SATs Critical Thinking & Reasoning 2 ā Questions and Answers
Question 1: A study found that students who eat breakfast score higher on tests. A school concludes that serving breakfast will improve all students' test scores. Which flaw undermines this conclusion?
- The study didn't include enough students
- Correlation does not establish causation (Correct answer)
- Breakfast is too expensive to provide
- Test scores are not a reliable measure
Correct answer: Correlation does not establish causation
Correlation between breakfast and scores doesn't prove that eating breakfast causes higher scores ā other factors may explain both.
Question 2: All mammals are warm-blooded. Bats are mammals. Therefore, bats are warm-blooded. This argument is an example of:
- Inductive reasoning
- Deductive reasoning (Correct answer)
- Analogical reasoning
- Abductive reasoning
Correct answer: Deductive reasoning
This is deductive reasoning ā a valid conclusion is drawn necessarily from two premises.
Question 3: A politician says, 'My opponent has been criticized by his own party, so you shouldn't trust his economic plan.' This argument commits which fallacy?
- False dilemma
- Ad hominem (Correct answer)
- Straw man
- Slippery slope
Correct answer: Ad hominem
Attacking the opponent's character rather than the merit of his economic plan is an ad hominem fallacy.
Question 4: If P implies Q, and Q is false, what can we logically conclude about P?
- P is true
- P is false (Correct answer)
- P may be either true or false
- Nothing can be concluded about P
Correct answer: P is false
By modus tollens, if PāQ and Q is false, then P must also be false.
Question 5: A reviewer rates a restaurant five stars because the owner is a personal friend. Which reasoning error does this illustrate?
- Hasty generalization
- Bias due to conflict of interest (Correct answer)
- Circular reasoning
- False analogy
Correct answer: Bias due to conflict of interest
Personal friendship creates a conflict of interest that biases the reviewer's judgment rather than evaluating the restaurant objectively.
Question 6: Which of the following best strengthens the argument that increased screen time causes poor sleep in teenagers?
- Most teenagers own smartphones
- A controlled experiment showed poor sleep in teens given extra screen time versus a control group (Correct answer)
- Teenagers who sleep poorly tend to use screens more
- Doctors recommend limited screen time
Correct answer: A controlled experiment showed poor sleep in teens given extra screen time versus a control group
A controlled experiment that isolates screen time as the variable provides the strongest causal evidence.
Question 7: The statement 'Either you support this policy or you don't care about children' is an example of:
- Slippery slope
- Appeal to authority
- False dilemma (Correct answer)
- Begging the question
Correct answer: False dilemma
This presents only two options while ignoring other possible positions, which is the false dilemma (either/or) fallacy.
SATs Critical Thinking & Reasoning 2
A study found that students who eat breakfast score higher on tests.
A school concludes that serving breakfast will improve all students' test scores.
Which flaw undermines this conclusion?