Critical Thinking and Logic Flashcards

A department policy states: 'Officers must obtain supervisor approval before making an arrest in cases involving political figures.' Officer Rivera, without approval, arrests a city council member caught shoplifting. What is the most accurate assessment?

Answer: Officer Rivera violated department policy regardless of the suspect's guilt

The policy applies to arrests involving political figures without exception for offense type or direct observation, so the officer violated it.

Which of the following best describes a circular argument?

Answer: Using the conclusion as a premise to support itself

A circular argument (begging the question) uses the conclusion as part of its own support, making the reasoning logically invalid.

In a lineup of six individuals numbered 1–6, the suspect is described as standing between two people taller than them. Individuals 2, 4, and 6 are the tallest. The suspect cannot be individual 1 or 6 because they are at the ends. Which numbers could be the suspect?

Answer: 3 and 5

Individuals 3 and 5 are each flanked on both sides by taller individuals (2&4 and 4&6 respectively), satisfying the description.

Officer Park concludes that crime rates are rising because news coverage of crime has increased. What logical error is Officer Park making?

Answer: Confusing correlation with causation

Increased news coverage of crime does not cause crime rates to rise; the officer is mistakenly treating a correlation as a causal relationship.

A supervisor says: 'If an officer is late three times, they receive a written warning. Officer Kim has received a written warning.' What can be concluded?

Answer: Officer Kim may or may not have been late three times

The written warning could have resulted from being late three times, but the supervisor's statement does not say that is the only reason for a warning.

Dispatch reports that a vehicle matching a stolen car description — blue sedan, license plate ending in 7 — was spotted heading north. An officer sees a blue sedan heading north with a plate ending in 7. The most logical next step is to:

Answer: Initiate a traffic stop and verify the vehicle's identity

A matching description justifies a traffic stop to investigate further, but arrest requires confirming the vehicle is actually stolen.

The following sequence follows a pattern: 2, 5, 11, 23, 47, ___. What is the next number?

Answer: 95

Each term is found by doubling the previous term and adding 1: 2×2+1=5, 5×2+1=11, 11×2+1=23, 23×2+1=47, 47×2+1=95.