SUBJECTS
|
BROWSE
|
CAREER CENTER
|
POPULAR
|
JOIN
|
LOGIN
Business Skills
|
Soft Skills
|
Basic Literacy
|
Certifications
About
|
Help
|
Privacy
|
Terms
|
Email
Search
Test your basic knowledge |
SAT Essay Logical Fallacies
Start Test
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. Information the writer asserts as being the result of an event
Slippery Slope
Special pleading
Either -or
Cause-effect relationships
2. Appeal to the reader's emotions
Either-or Reasoning
False analogy
Stereotyping
Pathos
3. Citing an expert on one subject as expert on another
Ad populum
False authority
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
Evaluating Reasoning by Debate
4. Cause and Effect: Assuming that an incident that precedes another is the cause of the second incident
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Numbers
Smoke screen
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
5. 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'
Ad populum
Dog whistle
Undistributed Middle
Slippery slope
6. 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
Equivocation
Irrelevant Proof
Ethos
7. Appeal to reason
Undistributed Middle
Either-or Reasoning
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
Logos
8. How large is the sample size? How representative is the sample?
Evaluating Reasoning by Generalization
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
Ad hominem
False analogy
9. Appeal to the the pity - sympathy or 'misery' of the audience
Evaluating Reasoning by Generalization
Ad misericordia
Equivocation
Correlation as cause
10. Does the evidence prove the point being argued? Is this authority an expert on this particular topic?
Opinion
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
Evaluating Cause and Effect Reasoning
Composition
11. Reasoning by Debate: A fallacy that forces listeners to choose between two alternatives when more than two alternatives exist
Either -or
Stereotyping
Evaluating Cause and Effect Reasoning
Single cause
12. Information gained from personal experience representing a general pattern
Fact
Anecdote
Deductive Reasoning
Equivocation
13. 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.
Straw man
Smoke screen
Correlation as cause
Logos
14. Prejudging an individual based on ideas one has about the group the individual belongs to
Stereotyping
Evaluating Reasoning by Generalization
Appeal to Authority
Either -or
15. Condemning an argument because of where it began - how it began - or who began it
Straw man
Genetic Fallacy
False authority
Smoke screen
16. Generalization: Assumes that an individual must have a characteristic because the group to which he or she belongs supposedly has that characteristic
Irrelevant Proof
Either-or Reasoning
Negative Proof
Division
17. Information that can be objectively proven as true
Fact
False authority
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
Oversimplification
18. 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.
Special pleading
Appeal to Authority
Evaluating Reasoning by Comparison
Genetic Fallacy
19. Two comparable issues or ideas are judged by different criteria
Double standard
Opinion
Smoke screen
False authority
20. Concealing the author's true intent - belief - or attitude towards an issue
Stereotyping
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Smoke screen
Correlation as cause
21. 'Against the man' attacking the person or group to which you are opposed rather than addressing the issue
Smoke screen
Division
Dog whistle
Ad hominem
22. How similar or how different are the cases being compared? How many point of comparison is the arguer using?
Pathos
Slippery Slope
Evaluating Reasoning by Comparison
Double standard
23. 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.
Prevalent Proof
Pathos
Equivocation
False scenario
24. Logical reasoning that establishes specific facts or contentions leading to a general conclusion
Inductive Reasoning
Ad populum
Slippery Slope
Division
25. Reasoning by Proof: the evidence offered does not really support the claim. Non Sequitur (It does not follow)
Either -or
Irrelevant Proof
Oversimplification
Cause-effect relationships
26. 'After this therefore because of this' implying that because on event follows another - the first caused the second
Ad hominem
Double standard
Red herring
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
27. Writer encourages readers to accept a conclusion without any support
Vagueness
Straw man
False scenario
Begging the question
28. Analogy or comparison that is not logically consistent
Deductive Reasoning
False analogy
Ad hominem
Oversimplification
29. Have all reasonable alternatives been considered/eliminated? Does this author attack the other views in a fair way?
Equivocation
Evaluating Reasoning by Generalization
Either -or
Evaluating Reasoning by Debate
30. 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.
Either-or Reasoning
Statistic
Ad populum
Dog whistle
31. Fallacy that asserts that given two positions - there exists a compromise between them which must be correct.
Equivocation
Ad hominem
Appeal to the golden mean
Stereotyping
32. 'it does not follow' drawing a conclusion or making a transition that is not a logical result of the facts
Nonsequiter
Double standard
Begging the question
Division
33. Reasoning by Proof: an argument that because someone worked hard at something - their conclusions must be right
Ethos
Division
Numbers
Nonsequiter
34. Cause and Effect: claim than an event with more than one cause has only one cause
Single cause
Ad populum
Equivocation
Prevalent Proof
35. 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!'
Either -or
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Inductive Reasoning
False scenario
36. Generalization: an argument that ignores all unfavorable evidence
Either-or Reasoning
Special pleading
Logos
Circular Reasoning
37. Obscuring or denying the complexity of an issue
Straw man
Oversimplification
Inductive Reasoning
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
38. Appeal based on the credibility of the author
Values
Equivocation
Division
Ethos
39. Trying to prove one idea with another idea that is too similar to the first idea
Nonsequiter
Circular Reasoning
Slippery slope
False scenario
40. Information based on personal interpretation of facts
Undistributed Middle
Negative Proof
Opinion
False analogy
41. Introducing an irrelevant point to divert readers' attention from the main issue being discussed
Special pleading
Appeal to Authority
Red herring
Pathos
42. 'To the people' appeal to the prejudices of the audience - or claiming that (or a majority) supports your opinion
Ad hominem
Ad vericundium
Ad populum
Nonsequiter
43. Reasoning by Proof: absence of evidence is not evidence; he didn't say that... so it must be false
Negative Proof
Red herring
Numbers
Slippery Slope
44. A fallacy that assumes that taking a first step will lead to subsequent steps that cannot be prevented
Genetic Fallacy
Undistributed Middle
Slippery Slope
Pathos
45. Generalization: drawing conclusions based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence
Evaluating Reasoning by Proof/Authority
Opinion
Hasty generalization
Evaluating Reasoning by Comparison
46. Any diversion intended to distract attention from the main issue
Either-or Reasoning
Values
Red Herring
Correlation as cause
47. Reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case
Slippery slope
Begging the question
Evaluating Reasoning by Comparison
Deductive Reasoning
48. 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
Equivocation
Deductive Reasoning
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
Correlation as cause
49. Drawing conclusions based on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence; using all instances when only some apply
Correlation as cause
Hasty generalization
Statistic
Negative Proof
50. Information that is an interpretation of numerical data
Statistic
Either-or Reasoning
Values
Negative Proof