Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Watson Glaser MCQ 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Passage: Most people who exercise regularly report better sleep. Tom reports poor sleep. What can we infer about Tom's exercise habits?
- Tom definitely does not exercise regularly
- Tom may or may not exercise regularly (Correct answer)
- Tom exercises regularly but has a sleep disorder
- Tom would sleep better if he exercised
Correct answer: Tom may or may not exercise regularly
The passage says 'most' exercisers sleep better, not all, so poor sleep does not rule out regular exercise for Tom.
Question 2: Which skill is NOT directly assessed by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal?
- Drawing inferences
- Recognizing assumptions
- Memorizing factual information (Correct answer)
- Evaluating arguments
Correct answer: Memorizing factual information
The Watson-Glaser measures reasoning skills such as inference, assumption recognition, deduction, interpretation, and argument evaluation — not factual recall.
Question 3: Premises: All managers attended the seminar. No seminar attendees were from the sales department. Conclusion: No managers are from the sales department. This conclusion:
- Does not follow from the premises
- Follows necessarily from the premises (Correct answer)
- Is probably true but not certain
- Requires an additional assumption to be valid
Correct answer: Follows necessarily from the premises
If all managers attended and no attendees were from sales, then by transitive logic no managers are from the sales department — this is a valid deduction.
Question 4: Statement: 'Since our competitor lowered prices, we must lower ours too.' Which assumption is being made?
- Our production costs are lower than the competitor's
- Price is the primary factor driving customers' purchasing decisions (Correct answer)
- The competitor's quality is superior to ours
- Our company cannot afford a price reduction
Correct answer: Price is the primary factor driving customers' purchasing decisions
The statement assumes that customers will choose the competitor based on price, making price the key competitive factor.
Question 5: Survey result: 80% of employees at Company X say they are satisfied with their jobs. Which interpretation is most accurate?
- Company X has the highest employee satisfaction in its industry
- A large majority of Company X employees report job satisfaction (Correct answer)
- All employees at Company X enjoy their work
- Company X should not change any of its workplace policies
Correct answer: A large majority of Company X employees report job satisfaction
The data directly supports saying a large majority are satisfied; comparisons to other companies or absolute claims go beyond the data.
Question 6: Argument: 'We should ban cell phones in schools because students need to learn without distractions.' This argument is:
- Weak, because cell phones have educational uses
- Strong, because reducing distraction is directly relevant to the educational mission (Correct answer)
- Weak, because banning items never works
- Strong, because all technology is distracting
Correct answer: Strong, because reducing distraction is directly relevant to the educational mission
The reason given — students need distraction-free learning — is directly relevant and significant to the question of school phone policies.
Question 7: In Watson-Glaser deduction tasks, a conclusion 'does not follow' when:
- It is a popular opinion that contradicts the premises
- It cannot be drawn with certainty from the given premises alone (Correct answer)
- It requires one additional piece of outside evidence
- It is too obvious to need stating
Correct answer: It cannot be drawn with certainty from the given premises alone
In deduction, 'does not follow' means the conclusion is not a logical necessity based solely on the stated premises.
Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Watson Glaser MCQ 3
Passage: Most people who exercise regularly report better sleep.
Tom reports poor sleep.
What can we infer about Tom's exercise habits?