Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Analyzing Conclusions Questions and Answers

Question 1

Read the following premises:
1. All employees who completed the advanced cybersecurity training are on the incident response team.
2. Some members of the IT department completed the advanced cybersecurity training.

Based only on these premises, which conclusion can be logically deduced?

Accepted Answer

Some members of the IT department are on the incident response team.

Answer

Premise 2 states some IT department members took the training. Premise 1 states everyone who took the training is on the response team. Therefore, it logically follows that at least some members of the IT department must be on the incident response team.

Question 2

Consider the following statements:
1. If the quality assurance (QA) test fails, the product launch will be postponed.
2. The product launch was not postponed.

From these statements, what is the only certain conclusion?

Accepted Answer

The QA test was successful.

Answer

This is an example of a valid logical argument form known as Modus Tollens. If 'P implies Q' is true, and 'Q is false', then 'P must be false'. Here, P is 'the QA test fails' and Q is 'the launch will be postponed'. Since Q is false (the launch was not postponed), P must also be false (the QA test did not fail).

Question 3

Premises:
1. No project funded by the 'Green Initiative' grant uses disposable plastics.
2. The 'River Cleanup' project is funded by the 'Green Initiative' grant.

Which conclusion necessarily follows from these premises?

Accepted Answer

The 'River Cleanup' project does not use disposable plastics.

Answer

Premise 1 establishes a rule for all projects within a specific group (funded by the grant). Premise 2 places the 'River Cleanup' project into that specific group. Therefore, the rule must apply to it. The conclusion is a direct application of the rule to the specific case.

Question 4

Review the following facts:
1. All certified project managers are required to submit weekly status reports.
2. Only individuals who submit weekly status reports are eligible for the quarterly performance bonus.
3. Eleanor is a certified project manager.

Which of the following conclusions must be true?

Accepted Answer

Eleanor is eligible for the quarterly performance bonus.

Answer

From premise 3 and 1, we deduce that Eleanor is required to submit weekly status reports. Premise 2 states that submitting these reports makes one eligible for the bonus. By linking the premises, we can conclude that because Eleanor is a certified project manager, she must submit the reports, which in turn makes her eligible for the bonus.

Question 5

Premises:
1. All documents stored on the 'Omega' server are encrypted.
2. Some of the encrypted documents are legal contracts.
3. The 'Alpha' server contains no encrypted documents.

Based strictly on the information above, which conclusion is logically sound?

Accepted Answer

Some documents on the 'Omega' server are legal contracts.

Answer

Premise 1 states all documents on 'Omega' are encrypted. Premise 2 states some encrypted documents are legal contracts. Combining these, we know that the population of 'legal contracts that are encrypted' must exist on the 'Omega' server, as it's the only place mentioned that holds encrypted files. Therefore, it's certain that some of the documents on 'Omega' are legal contracts.

Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Practice Test

Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Practice Test

Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Analyzing Conclusions Questions and Answers