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Test your basic knowledge |
SAT Essay Logical Fallacies
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Study First
Subjects
:
sat
,
english
,
writing-skills
Instructions:
Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
If you are not ready to take this test, you can
study here
.
Match each statement with the correct term.
Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.
This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Reasoning by Debate: When a writer argues against a claim that nobody actually holds or is universally considered weak. Setting up a straw man diverts attention from the real issues.
Equivocation
Straw man
Ad misericordia
Single cause
2. Citing an expert on one subject as expert on another
Hasty generalization
False authority
Anecdote
Evaluating Reasoning by Comparison
3. Logical reasoning that establishes specific facts or contentions leading to a general conclusion
Ad vericundium
Dog whistle
Composition
Inductive Reasoning
4. Prejudging an individual based on ideas one has about the group the individual belongs to
Negative Proof
False analogy
Stereotyping
Correlation as cause
5. A fallacy that assumes that taking a first step will lead to subsequent steps that cannot be prevented
Hasty generalization
Equivocation
Slippery Slope
Appeal to Authority
6. Have all reasonable alternatives been considered/eliminated? Does this author attack the other views in a fair way?
Evaluating Reasoning by Generalization
Undistributed Middle
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Evaluating Reasoning by Debate
7. Does the evidence prove the point being argued? Is this authority an expert on this particular topic?
Slippery Slope
Either-or Reasoning
Cause-effect relationships
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
8. Stating the only two interpretations of actions are alternatives - ignoring any compromise or moderate course
Either-or Reasoning
Ad hominem
Opinion
Pathos
9. Generalization: an argument that ignores all unfavorable evidence
Hasty generalization
Appeal to Authority
Circular Reasoning
Special pleading
10. False transitive property - you assume that just because two things share a characteristic - all of their characteristics are shared: - 'penguins are black and white - old tv shows are black and white - therefore penguins are old tv shows'
Nonsequiter
Cause-effect relationships
Vagueness
Undistributed Middle
11. 'To the people' appeal to the prejudices of the audience - or claiming that (or a majority) supports your opinion
Anecdote
Hasty generalization
Undistributed Middle
Ad populum
12. The use by a speaker of coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has a different (and negative) meaning for a targeted subgroup of the audience.
Nonsequiter
Dog whistle
Logos
Genetic Fallacy
13. Concealing the author's true intent - belief - or attitude towards an issue
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Logos
Smoke screen
Dog whistle
14. Reasoning by Debate: In an argument - this is an attack on the person rather than on the opponent's ideas. It comes from the Latin meaning 'against the man.'
Ad hominem
Straw man
Appeal to the golden mean
Single cause
15. Reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case
Oversimplification
Either-or Reasoning
Opinion
Deductive Reasoning
16. How large is the sample size? How representative is the sample?
Evaluating Reasoning by Generalization
Irrelevant Proof
Logos
Undistributed Middle
17. Writer encourages readers to accept a conclusion without any support
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
Negative Proof
Begging the question
Ad populum
18. 'To the authority' appeal based on the authority of a source
Numbers
Ad vericundium
Statistic
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
19. Analogy or comparison that is not logically consistent
Red Herring
False analogy
Evaluating Reasoning by Debate
Genetic Fallacy
20. Claiming that one step in the wrong direction will lead to another - potentially disastrous consequence
Circular Reasoning
Straw man
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Slippery slope
21. Appeal to reason
Evaluating Reasoning by Generalization
Double standard
Anecdote
Logos
22. Reasoning by Debate: A fallacy that forces listeners to choose between two alternatives when more than two alternatives exist
Either -or
Begging the question
Appeal to Authority
Straw man
23. 'After this therefore because of this' implying that because on event follows another - the first caused the second
Slippery Slope
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Anecdote
Genetic Fallacy
24. 'Against the man' attacking the person or group to which you are opposed rather than addressing the issue
Oversimplification
Either-or Reasoning
Ad hominem
Red Herring
25. Trying to prove one idea with another idea that is too similar to the first idea
Circular Reasoning
False scenario
Double standard
Anecdote
26. Reasoning by Proof: A fallacy in which a speaker or writer seeks to persuade not by giving evidence but by appealing to the respect people have for a person or institution.
Appeal to Authority
Smoke screen
Fact
Prevalent Proof
27. Condemning an argument because of where it began - how it began - or who began it
Evaluating Reasoning by Debate
Genetic Fallacy
Appeal to the golden mean
Smoke screen
28. Obscuring or denying the complexity of an issue
Division
Prevalent Proof
Appeal to Authority
Oversimplification
29. Two comparable issues or ideas are judged by different criteria
Hasty generalization
Double standard
Stereotyping
Negative Proof
30. Reasoning by Proof: absence of evidence is not evidence; he didn't say that... so it must be false
Negative Proof
Inductive Reasoning
Evaluating Cause and Effect Reasoning
Numbers
31. Introducing an irrelevant point to divert readers' attention from the main issue being discussed
Vagueness
Division
Slippery slope
Red herring
32. Cause and Effect: claim than an event with more than one cause has only one cause
Either-or Reasoning
Begging the question
Single cause
Cause-effect relationships
33. Generalization: drawing conclusions based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence
Hasty generalization
Slippery Slope
Straw man
Prevalent Proof
34. Appeal based on the credibility of the author
Dog whistle
Fact
Ethos
Correlation as cause
35. Fallacy that asserts that given two positions - there exists a compromise between them which must be correct.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Appeal to the golden mean
Nonsequiter
Undistributed Middle
36. Ambiguity or multiplicity of interpretations of a repeated word or phrase
Equivocation
Division
Smoke screen
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
37. Information the writer asserts as being the result of an event
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
Values
Cause-effect relationships
Vagueness
38. Reasoning by Proof: the evidence offered does not really support the claim. Non Sequitur (It does not follow)
Slippery Slope
Fact
Irrelevant Proof
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
39. Information that can be objectively proven as true
Smoke screen
Ad misericordia
Ad hominem
Fact
40. Drawing conclusions based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence; using all instances when only some apply
Vagueness
Hasty generalization
Genetic Fallacy
Straw man
41. Any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue
Red Herring
Irrelevant Proof
Evaluating Reasoning by Comparison
Ethos
42. 'it does not follow' drawing a conclusion or making a transition that is not a logical result of the facts
Undistributed Middle
Single cause
Nonsequiter
Correlation as cause
43. Everybody knows fallacy. Asserts that some idea is common knowledge - so it must be true.
Ad misericordia
Prevalent Proof
Composition
Evaluating Reasoning by Generalization
44. Cause and Effect: A fallacy that assumes that because two variables are correlated (happen at the same time) that one must have caused the other
Correlation as cause
Undistributed Middle
Straw man
Red Herring
45. Information gained from personal experience representing a general pattern
Hasty generalization
Anecdote
Evaluating Reasoning by Comparison
Ad vericundium
46. Is there a reasonable connection between the cause and the effect? Is that connection explained? Are there other possible causes that have not been considered?
Evaluating Cause and Effect Reasoning
Nonsequiter
False analogy
Red Herring
47. Generalization: Assumes that an individual must have a characteristic because the group to which he or she belongs supposedly has that characteristic
Division
Begging the question
False authority
Evaluating Reasoning by Debate
48. Appeal to the reader's emotions
Pathos
Ad misericordia
Hasty generalization
Statistic
49. Information based on personal interpretation of facts
Circular Reasoning
Stereotyping
Opinion
Evaluating Cause and Effect Reasoning
50. Common knowledge or beliefs readers accept as true
Appeal to the golden mean
Values
Deductive Reasoning
Ad populum