Test your basic knowledge |

SAT Essay Logical Fallacies

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. Have all reasonable alternatives been considered/eliminated? Does this author attack the other views in a fair way?






2. 'To the people' appeal to the prejudices of the audience - or claiming that (or a majority) supports your opinion






3. Generalization: Assumes that members of a group must have a characteristic because one or more of its members has that characteristic.






4. Trying to prove one idea with another idea that is too similar to the first idea






5. Condemning an argument because of where it began - how it began - or who began it






6. Any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue






7. Common knowledge or beliefs readers accept as true






8. Appeal based on the credibility of the author






9. Cause and Effect: claim than an event with more than one cause has only one cause






10. 'Against the man' attacking the person or group to which you are opposed rather than addressing the issue






11. Cause and Effect: Assuming that an incident that precedes another is the cause of the second incident






12. Generalization: drawing conclusions based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence






13. Concealing the author's true intent - belief - or attitude towards an issue






14. Cause and Effect: 'What if' fallacy. Argues that everything would be different if one variable was different. Example: 'If the Nazis had won WWII - we'd all be speaking German!'






15. 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?






16. Logical reasoning that establishes specific facts or contentions leading to a general conclusion






17. Obscuring or denying the complexity of an issue






18. Introducing an irrelevant point to divert readers' attention from the main issue being discussed






19. Fallacy that asserts that given two positions - there exists a compromise between them which must be correct.






20. Citing an expert on one subject as expert on another






21. 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






22. Everybody knows fallacy. Asserts that some idea is common knowledge - so it must be true.






23. How similar or how different are the cases being compared? How many point of comparison is the arguer using?






24. Appeal to reason






25. How large is the sample size? How representative is the sample?






26. Appeal to the reader's emotions






27. When a writer uses the same term in two different senses in an argument. i.e. People choose what laws they obey. The Law of Gravity is a law. I choose to disobey the law of gravity.






28. Information gained from personal experience representing a general pattern






29. Reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case






30. Information the writer asserts as being the result of an event






31. Two comparable issues or ideas are judged by different criteria






32. 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.'






33. 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.






34. Analogy or comparison that is not logically consistent






35. Writer encourages readers to accept a conclusion without any support






36. 'it does not follow' drawing a conclusion or making a transition that is not a logical result of the facts






37. Reasoning by Proof: absence of evidence is not evidence; he didn't say that... so it must be false






38. Claiming that one step in the wrong direction will lead to another - potentially disastrous consequence






39. 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.






40. Generalization: an argument that ignores all unfavorable evidence






41. 'After this therefore because of this' implying that because on event follows another - the first caused the second






42. Information based on personal interpretation of facts






43. Reasoning by Debate: A fallacy that forces listeners to choose between two alternatives when more than two alternatives exist






44. 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.






45. Generalization: Assumes that an individual must have a characteristic because the group to which he or she belongs supposedly has that characteristic






46. Statements that are intentionally vague so that the audience may supply its own interpretations






47. Appeal to the the pity - sympathy or 'misery' of the audience






48. 'To the authority' appeal based on the authority of a source






49. A fallacy that assumes that taking a first step will lead to subsequent steps that cannot be prevented






50. Ambiguity or multiplicity of interpretations of a repeated word or phrase