Examtests with Critical Thinking van Moore and Parker - 13th edition

Why is critical thinking important? - ExamTests 1

Questions with chapter 1

Question 1

When do we think critically?

Question 2

What are the three core elements of critical thinking?

Question 3

What is meant by "cognitive bias"?

Question 4

What are heuristics?

Question 5

When do we say a claim is "true"?

Answers with chapter 1 

Question 1

We engage in critical thinking when we use our reasoning to arrive at conclusions.

Question 2

The three core elements of critical thinking are :

1. Statements.
2. Issues.
3. Arguments.

Question 3

"Cognitive bias" is a belief that is influenced by unconscious features of human psychology.

Question 4

Heuristics are general rules that we unconsciously use when estimating probabilities.

Question 5

A claim is "true" when it is free from error.

What two ways of reasoning are there? - ExamTests 2

Questions with chapter 2

Question 1

What is a deductive argument? What exactly is the relationship between a conclusion and premises? When can a conclusion be incorrect?

Question 2

What is the difference between a deductive and an inductive argument?

Question 3

Consider the following reasoning: "Until now, induction has always worked well, so it is a method that will always work well."

What kind of reasoning is this? Is it convincing reasoning?

Question 4

What's the problem with induction? What could it mean for the justification of scientific knowledge?

Question 5

From which two parts is an argument built by default?

Question 6

What is the difference between a deductive argument and an inductive argument?

Question 7

When is an argument valid?

Question 8

What three levels of belief exist?

Question 9

What is the difference between a deductive and an inductive argument?

Question 10

What does logic say is a good way to identify an argument? And why is this necessary?

Question 11

What is an unspoken premise and what is an unspoken conclusion? Give an example.

Question 12

How can you make an argument stronger?

Question 13

When is an argument valid?

Question 14

Is this a deductive or an inductive argument: "I don't like to walk, so I won't enjoy the walking vacation." And why?

Answers with chapter 2

Question 1

A deductive argument consists of premises. Premises are true statements, assumptions, and a conclusion that follows logically. If the premises are correct, so is the conclusion, if you agree with the premises, you agree with the conclusion.

For example: From P1 = horses are bigger than humans and P2 = humans are bigger than ants, it follows that C = horses are bigger than ants.

The conclusion of a deductive argument can be incorrect in two cases. If one or more of the premises is incorrect (ants are bigger than horses) and if the argument is invalid, i.e. it is constructed in the wrong way (from P1 = horses are bigger than humans and P2 = ants are smaller than horses, you cannot conclude that humans are bigger than ants (nor that ants are bigger than humans!)).

Question 2

The conclusion from a deductive argument is always true if the premises and argument structure are correct. This provides certainty. However, this is a limited form of certainty; because of what are we quite sure? Where do we get the certain premises from? And how do we ever arrive at new knowledge through deductive reasoning? That the conclusion is certain is because it was already contained in the premises. Strictly speaking, deduction does not generate new knowledge.

New knowledge is possible with inductive reasoning. Inductive arguments are 'non-conclusive', or 'non-demonstrative', which means that the conclusion does not follow logically from the premises but is only supported by them. A conclusion from an inductive argument is therefore never certain. This is a disadvantage, but at the same time makes new knowledge possible. From the fact that all the ravens you have seen so far were black, you can conclude that ravens are probably black.

Question 3

This is inductive reasoning because a conclusion (it will always work) is drawn from a number of observations (so far it has worked every time). This is not very convincing, as induction only has to work once and the whole conclusion can be dismissed.

Question 4

In induction it is assumed on the basis of a number of observations of a phenomenon that the phenomenon will always occur in this way. In addition, induction provides a "most likely explanation", based on given facts.

Take the following for example; "Your partner went to the supermarket this morning and bought lasagna sheets. In addition, she got yeasts from your grandmother fresh tomatoes and you can smell the melted cheese all over the house. The inductive reasoning is that you are eating lasagna tonight. When you sit down at the table, it turns out that you are eating soup tonight. Your partner has been making lasagna for tomorrow because there is little time to cook tomorrow. So your induction was wrong.

This same problem arises in science. Because most of what we know is made up of induction, there is a high probability that incorrect assumptions have been made. This is also regularly proven.

Question 5

An argument is always made up of:

1. One or more premise(s).
2. A conclusion.

Question 6

The difference between a deductive argument and an inductive argument is that a deductive argument is used to prove a claim while an inductive argument is used to support a claim.

Question 7

An argument is valid when it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false at the same time.

Question 8

The three levels of belief are:

1. Ethos.
2. Logos.
3. Pathos.

Question 9

A deductive argument is one where the premise is true, the conclusion is also true. The argument here is evidence. An argument is inductive if the premise is true and conclusion is likely to be true. The argument is now supportive.

