Reviving this excellent resource so we can add to it and keep it alive. Credit to @alyhobbs and the 3 years ago crew. Hope you all are killing it wherever you are.
Original thread: https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/16979/help-with-flaw-type-examples
Will be adding to this but hey, don't make me do all the work... please post your examples up (especially for unaddressed categories) and I'll add them to the OP. It would be sweet if you copied the general format that follows too so I can just copy and paste. I'll credit you and you can be immortalized in the sage archives for all time.
Future 7sagers: please do continue to do this... copy what follows and make it your own. Please credit the original poster below and carry the flame.
@alyhobbs wrote:
Hey everyone, I am having a hard time with Flaw Questions. I know we are supposed to memorize the common argument flaws but that is where my struggle is. I am very much a visual/example type of learner. When going through the flaw types I realized it would really help me to understand and memorize them if I had examples. So I have been going through PTs and Drills that I have done trying to match them up with the flaw types and could use some help. Some I am able to easily match up to the type of flaw and others I am not. I have listed the different types below, some have specific question examples and then underneath I have a list of questions I need help matching. If anyone knows of any specific PT questions that match up with the other flaws please let me know so I can add them to my list. I hope this can also help others that struggle with flaws.
Flaw Types with Example Questions
1) Attacking the source of the argument
PT19S2Q14 *Thanks keets993
"rejects a claim by attacking the proponents of the claim rather than addressing the claim itself"
PT25S4Q04 *Thanks keets993
"assails legislation on the basis of the questionable character of supporters of the legislation"
PT39S4Q11 *Thanks keets993
"diverts attention from the content of the article by focusing on the writers' actions"
2) Uses terms unclearly/equivocation
PT25S04Q17
"The argument ambiguously uses the word "afford""
PT53S1Q12 *Thanks keets993
"ambiguity of risk"
PT59S2Q15 *canihazJD
"the meaning of a key term shifts illicitly during the course of the argument"
PT22S2Q24 *Thanks keets993
"draws a conclusion based on equivocal language"
3) Analogies that really aren’t analogous enough
PT24S3Q02 *Thanks keets993"It relies on an analogy between two things that are insufficiently alike in the respects in which they would have to be alike for the conclusion to be supported"
4) Appealing to authority in an area outside their expertise
PTJ07S2Q17 @WickedLost @"Granger Danger"
"The argument relies on the testimony of experts whose expertise is not shown to be sufficiently broad to support their general claim"
PT20S4Q20 @"Granger Danger"
Parallel flaw with classic appeal fallacy.
5) Causation confusions
PT47S3Q23
“It takes for granted that if a correlation has been observed between two phenomena, they must be causally connected”
PT30S2Q25 *Thanks keets993
"because hormone levels are correlated with heart disease they influence heart disease"
PT47S1Q23 *Thanks keets993
"ignores the possibility that an increase in theta waves may not always be accompanied by a state of profound creativity"
PT18S4Q9 *Thanks keets993
"It mistakes a correlation between the type of brain damage described and Parkinson's disease for a causal relation between the two"
PT39S4Q20 *Thanks keets993
"overlooks the possibility that the same thing may causally contribute both to education and to good health"
PT20S1Q10 *Thanks akistotle
"ignores the possibility that drivers who drive recklessly have a preference for red cars"
PT20S4Q14 *Thanks akistotle
"It concludes that one thing was caused by another although the evidecnce given is consistent with the first thing's having caused the second"
PT30S2Q25 *Thanks akistotle
"Because hormone levels are correlated with heart disease they influence heart disease"
PT31S2Q9 *Thanks akistotle
"offers no evidence that the individuals queried would have responded differently had they been asked the same questions in years prior to the survey"
PT64S1Q5 *Thanks akistotle
"dogs' misbehavior is the cause of, rather than the result of, frequent discipline"
PT65S1Q8 *Thanks akistotle
"illicitly infers a cause from a correlation"
PT66S4Q25 *Thanks akistotle
"foods containing fiber also contain other substances that, when consumed, tend to prevent colon cancer"
PT89S4Q15 *canihazJD
“surmises from the fact that two phenomena are correlated that one causes the other”
6) Circular Reasoning
PT17S2Q2 *Thanks keets993 and akistotle
"draws a conclusion that simply restates a claim given in support of that conclusion"
PT17S3Q20 *Thanks keets993 and akistotle
"assumes what it sets out to conclude"
PT6S3Q8 *Thanks akistotle
"It assumes what it seeks to establish"
PT24S2Q8 *Thanks akistotle
