Match each flawed argument on the left with the abstract description on the right that most accurately identifies its primary reasoning vulnerability.
- Neuroscientist: Research demonstrates that chronic sleep deprivation cannot be entirely resolved through dietary adjustments alone. It follows that the only effective intervention for individuals suffering from chronic sleep deprivation is pharmaceutical sleep medication.Assumes that only two mutually exclusive alternatives exist when other viable possibilities may be available.
- Agronomist: Farmland plots where earthworm populations increased dramatically during the spring season exhibited significantly higher soil nitrogen enrichment by autumn than plots with stable earthworm counts. Thus, the proliferation of earthworms was directly responsible for enriching the soil's nitrogen.Infers a causal relationship between two phenomena solely on the basis of an observed correlation between them.
- School Board Trustee: Several celebrated concert pianists and classical composers have argued that learning a foreign language before age six hinders a child's spatial reasoning development. We should therefore eliminate early childhood foreign language instruction from our district's curriculum.Appeals to the authority of individuals in an area outside their specific field of professional competence to establish a factual claim.
- Structural Engineer: Every individual composite beam selected for the framework of the new suspension bridge is remarkably flexible and bends readily under localized stress without fracturing. Consequently, the completed suspension bridge framework as a whole will be flexible and bend readily under stress.Attributes a property to an entire system solely because each of its constituent parts possesses that property.
Answer
The argument regarding sleep deprivation matches the description of assuming only two alternatives exist; the argument regarding earthworm populations matches the description of inferring causation from correlation; the argument regarding foreign language curriculum matches the description of appealing to inappropriate authority; and the argument regarding bridge beams matches the description of attributing a property of the parts to the whole.
Each flawed argument exhibits a classic formal or informal reasoning vulnerability: the neuroscientist commits a false dilemma by treating diet and medication as exhaustive options; the agronomist commits a post hoc / correlation-causation error; the school board trustee commits an inappropriate appeal to authority by citing classical musicians on cognitive development; and the structural engineer commits the fallacy of composition by improperly transferring a property of individual components to the entire assembled framework.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Identifying archetypal logical reasoning flaws in formal arguments
Estimated Time:2m 0s