Logical Reasoning

Premise Indicators

• Since

• Because

• For

• After All

• Given That

Conclusion Indicators

• Thus

• So

• Therefore

• Clearly

• Hence

• As a Result

• It is Clear That

Main Point

Identify:

• What is the main point of the author?

Solve:

• Identify the premises and conclusion

Correct Answers:

• Authors Judgment : Good/Bad/Right/Wrong

• Authors Recommendation : Should/Should not

• Authors Prediction : The word will end/you will not succeed

• Authors Proposed Theory : Alcahol must be affecting the rats in the maze

Describe

Identify:

• The argument proceeds by…/The argument…

Solve:

• Determine the number of perspectives (1,2,3, etc.)

• Identify the premises and conclusions

• Anticipate the nature of the answer (Think about the disagreement and nature of the stimulus or response to the stimulus)

Must Be True

Definition:

• A statement or conclusion that logically follows from the premises of an argument, making it necessarily true if the premises are true.

Identify:

• What must be true/What must follow logically

Wrong Answers:

• Strong/Weak Language

• Generalizations

• Hypothetical Situations

• Explaining Causal Relationships

• Converse and Inverse Fallacies

(Soft) Must Be True

Definition:

• A statement that is supported by the premises of an argument but is not necessarily guaranteed to be true. It is a less stringent version of the Must Be True criterion.

Identify:

• Most/Best

Solve:

• Summarize the Stimulus

• Determine Logical Strength

• Anticipate the Answer

Wrong Answers:

• Strong/Weak Language

• Generalizations

• Hypothetical Situations

• Explaining Causal Relationships

• Converse and Inverse Fallacies

Must Be False

Definition:

• A statement or conclusion that contradicts the premises of an argument, making it necessarily false if the premises are true.

Identify:

• Inconsistent/Violates/Must Be False

Correct Answers:

• Strong Language (Easier to Prove Incorrect)

Rare Implication (Soft) Must Be False

Definition:

• A statement that is unlikely to be true based on the premises, but does not outright contradict them. It is a less definitive version of Must Be False, indicating that while the statement may not necessarily follow, it is still possible.

Identify:

• Likely to be false/Could be false/The facts above provide the strongest evidence against which of the following…

Role

Identify:

• The statement that … plays what role in the argument

Solve:

• Identify the premises and conclusions

• Locate the claim in the stimulus from the prompt

• Determine the role of the claim and anticipate the answer

Fallacies/Flaws

Identify:

• Vulnerable to Criticism

• Flawed Reasoning

• Questionable Reasoning

Fallacies/Flaws:

• Comparisons : Bad analogies, sharing one characteristic is not enough for a comparison

• Ad Hominem : Attacking a person in order to show that their argument is bad, criticizing background, motivations, history, and behavior.

• Composition : The Characteristics of the whole do not reflect the individual or vice versa

• Absence of Evidence : Claiming something to be true on the basis of the lack of evidence that is false

• Temporal : Occurs when an argument assumed that the future must mirror or be affected by the past

• Logical Force : when an argument uses a “some” statement to support a “most” or “all" conclusion

  • Some evidence → All evidence / Could be true → Must be true

• Perception v.s. Reality : Peoples Knowledge about one thing is the same as what is actually true about that one thing (Think, Believe, Say)

• Percentage v.s. Amount : Occur when an argument uses percentages to justify conclusions about definite amounts or vice versa (Ignoring the total size of the group you are working on)

• Circular Reasoning : Occurs when the arguments conclusion is the same as one of its premises

  • Answers: Presupposes what is seeks to establish

• Causation : Presumes a correlation is a causation

• Exclusivity : Assuming that the options you have are na exhaustive list

• Equivocation : Th change of meaning in words or misinterpretations

• Sample : Generalizing from a small sample tp make a sweeping statement

Solve:

• Identify the premises and conclusions

• Determine the flaw

• Anticipate the answer

Sufficient Assumption

Identify:

• Properly inferred, follow logically, properly drawn

Solve:

• Identify the premises and conclusions

• Identify the gap in the argument

• Identify concepts in the conclusion that aren’t in the premises (Sometimes gaps between premises)

Explain

Identify:

• Explain, Explanation

Solve:

• What is unexpected in the stimulus

• Anticipate the explanation: making the stimulus less surprising

Resolve

Identify:

• Resolve, Discrepancy, Reconcile

Solve:

• Identify the 2 facts that are in conflict

• Paraphrase the conflict

• Anticipate the middle ground: usually a new piece of information