TalentLens Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A researcher notices that ice cream sales and drowning rates both peak in summer. She should conclude:
- Both variables are likely influenced by a third factor—hot weather—rather than one causing the other (Correct answer)
- Ice cream consumption increases drowning risk
- Drowning rates cause people to buy more ice cream for comfort
- The correlation is too strong to be coincidental and must be causal
Correct 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.
Question 2: Passage: 'No complaints were filed against the product last quarter.' A weak inference from this statement would be:
- Customers were fully satisfied with the product last quarter (Correct answer)
- Fewer complaints were filed last quarter than in previous quarters
- The complaint process may not have captured all dissatisfaction
- The passage does not specify how many customers used the product
Correct 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.
Question 3: Which of the following questions BEST tests recognition of assumptions in an argument?
- What must be true for this conclusion to follow from these premises? (Correct answer)
- Is the conclusion emotionally convincing?
- How many people agree with this argument?
- Has this argument been made by experts before?
Correct 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.
Question 4: Evaluate: 'This painkiller must be effective because it has been used for centuries in traditional medicine.' This argument relies on:
- Appeal to tradition as a substitute for clinical evidence (Correct answer)
- Hasty generalization from too few cases
- Ad hominem against modern medicine
- False dichotomy between traditional and modern treatments
Correct 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.
Question 5: 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?
- Whether other factors such as a marketing campaign also occurred around the same time (Correct answer)
- Whether the designer won any awards for the new homepage
- Whether users prefer the aesthetic of the new design
- Whether traffic doubled in absolute or percentage terms
Correct 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.
Question 6: Which of the following BEST demonstrates the Watson-Glaser skill of 'interpretation'?
- Reading a study's results and determining what conclusion the data justifiably supports (Correct answer)
- Summarizing an argument in your own words without evaluating it
- Identifying whether a source is credible before reading it
- Comparing two arguments to determine which author is more qualified
Correct 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.
Question 7: Argument: 'We should not implement the new safety protocol because we have never had a serious accident before.' This reasoning is flawed because it:
- Assumes past absence of accidents guarantees future safety without intervention (Correct answer)
- Ignores the financial cost of safety protocols
- Appeals to the authority of past management decisions
- Uses anecdotal evidence from a single workplace
Correct 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.
TalentLens Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking 5
A researcher notices that ice cream sales and drowning rates both peak in summer.
She should conclude: