Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Flashcards
7 cards from real TALENTLENS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking flashcards as text
A researcher notices that ice cream sales and drowning rates both peak in summer. She should conclude:
Answer: Both variables are likely influenced by a third factor—hot weather—rather than one causing the other
A common cause (summer heat) explains both variables; assuming one causes the other is a spurious correlation error.
Passage: 'No complaints were filed against the product last quarter.' A weak inference from this statement would be:
Answer: Customers were fully satisfied with the product last quarter
Zero complaints does not imply satisfaction; customers may have been dissatisfied but chose not to complain or lacked a mechanism to do so.
Which of the following questions BEST tests recognition of assumptions in an argument?
Answer: What must be true for this conclusion to follow from these premises?
Identifying what must be assumed to bridge premises and conclusion is the core skill in recognizing hidden assumptions.
Evaluate: 'This painkiller must be effective because it has been used for centuries in traditional medicine.' This argument relies on:
Answer: Appeal to tradition as a substitute for clinical evidence
Long use is not evidence of efficacy; many traditional remedies have been shown ineffective or harmful under rigorous testing.
An analyst claims: 'Our website traffic doubled after we redesigned the homepage, proving the redesign was a success.' What key piece of information is missing to validate this claim?
Answer: Whether other factors such as a marketing campaign also occurred around the same time
Without ruling out concurrent confounding events, the traffic increase cannot be attributed solely to the redesign.
Which of the following BEST demonstrates the Watson-Glaser skill of 'interpretation'?
Answer: Reading a study's results and determining what conclusion the data justifiably supports
Interpretation in Watson-Glaser means weighing evidence and deciding what conclusions it warrants—no more, no less.
Argument: 'We should not implement the new safety protocol because we have never had a serious accident before.' This reasoning is flawed because it:
Answer: Assumes past absence of accidents guarantees future safety without intervention
No prior accident does not mean risk is absent; it may reflect luck or conditions that could change, not inherent safety.