D265 CRITICAL THINKING REASON AND EVIDENCE WGU ELITE STUDY GUIDE WITH 123 TESTED QUESTIONS AND COMPLETE SOLUTIONS 2026

D265 CRITICAL THINKING REASON AND
EVIDENCE WGU ELITE STUDY GUIDE WITH
123 TESTED QUESTIONS AND COMPLETE
SOLUTIONS 2026

⩥ Non-Propostion. Answer: Something that isn't a statement. Example:
"Wow!"


⩥ Argument. Answer: A group of statements aiming to support a
conclusion.
Example: "Cats are mammals. Fluffy is a cat, so Fluffy is a mammal."


⩥ Non-Argument. Answer: A group of statements not aiming to support
a conclusion. Example: "It's raining today."


⩥ Premise. Answer: A statement providing support in an argument.
Example: All birds have feathers."


⩥ Conclusion. Answer: The main point an argument aims to establish.
Example: "Therefore, that bird has feathers."

,⩥ Deductive Argument. Answer: An argument where the conclusion
must follow from the premises. Example: "All men are mortal. Socrates
is a man, So Socrates is mortal."


⩥ Inductive Argument. Answer: An argument where the conclusion is
likely based on the premises. Example: "Most swans I've seen are white,
so all swans must be white."


⩥ Valid Argument. Answer: Whether an arguments structure guarantees
the truth of the conclusion. Example: "All cats are animals. Fluffy is a
cat, so Fluffy is an animal."


⩥ Invalid Argument. Answer: Deductive argument where the conclusion
does not follow logically from the premises. Example: "All cats are
animals. Fluffy is an animal, so Fluffy is a cat."


⩥ Sound Argument. Answer: a valid argument in which all of the
premises are true. Example: "All dogs are mammals. Max is a dog, so
Max is a mammal."


⩥ Unsound Argument. Answer: one that either is invalid or has at least
one false premise. Example: "All horses can fly. Shadow is a horse, so
Shadow can fly."

,⩥ Strong Argument. Answer: inductive argument with strong premises
supporting the conclusion. Example: "90% of students at our school like
math, so it's likely you'll like math too."


⩥ Weak Argument. Answer: inductive argument with weak support for
the conclusion. Example: "I saw three blue cars today, so all cars must
be blue."


⩥ Cogent Argument. Answer: When an inductive argument is strong and
has true premises. Example: "Over the past year, every time I've gone to
the park, its been sunny. So, it's likely sunny today."


⩥ Uncogent Argument. Answer: When an inductive argument has weak
or false premises. Example: "Yesterday, I saw a black cat and then
missed the bus. Black cats are unlucky."


⩥ Formal Fallacy. Answer: Errors in reasoning due to the structure of an
argument. Example: "Affirming the consequent: If it's raining, the
ground is wet. The ground is wet, so it must be raining.


⩥ Informal Fallacy. Answer: Errors in reasoning that don't follow strict
logical rules. "Ad Hominem: You can't trust him because he's a Yankee's
fan."

, ⩥ Antecedent. Answer: The "if" part of a conditional statement.
Example: "If its raining, I'll take an umbrella."


⩥ Consequent. Answer: The "then" part of a conditional statement.
Example: "If I take an umbrella, I won't get wet."


⩥ Modus Ponens. Answer: A valid deductive argument form: If P, then
Q. P is true, so Q is true. Example: "If its sunny, I'll go for a walk. It's
sunny, so I'll go for a walk."


⩥ Modus Tollens. Answer: A valid deductive argument form: If P, then
Q. Not Q is true, so not P is true. Example: "If it's raining, the ground is
wet. The ground is not wet, so it's not raining."


⩥ Affirming the Consequent. Answer: A formal Fallacy: If P, then Q. Q
is true, so P is true. Example: "If she's a chef, she can cook. She can
cook, so she's a chef."


⩥ Denying the Antecedent. Answer: A formal fallacy: If P, then Q. Not P
is true, so not Q is true. Example: "If it's raining, the ground is wet, It's
not raining, so the ground isn't wet."


⩥ The Fallacy Fallacy. Answer: Mistakenly claiming that an argument is
incorrect solely because it contains a fallacy. Example: "You can't trust
anything they say since their argument has a logical fallacy."