Critical Thinking GSU- Test 1A

Argument

a group of statements, one or more of which (the premises) are claimed to provide support for, or reasons to believe, one of the others (the conclusion)

explanation

A statement or statements intended to tell why or how something is the case.

Logic

The study of good reasoning, or inference, and the rules that govern it.

Conclusion

In the argument, the statement that the premises are intended to support

Indicator words

Words that frequently accompany arguments and signal that a premise or conclusion is present.

Premise

In an argument, a statement, or reason, given in support of the conclusion.

Critical thinking

The systematic evaluation or formulation of beliefs, or statements, by rational standards.

Inference

The process of reasoning from a premise to a conclusion based on those premises

Statement

an assertion that something is or is not the case

Appeal to common practice

The fallacy of accepting or rejecting a claim based solely on what groups of people generally do or how they behave (when the action or behavior is irrelevant to the truth of the claim).

Philosophical Skepticism

The view that we know much less than we think we do or nothing at all.

Steryotyping

Classifying Individuals into groups according to oversimplified or prejudiced attitudes or opinions

Appeal of Popularity (or to the masses)

The fallacy of arguing that a claim must be true merely because a substantial number of people believe it.

Dunning-Kruger Effect

The phenomenon of being ignorant of how ignorant we are.

false consensus effect

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Homophily

The tendency to give more credence to a statement if it comes from our friends.

illusion of truth effect

A phenomenon in which you come to believe that a false claim is actually true simply because it is familiar.

mere exposure effect

The idea that just being exposed repeatedly to words or images (even without registering them consciously) can induce a favorable or comfortable feeling towards them, whether or not there is any good reason for doing so

Motivated Reasoning

Reasoning for the purpose of supporting a predetermined conclusion, not to uncover the truth.

Philosophical Skeptics

Those who embrace philosophical skepticism.

Subjectivist fallacy

Accepting the notion of subjective relativism or using it to try to support a claim.

Social Relitivism

The view that the truth is relative to societies

Worldview

A philosophy of life; a set of beliefs and theories that helps us make sense of a wide range of issues in life.

Peer pressure

Group pressure to accept or reject a claim based solely on what one's peers think or do.

Analogy

A comparison of two different things that are similar in some way

Argument by analogy (analogical induction)

An argument making use of analogy, reasoning that because two or more things are similar in several respects, they must be similar in some further respect.

Biased Sample

a sample that does not properly represent the target group

Confidence Level

In statistical theory, the probability that the sample will accurately represent the target group within the margin of error.

Enumerative Induction

an inductive argument pattern in which we reason from premises about individual members of a group to conclusions about the group as a whole

Hasty Generalization

The fallacy of drawing a conclusion about a target group based on an inadequate sample size.

Margin of error

the variation between the values derived from a sample and the true values of the whole target group

Random Sample

a sample that is selected randomly from a target group in such a way as to ensure that a sample is representative. In simple random selection, every member of the target group has an equal chance of being selected for the sample.

Relevant Property

In enumerative induction, a property, or characteristic, that is of interest in the target group.

Representative sample

In enumerative induction, a sample that resembles the target group in all relevant ways.

Sample (sample member)

In enumerative induction, the observed members of the target group.

Target group

In enumerative induction, the whole collection of individuals under study.

Logical Fallacies

An error in reasoning that will weaken your argument, and in most cases, undermine i completely

Circular reasoning

Fallacy when the argument is restated rather than proven

Hasty generalization

A fallacy in which someone makes a sweeping statement without considering all the facts

False analogy

Fallacy when two things that are unalike are being compared based on trivial similarity in order to prove a point.

Fallacious appeal to auhtority

The fallacy or relying on the opinion of someone deemed to be an expert who is not in fact an expert

Background information

huge collection of very well-supported beliefs that we all rely on to inform our actions and choices and claims we consider common sense

Expert

Someone who is more knowledgeable in a particular subject area or field than most others are.

Gamblers fallacy

The error of thinking that previous events can affect the probabilities in the random event at hand

Method of proof

A way to confirm the validity of an argument by deducing its conclusion from its premise by using simple, valid argument forms

A statement is...

An assertion that something is or is not the case

Probably the best advice for anyone trying to uncover or dissect arguments is...

Find the conclusion first

Category 1 obstacles to critical thinking include...

Fears, attitudes, and motivations

Self-interest alone...

Cannot establish the truth of a claim

For critical thinkers, the best way to deal with group pressure is to:

Proportion your belief to the strength of reasons

Subjective Relativism is

whats right for one person, might not be whats right for another person, self defeating

A representative sample must resemble the target group in...

all the ways that matter

The average of a series of numerical values is known as the...

mean

argument by analogy, like all inductive reasoning, can establish conclusions...

Only with a degree of probability

When a claim is not quite dubious enough to dismiss outright yet not worthy of complete acceptance, we should...

Proportion our belief to the evidence

Experts are more likely to be right because they have access to more information on the subject than we do and because...

They are better at judging the information than we are

Personal experience, though generally reliable, is...

not infalliable

The two most revealing indicators of an expert's reliability are...

Reputation among peers and professional accomplishments

When ranking the trustworthiness of sources of information, the least reliable sources generally include...

Non-governmental organizations, advocacy groups, and political action committees

If a claim conflicts with our background information, we have good reason to.

doubt it

Preferring available evidence

relying on evidence that is memorable or striking