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