Critical Thinking Homework & Quizzes

Everyone believes in the afterlife, therefore belief in life after death is universal.

Begging the question

Studies about flashbulb events show that is not a reliable indicator of the accuracy of the memory.

Confidence in the memory

Arguments that appeal to actual claims made by actual, unbiased experts are generally

Inductively strong

No bricks are marshmallows, and no marshmallows are red. So, some bricks are red.

Invalid

No cars are aluminum, because no cars can fly, and all flying things are made of aluminum.

Invalid

John bets four dollars against Mary's one dollar that the next roll of a die will be either a four or a six. Who is making the wiser bet.

Mary

In the sentence "You must pass this course if you are going to graduate", passing the course is what kind of condition for graduating?

Necessary

Is the following passage an argument? "The latest Star Wars film wasn't as good as the one before it."

No

The sub-contrary of "Some phones are Android devices" is

Some phones are Android devices

In the sentence "If you study, then you will do well in this course" studying is what kind of condition for doing well?

Sufficient

If an A sentence is true, then (select all that apply)...

The E sentence must be false, the I sentence must be true, the O sentence must false

"If I go to Dallas next weekend, I won't be able to go skiing on spring break. I have to go to Dallas next weekend, so I guess I won't be able to go skiing on spring break."

Valid

Is the following passage an argument? "The dog was hit by a car, so it's leg is probably broken."

Yes

The figure below illustrates the power of in perception. 12 A |3 C 14

context

We can maintain our military strength by bringing back the draft and increasing the military budget, or we can cut spending and become a militarily weak nation. Which option do you favor?

Either-or-fallacy

Rolling a thirteen with a single toss of a pair of dice.

0

What is the probability of drawing an ace on a single draw from a deck of cards?

1/13

What is the probability of drawing two kings with two draws from a standard deck of cards if you put the first card back before you draw the second?

1/169

The probability of Team A winning the Super Bowl is 2/3. What are the odds against Team A's winning?

1/2

Rolling a twelve with a single toss of a pair of dice.

1/36

What is the probability of drawing a heart on a single draw from a deck of cards?

1/4

Drawing the Ace of Spades on a single draw from a deck of cards.

1/52

Tossing two on a single toss of one die.

1/6

What is the probability of tossing a six on one toss of a single die?

1/6

Tossing all heads on three tosses of a coin.

1/8

A physician has diagnosed a patient as having either hepatitis or liver cancer (but not both). Hepatitis occurs in the general population twice as frequently as liver cancer. Thus, the physician tentatively concludes that the patient probably has hepatitis. Later the physician conducts a test on the patient that turns out positive. On this test, nine out of ten cases of liver cancer trigger a positive outcome, and one out of six cases of hepatitis trigger a positive outcome. What is the new probability that the patient has liver cancer?

27/37

Given an urn filled with 3 red balls, 3 green balls, 2 blue balls, and 2 yellow balls, calculate the probability drawing at least one red ball on two draws with replacement.

51/100

A patient of yours has symptoms associated with malaria. 40% of people who have those symptoms have the disease. You test the patient for malaria, and the result is positive. 90% of people who have the disease test positive, and only 10% of people who do not have the disease test positive. What is the probability that your patient has the disease?

6/7

Ms. Jones, a bookstore owner, wishes to send out an ad to potential customers. She estimates that20 percent of the towns residents are recreational readers, and she knows that all of the residents are either recreational readers or TV addicts (but not both). Also, a TV repair person has told her that two of ten TV addicts are newspaper subscribers, and from a survey of her own customers she has learned that seven of ten recreational readers are newspaper subscribers. If Ms. Jones places an ad in the local newspaper how effective will it be? That is, what is the probability that a newspaper subscriber is a recreational reader?

7/15

In a particular class, the professor has noticed that 20% of the students make A's. Of the students that make A's, 70% of them sit in the front half of the classroom. Only 40% of the students that do not make A's sit in the front half of the classroom. Jane sits in the front half of the classroom. What is the probability that she will make an A?

7/23

What is the probability of tossing heads at least once in three tosses of a coin?

7/8

Given an urn filled with 3 red balls, 3 green balls, 2 blue balls, and 2 yellow balls, calculate the probability drawing at least one red ball on two draws without replacement.

8/15

Given an urn filled with 3 red balls, 3 green balls, 2 blue balls, and 2 yellow balls, calculate the probability drawing two red balls on two draws with replacement.

9/100

Given an urn filled with 3 red balls, 3 green balls, 2 blue balls, and 2 yellow balls, calculate the probability drawing a red and a green, or a red and a blue, or a red and a yellow, or two greens, or two blues, or two yellows on two draws with replacement.

