty generalization.

HSRT - Health Sciences Reasoning Test Practice Test

HSRT - Health Sciences Reasoning Test Practice Test

HSRT Identifying Logical Fallacies 2