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