91/100

If a valid argument has a false conclusion then

It has at least one false premise

Is the following passage an argument? "Nino Noriega went to his daughter's apartment, where he found a burglar. He called the police, and the burglar was arrested. However, the judge let the burglar go, saying that since Noriega did not live in the apartment and it was not his property that was stolen, he had no basis for determining whether the person living in the apartment had given the accused burglar permission to be in the apartment."

No

Is the following passage an argument? Lawyer, speaking to the jury: "Members of the jury, you should find the defendant guilty because several eyewitnesses can place him at the scene of the crime, the murder weapon was found on his property, and he was known to have threatened the victim."

Yes

Is the following passage an argument? "God must exist, because if there were no God, then there would be no objective moral truth."

Yes

Is the following passage an argument? "You should invest in life insurance, because no one knows when tragedy will strike and you surely want to leave your family in good financial shape."

Yes

Contrary claims always have opposite truth values.

False

Knowledge that you have but cannot access when you need it is called what?

Inert knowledge

I don't know about other people, but I have never accused my opponent of any financial improprieties.

Innuendo

"I know that today's going to be good, since whenever I get a headache in the morning, it turns out to be a bad day, and I didn't have a headache this morning." This argument is

Invalid

"If you drive all day, you would be in Phoenix by nightfall. I see from your schedule that you'll be in Phoenix by nightfall, so you must be planning to drive all day."

Invalid

"The tax increase will pass only if the people think that the road improvements are necessary. The people do think that the road improvements are necessary. So, the tax increase will pass." This argument is

Invalid

All able-bodied people younger than 65 years of age are in need of their own health insurance because no able bodied people younger than 65 are eligible for Medicare, and no people eligible for Medicare are in need of health insurance.

Invalid

All computer hackers who cause damage deserve to be prosecuted. Some who deserve to be prosecuted must be punished. So, some computer hackers who cause damage must be punished.

Invalid

All difficult exams are worthwhile exams. All difficult exams are things that encourage learning. So, all worthwhile exams are things that encourage learning.

Invalid

If we go camping over J-term, I'm sure we'll be cold and miserable. We are going to be cold and miserable during J-term, so we will be camping then.

Invalid

No cat is a friendly animal. All friendly animals respond to the sound of their names. So no animal that responds to the sound of its name is a cat.

Invalid

Some New Yorkers belong to the Chinese Communist Party because some people fromChina belong to the Chinese Communist Party and some New Yorkers are from China.

Invalid

Some apples are fruits and some oranges are fruits, so it follows that some apples are oranges.

Invalid

Some chickens are green because all chickens are ugly and some ugly things are green.

Invalid

Some politicians are honest, so politicians are unhappy because all honest people are unhappy.

Invalid

Some rocks are in the water. Some coral reefs are rocks. Therefore, some coral reefs are in the water.

Invalid

The Necker Cube, shown below, shows that

Sameness of input is not sufficient condition for sameness of the perceived image

"The tax increase will pass only if the people think that the road improvements are necessary. The people don't think the road improvements are necessary. Therefore, the tax increase will not pass." This argument is

Valid

All dogs are collies and all collies are purple. Therefore, all dogs are purple.

Valid

If the U.S. attacked Iran, there would be a greater crisis in the Middle East. There will not be a greater crisis in the Middle East. Therefore, the U.S. will not attack Iran.

Valid

No Americans are wealthy, so no Oklahomans are wealthy, because all Oklahomans are Americans.

Valid

No emeralds are gems and some rubies are gems, so some rubies are not emeralds.

Valid

She must not have ordered the eggplant, because if she ordered it, then she wouldn't be eating any dessert like she's doing right now.

Valid

Some harmonica players are ventriloquists, and all harmonica players love to perform on the radio. So, some ventriloquists love to perform on the radio.

Valid

Some lizards should be avoided, since some lizards are poisonous and anything poisonous should be avoided.

Valid

Some presidents are not perfect; since no man is perfect, and some men are presidents.

Valid

ll executives are workaholics and no workaholics can relax. So, no executives can relax.

Valid

ll seniors are graduating and no sophomores are seniors. So, some of those graduating are not sophomores.

Valid

You know that your friend Jane studies for her tests only 40 percent of the time. She passes nine out often tests she studies, but only three out of ten when she doesn't.You found out today that she passed her chemistry test last week. What is the probability that she studied for that test?

2/3

Given an urn filled with 3 red balls, 3 green balls, 2 blue balls, and 2 yellow balls, calculate the probability drawing two red balls on two draws without replacement.

2/30

Given an urn filled with 3 red balls, 3 green balls, 2 blue balls, and 2 yellow balls, calculate the probability drawing exactly one red ball on three draws with replacement.

441/1000

Tossing heads at least once on three tosses of a coin.