"presupposes the truth of the conclusion it is attempting to establish"
PT49S2Q23 *Thanks akistotle
"The purported evidence that it cites in support of its conclusion presumes that the conclusion is true"
7) Confusing necessary and sufficient conditions
PT63 S1 Q25
“infers that something that is sufficient to provide a motive is necessary to provide a motive”
PT22S2Q25 *Thanks keets993
"confuses a sufficient condition with a required condition"
PT17S2Q11 *Thanks keets993 and akistotle
"It mistakenly interprets P to be claiming that a factor assures, rather than is necessary for, a legislator's effectiveness"
PT17S3Q9 *Thanks keets993
"does not establish that only a bird could have made the track"
PT18S4Q3 *Thanks keets993
"Grass seeds will not germinate well unless they are pressed firmly into the ground. The grass seeds sown in this yard were pressed firmly into the ground, so they will germinate well"
PT22S4Q21 *Thanks akistotle
"presupposing that if an action's having a certain property is necessary for its being a certain type of action, then having that property is sufficient for being that type of action"
PT23S2Q19 *Thanks akistotle
"taking the nonexistence of something as evidence that a necessary precondition for that thing also did not exist"
PT23S3Q17 *Thanks akistotle
"mistakes being sufficient to justify punishment for being required to justify it"
PT24S2Q23 *Thanks akistotle
"From the assertion that something is necessary to a moral order, the argument concludes that that thing is sufficient for an element of the moral order to be realized"
PT30S4Q14 *Thanks akistotle
"It mistakes something that is necessary for its conclusion to follow for something that ensures that the conclusion follows"
PTJ07S3Q25 *Thanks akistotle
"confuses a condition's being required for a given result to occur in one case with the condition's being sufficient for such a result to occur in a similar case"
PT64S1Q24 *Thanks akistotle
"confuses a claim that under certain conditions a certain action should be taken with a claim that the action need not be taken in the absence of those conditions"
PT67S2Q09 *Thanks akistotle
"treats a statement whose truth is required for the conclusion to be true as though it were a statement whose truth ensures that the conclusion is true"
PT68S3Q21 *Thanks akistotle
"takes for granted that the speech could not be inappropriate if it was not inflammatory"
PT89S4Q20 *canihazJD
"mistakes necessary conditions for sufficient condition"
8) False dichotomy
PT22S4Q09 *Thanks keets993
"treats two things, neither one of which can plausibly be seen as excluding the other, as though they were mutually exclusive"
PT38S1Q11 (Thanks to @"Slow is Fast" for finding it!) @"Burden.of.Floof"
"fails to consider that some students may be neither fascinated by nor completely indifferent"
PT39S4Q26 *Thanks keets993
"Since there is a storm moving in, the outside temperature cannot rise this afternoon. Therefore, it must fall."
PT59S3Q20 @cldennis94
9) Confusing probability for certainty
PT54S4Q16 *Thanks keets993"It takes for granted that the economic incentive to construct colonies on the Moon will grow sufficiently to cause such a costly project to be undertaken."
10) Confusing "is" for "ought"
PT60S3Q16 *thanks @"cole.davis10"
"Takes for granted that preserving a currently endangered species in a habitat does not have higher priority than preserving species in that habitat that are not endangered"
11) Percentages v. quantity
PT39S2Q5 (not a flaw question but RRE) *Thanks keets993"Far more pedestrians cross at corners than jaywalk"
12) Surveys and samplings to reach a general conclusion
PT 63S1Q3
“It relies on the opinions of a group unlikely to be representative of the group at issue in the conclusion”
PT51S1Q4
“fails to state the number of dermatologists surveyed, which leaves open the possibility that the sample of doctors is too small to be reliable”
PT31S2Q03 *Thanks keets993
"Those who are best able to provide answers to the question are patients, rather than physicians"
PT39S4Q21 *Thanks keets993
"that there may be few if any other plumbers working in Moore's town"
13) Hasty generalization
PT51S3Q6
“draws a generalization that is broader than is warranted by the findings cited”
PT30S2Q13 *Thanks samantha.ashley92
"Treats a claim about what is currently the case as if it were a claim about what has been the case for an extended period"
PT39S2Q2 *Thanks samantha.ashley92
“draws a conclusion about all cases of a certain kind on the basis of evidence that justifies such a conclusion only about some cases of that kind”
PT18S4Q25 *Thanks keets993
"He attempts to refute a general claim by reference to nonconforming cases, although the claim is consistent with the occurrence of such cases"
14) Experiments to reach a general conclusion
PT35S4Q08 *Thanks keets993"playing the study's card game perfectly requires fairly low levels of perception and memory"
15) Your argument fails therefore the opposite of your conclusion must be true
PT47S1Q8
