Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Flashcards

Which of the following is an example of inductive reasoning?

Answer: The sun has risen every day for billions of years, so it will likely rise tomorrow

Inductive reasoning draws probable general conclusions from specific past observations, making the sunrise prediction a classic example.

What is the primary weakness of an argument that relies solely on anecdotal evidence?

Answer: A single personal experience may not represent the broader pattern

Anecdotal evidence is limited because individual experiences may be atypical exceptions that do not reflect the general statistical reality.

Three friends run a race. Xavier finishes before Zoe. Yara finishes after Xavier but before Zoe. Who finishes last?

Answer: Zoe

The order is Xavier first, then Yara second, then Zoe last, since Yara falls between Xavier and Zoe.

If 'Some politicians are honest' is true, which of the following must also be true?

Answer: Some honest people are politicians

If at least one politician is honest, then at least one honest person is a politician — the 'some' relationship is symmetrical between the two groups.

A student argues: 'My teacher gives hard tests and I failed; therefore the test was unfair.' What flaw does this argument contain?

Answer: It assumes that difficulty is equivalent to unfairness

Confusing difficulty with unfairness is an unwarranted assumption — a test can be challenging and still fairly measure the required knowledge.

Which problem-solving strategy involves starting at the desired goal and identifying the required steps in reverse order back to the starting point?

Answer: Backward chaining

Backward chaining starts at the goal state and works backwards to find the path from the starting point to the solution.

A factory finds that 3 out of every 100 widgets are defective. If the factory produces 2,500 widgets, how many are expected to be defective?

Answer: 75

3% of 2,500 = 0.03 × 2,500 = 75 defective widgets expected.