7/8

The contradiction of "Some cars are not gas-powered vehicles" is

All cars are gas-powered vehicles

In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, there can be absolutely no doubt that this defendant committed these terrible murders. Look at the mother of the victim, sitting over there, her life is forever destroyed by this evil deed. Never again will she know the peace and happiness that was her due. Put yourselves in her shoes, and you will know whether this man is guilty.

Appeal to pity

Of course the chairperson of the Task Force on Crime has concluded that crime is on the way up. If they concluded that it's on the way down, they'd have to disband the task force, wouldn't they?

Circumstantial ad hominem

Consider the following argument: "Thinking of buying a house outside your present location? You should avoid asking an agent where you live to make a referral in the new area. This is because an agent who receives a referral from someone else in the business is often expected to compensate the referrer with 20% of his commission and that makes some salespeople overanxious to make referrals to agents they may not know well." (Adapted from Warner, Serkes, and Devine, How to Buy a House in California) The italicized sentence is a

Conclusion

Consider the following argument: "Whenever business taxes are raised, business are forced to lay off employees. If businesses lay off employees, then people pay fewer individual taxes. If people pay fewer individual taxes, then there is less money available for the federal budget. So, raising taxes on businesses is self-defeating." The italicized sentence is a

Conclusion

Having perfect attendance is what kind of condition for passing a course?

Neither necessary nor sufficient

Is the following passage an argument? "A college education is absolutely necessary for getting a good job these days."

No

Is the following passage an argument? "If the starter motor is burned out, then changing the battery won't help."

No

Is the following passage an argument? "OBU is in Shawnee because the city donated the land for the university."

No

Is the following passage an argument? "The reason the dog has a broken leg is that it was hit by a car."

No

The contrary of "All endocrinologists are medical doctors" is

No endocrinologists are medical doctors

Paul, I understand that your tax return is being audited again. Are you cheating on your taxes?

No fallacy

Does the following passage contain an argument? "The capital of Oklahoma is Oklahoma City because, after unsuccessfully lobbying the legislature, a group of people stole the state seal from the state offices in Guthrie and moved it to Oklahoma City in the middle of the night."

No, its not an argument

Consider the following argument: "Thinking of buying a house outside your present location? You should avoid asking an agent where you live to make a referral in the new area. This is because an agent who receives a referral from someone else in the business is often expected to compensate the referrer with 20% of his commission and that makes some salespeople overanxious to make referrals to agents they may not know well.'' The italicized sentence is a

Premise

The statistics that show you are better off wearing a seatbelt are completely flawed and can safely be ignored. Forcing people to use seatbelts, like making motorcyclists wear helmets, is just one more case of the government infringing on personal liberty. People have a right to drive without a seatbelt if that is what they want.

Red herring

Dear Mr. Swanson: I realize I'm not up for a salary increase yet, but I thought it might make my review a bit more timely if I pointed out to you that I have a copy of all the recent e-mail messages between you and Ms. Flood in the purchasing department.

Scare tactics

When you learn something after drinking several cups of coffee, it is often easier to remember that information after drinking some coffee. This is called what?

State-dependent retrieval

Mr. Rankin has just given his argument against affirmative action for women. It seems what he is saying is that women should stay out of the work place altogether. Just keep them barefoot and pregnant. That's what Rankin wants. Well, I think we are all smart enough to reject that argument.

Straw man

This item consists of a brief biography of a real or imagined person, followed by a list of topics. On the basis of the information in the biography, discuss the credibility and authority of the person described in each of the topics listed. Biography Dr. Anne St. Germain teaches sociology at the University of Illinois and is the director of its Population Studies Center. She is a graduate of Harvard College, where she received a BA in 1975, and of Harvard University, which granted her a PhD in economics in 1978. She taught courses in demography as an assistant professor at UCLA until 1982; then she moved to the sociology department of the University of Nebraska, where she was associate professor and then professor. From 1987 through 1989, she served as acting chief of the Population Trends and Structure Section of the U.N. Population Division. She joined the faculty at the University of Illinois in 1989. She has written books on patterns of world urbanization, the effects of cigarette smoking on international mortality, and demographic trends in India. She is president of the Population Association of America.

The effects of acid rain on humans, the incidence of poverty among various ethnic groups in the US, the change in death rate for various age groups in all Third World countries between 1970 and 1990, voter participation among religious sects in India, whether the winters are worse in Illinois than in Nebraska

Contradictory claims always have opposite truth values.

True

Contrary sentences can both be false.

True

If it is false that some metaphysicians are mereologists, then it must be true that some metaphysicians are not mereologists.

True

"If you want to do well in Chemistry, you must devote at least four hours a week to studying. I see that you want to do well, so you need to spend at least four hours a week studying." This argument is

Valid