Question 10

The rule of good argument identification is that you need at least two statements or claims and the word "therefore" (or a similar word / phrase). So, "I was walking on the street (premise) and it was raining (premise), therefore I got wet (conclusion)". In short, an argument consists of two parts: the premise (s) and the conclusion. Good argument identification is necessary to avoid ambiguity.

Question 11

Unstated premises are premises that count as a reason, but are not spoken. For example: "You may only drive with a driver's license (premise). Bob is not allowed to drive (conclusion)." So the unstated premise is: "Bob doesn't have a driver's license." An unstated conclusion is a conclusion that counts as a conclusion, but is not spoken. For example: "X's top drivers are women (premise). Marianne is driver of X (premise)." The unspoken conclusion is therefore: "Marianne is one of the best drivers."

Question 12

An argument becomes stronger by coming up with premises that are very likely to be true.

Question 13

The conclusion of a deductive argument is true if the premises are also true. Such an argument is therefore valid.

Question 14

It's an inductive argument because the conclusion is probably true.

How do you write a good text? - ExamTests 3

Questions with chapter 3

Question 1

When is a term called "vague"?

Question 2a

When is there "ambiguity"?

Question 2b

What three types of ambiguities are distinguished?

Question 3a

Name three purposes of definitions.

Question 3b

What kinds of definitions are there?

Question 4

What components does an essay consist of?

Question 5

Name two things that can make a statement unclear. Explain them.

Question 6

Name, explain and give an example of three types of definitions.

Answers with chapter 3

Question 1

A term is called vague when it is not clear what the limits of the concept are.

Question 2a

Ambiguity occurs when a word or phrase has more than one meaning and can therefore be understood in different ways.

Question 2b

Three types of ambiguity are:

1. Semantic.
2. Group related.
3. Syntactic ambiguity.

Question 3a

Examples of correct answers are three of the following four:

1. Definitions allow us to know what words mean.
2. Definitions allow us to give a special meaning to a word in some contexts.
3. We use definitions to avoid vagueness, ambiguity and generalization.
4. Definitions can be used to convince people.

Question 3b

There are three types of definitions:

1. Definitions using examples.
2. Definitions using synonyms.
3. Analytic definitions.

Question 4

An essay consists of four components:

1. A clarification of the topic.
2. An explanation of someone's own opinion on that topic.
3. Arguments that support their own opinion.
4. Debunking people's arguments who have a different opinion on the subject.

Question 5

An argument can be unclear because of:

• Blurredness: A statement can be vague if it is incomplete, imprecise, or if details are missing. The meaning of the statement may also be unclear.
• Ambiguity: A claim can be ambiguous if it can be interpreted in multiple ways

Question 6

Three types of definitions:

Definition by a synonym: A term or phrase is replaced by another phrase with the same meaning. For example, the word ambiguity is replaced by the word vagueness.

An analytic definition is one that specifies. Characteristics are sought that belong to the term. For example: a cat has four legs. Characteristics are also sought that do not belong to the term. For example: a cow does not eat meat. In addition, you can see what something is used for. You can boil water with a kettle.

For a definition by an example, examples are sought for a term. At home, you can think of a farm, a flat, a terraced house or a villa. You can give a description of a concept that is difficult to define.

When is something credible? - ExamTests 4

Questions with chapter 4

Question 1

In what three cases do claims fail in credibility?

Question 2

Which factor determines whether the source has enough knowledge about the subject?

Question 3

What is one of the reasons that the quality of the news has declined?

Question 4

What three things are important to know about media credibility?

Question 5

What three categories of commercials exist that do not use reasons to make us buy a particular product?

Question 6

What does the credibility of a claim depend on?

Question 7

Why should you be careful when judging a claim based on your own observation?

Answers with chapter 4

Question 1

Claims fall short of credibility when they:

1. Contradict our observations.
2. Do not match our experiences or our background knowledge.
3. Come from untrustworthy sources.

Question 2

Whether a source has enough knowledge about a topic depends on a person's expertise and experience.

Question 3

One reason the quality of the news has declined is that television channels in America are now owned by a small number of cooperatives.

Question 4

It is important to keep three things in mind regarding the credibility of the media:

1. People in the media, like us, also make mistakes.
2. The media can experience pressure from the government and are sensitive to manipulation.
3. Most forms of media want to make a profit.

Question 5

Commercials that do not give reasons to get us to buy a product consist of three categories:

1. Commercials that trigger feelings in us.
2. Commercials that show people we admire use the product.
3. Commercials that show a product in a situation that we would like to find ourselves in.

Question 6

The credibility of a claim depends on the claim itself and its source. Check whether a statement is true, for example by calling in an expert. A statement is more reliable if it comes from a disinterested party than from an interested party.

Question 7

Many things can cloud your own perception, so you should be careful when judging a claim. Think of: fatigue, foggy weather, being color blind, wishful thinking (seeing something as you want to see it) and (unconscious) prejudices.

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