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Quiz

Try these ten basic, but occasionally tricky, reasoning concepts. Mark each statement as being either true or false. Answers can be found on the final pages of this book.

See answers

1. The Prisoner’s Dilemma provides an example of how competition is superior to cooperation.

❑ True ❑ False

2. The statement “some doctors are rich people” does not imply reciprocality because “some rich people might not be doctors.”

❑ True ❑ False

3. The ad hominem fallacy consists in attempting to hide a weakness by drawing attention away from the real issue and emphasizing a side issue.

❑ True ❑ False

4. The halo effect occurs when a person so wishes something to be true that, in his or her mind, the situation is believed to be true.

❑ True ❑ False

5. The following represents the formulaic relationship among the three elements of classic argument structure: Evidence − Assumption = Conclusion.

❑ True ❑ False

6. The words “inference” and “assumption” may be used interchangeably.

❑ True ❑ False

7. The beauty of matrixes lies in their ability to summarize data across rows and columns. However, data must be “collectively exclusive and mutually exhaustive.”

❑ True ❑ False

8. In formal logic, the statement “Every A is a B” may be translated as “Only As are Bs.”

❑ True ❑ False

9. Left-brain thinking might be described as “floodlight" thinking while right-brain thinking might be described as “spotlight" thinking.

❑ True ❑ False

10. Utility analysis takes into account the desirability of outcomes by multiplying a given value by the probability of its occurrence; all resultant values will total

to 100%.

❑ True ❑ False

Chapter 1

Perception & Mindset

Many complain about their memory,

few about their judgment.

— La Rochefoucauld

SELECTIVE PERCEPTION

Tip #1: Selective perception is the tendency to see the world the way we would like it to be rather than how it really is. The sound thinker suspends judgment and is not unduly influenced by stereotypes, prejudices, isolated experiences, or preconceived notions.

Imagine recovering your sight after thirty years of blindness. Pioneering psychologist K. F. Muenzinger captured the words of a person who had made this remarkable journey:

When I could see again, objects seemed to hurl themselves at me. One of the things normal people know from long habit is what not to look at. Things that don’t matter, or that confuse, are simply shut out of their minds. I had forgotten this, and tried to see everything at once; consequently I saw almost nothing.

This interesting but extreme case is virtually the opposite of what most of us typically experience. The active thinker struggles to gain more latitude, differing viewpoints, and corroborating information. We hardly worry about seeing too much, but rather about seeing too little. All-rounded thinking — thinking that encompasses both sides of an issue or topic — is probably the greatest asset that training in critical thinking can lend us.

Age, culture, gender, education, and work and life experience are major reasons why no two individuals see the world in exactly the same way. Perhaps the most basic way to view the world is from a positive or negative perspective. Is the cup half full or half empty? Are we perennial pessimists or incurable optimists?

Consider the following truncated profiles that describe the life and times of Remus Reid. Folklore has it that two separate newspaper accounts surfaced regarding the death of cowboy Remus Reid — one from the sheriff’s office and one from a close relative who lived in Remus’ hometown:

From the sheriff’s office:

“Remus Reid, horse thief, sent to prison in 1885, escaped in 1887, robbed the local train six times. Caught by local detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.”

From Remus’ dotting relative:

“Remus Reid was a famous cowboy whose business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the regional