“takes for granted that the fact that a claim has not been demonstrated to be false establishes that it is true”
PT51S1Q15 *Thanks samantha.ashley92
“the argument, in its attempt to refute one theory of species classification, presupposes the truth of an opposing theory
16) Relative v. absolute
PT 53S1Q22 *Thanks keets993
"mistakes a merely relative property for one that is absolute"
PT 85S3Q24
"takes for granted that there are not significantly more households with a dog than ones with a cat"
17) Confusing one possible solution for the only solution
PT30S4Q6 *Thanks samantha.ashley92
"Confuses being an adequate solution with being a required solution"
PT59S2Q8 *canihazJD
"fails to consider alternative explanations of the decline in sales of ice cream"
18) Red herring
PT26S2Q11
"it appeals to the emotion of pity rather than addressing the issue raised"
PT18S4Q11 *Thanks keets993
"relies on an irrelevant reason for rejecting the civil libertarian's argument"
PT18S2Q04 *Thanks keets993
"He argues against a point that is not one that Marianna was making"
19) Tradition fallacy and novelty fallacy
PT51S1Q10 *Thanks samantha.ashley92“fails to show that a certain conclusion of the recent report is better justified than an opposing conclusion reached in older studies”
20) Confusing part v. whole
PT 47S3Q25 *Thanks keets993
"To put together this year's two All-Star Teams, the best players in the league were selected. Half of them were put on Team One, and half were put on Team Two. Since each player on the two teams was one of the best players in the league this year, it follows that the two All-Star Teams are the two best teams this year."
I also describe this is as 'falsey transfers attributes that can't be transferred' *Thanks keets993
PT17S3Q19 *Thanks keets993
"Of all the flowers grown in the university's botanical garden, the Oakland roses are the most beautiful. Since the university's botanical garden is the most beautiful . Since the university's botanical garden is the most beautiful garden in the region, the Oakland roses grown in the garden must be the most beautiful flowers grown in the entire region."
PT17S3Q16 *Thanks keets993
"assuming that because something is true each of the parts of a whole it is true of the whole itself"
PT62S2Q7 *Thanks LCMama2017
"This paragraph is long. So the sentences that comprise it are long."
PT87S3Q7 *canihazJD
"infers that a food will have a certain property simply because one of the foods ingredients has that property"
21) Beliefs v. facts
PT 80.S1.Q19 @cldennis94
"opposing higher taxes is not a factor contributing to good leadership."
Note: a Weaken question, but belief vs. facts is the flaw here in the argument.
PT 28.S1.Q19 @cldennis94
"infers that something is the case because it is believed to be the case."
22) Relies on people's opinions as fact
PT28S1Q09 *Thanks keets993
"a claim is inferred to be false merely because a majority of people believe it to be false"
Match the flaw
PT47S1Q23
“ignores the possibility that an increase in theta waves may not always be accompanied by a state of profound creativity”
PT51S1Q6
“It fails to take into account that what brings someone happiness at one moment may not bring that person happiness at another time”
PT51S1Q18
“overlooks the possibility that most people may have voted for small cities even though a large city received more votes than any other single city”
PT51S3Q4
“fails to consider that the total amount of money spent on education may be much greater than the total spent on sports”
PT51S3Q9
“fails to consider the possibility that the vehicle related fatality rates in other areas are also rising”
PT67S2Q9
"treats a statement whose truth is required for the conclusion to be true as though it were a statement whose truth ensures that the conclusion is true"
PT67S2Q21
"the argument fails to consider that bees might be present even in the absence of a particular condition that would ensure their presence"
More added by @samantha.ashley92
PT30S4Q8: "The argument presumes that no other evidence is relevant to the issue at hand"
Relative v. absolute? I have no idea.
PT30S4Q14: "It mistakes something that is necessary for its conclusion to follow for something that ensures that the conclusion follows"
23) Unrepresentative sample
PTM20S3Q18 *canihazJD
"making a generalization on the basis of a sample that is likely to be unrepresentative"
PT88S4Q19 *canihazJD
"draws a conclusion on the basis of a biased sample"
24) Sneaking something in (dont have a good name/category for this yet).
PT92S1Q25 (weaken)
You will see effects, though perhaps less severe due to the slowness of this cycle. Some schools, particularly higher ranked ones, will have their classes locked in. I'd expect more WL's that would have been A's earlier on. Also if this is your only score, your apps won't be complete until the score posts in February. So lower, yes. Exponentially, no. And not to say you can't have a great outcome... I'm at a T14 via a February app. But be prepared to reapply if necessary.