D265 - WGU - CRITICAL THINKING - REASON AND EVIDENCE

D265 - WGU - CRITICAL THINKING -
REASON AND EVIDENCE



PROPOSITIONSw-wans-✔✔Arewstatementswthatwcanwbewtrueworwfalse

NON-PROPOSITONSw-wans-
✔✔Arewsentenceswthatwarewnotwstatementswaboutwmatterswofwfactworwfiction.wTheywdo
wnotwmakewawclaimwthatwcanwbewtrueworwfalse.


SIMPLEwPROPOSITIONSw-wans-
✔✔Havewnowinternalwlogicwstructure,wmeaningwwhetherwtheywarewtrueworwfalsewdoesw
notwdependwonwwhetherwawpartwofwthemwiswtrueworwfalse.wTheywarewsimplywtrueworwfal
sewonwtheirwown.w(Example:wHarrywPotterwwearswglasses.wThewskywiswblue.)

COMPLEXwPROPOSITIONSw-wans-
✔✔Havewinternalwlogicwstructure,wmeaningwtheywarewcomposedwofwsimplewproposition
s.wWhetherwtheywarewtrueworwfalsewdependswonwwhetherwtheirwpartswarewtrueworwfalse
.w(Example:wThewskywiswblue,wbutwitwdoeswnotwlookwbluewtowmewrightwnow.wThewcatwat
ewthewfood,wbutwhewdidwnotwlikewit.wThewGDPwofwCanadawisweitherw$3wtrillionworw$12wt
rillion.)

WordswusedwtowidentifywIndependentwPropositionsw-wans-
✔✔AND,wOR,wEITHER,wBUT,wIF,wTHEN.

CONCLUSIONwINDICATORSw-wans-
✔✔THEREFORE,wSO,wITwFOLLOWSwTHAT,wHENCE,wTHUS,wENTAILSwTHAT,wWEw
MAYwCONCLUDEwTHAT,wIMPLIESwTHAT,wWHEREFORE,wANDwASwAwRESULT.

PREMISEwINDICATORSw-wans-
✔✔BECAUSE,wFOR,wGIVENwTHAT,wAS,wSINCE,wASwINDICATEDwBY.

DEDUCTIVEwARGUMENTSw-wans-
✔✔Argumentswwherewthewpremiseswguaranteeworwnecessitatewthewconclusion.
-mathematicalwarguments,wlogicalwarguments,wargumentswfromwdefinition.

INDUCTIONwARGUMENTSw-wans-
✔✔Argumentswwherewthewpremiseswmakewthewconclusionwprobable.
-analogies,wauthority,wcausalwinferences,wextrapolations,wetc.

, INFERENCEwTOwTHEwBESTwEXPLANATIONwORwABDUCTIONw-wans-
✔✔Argumentswwherewthewbestwavailablewexplanationwiswchosenwaswthewcorrectwexpla
nation.

FORMALwFALLACYw-wans-✔✔Concernswthewstructurewofwanwargument

INFORMALwFALLACYw-wans-✔✔Concernswthewinformationalwcontentwofwanwargument

AwFORMALwFALLACYwISwAwTYPEwOFw-wans-✔✔BadwArgumentwStructure

Whichwpiecewofwinformationwwouldwbewthewmostwhelpfulwtowknowwinwassessingwthewcr
edibilitywofwawnewswstory?w-wans-
✔✔Whetherwthewnamewofwthewauthorwandwthewpublicationwarewidentified

Whichwquestionswarewmostwappropriatewforwevaluatingwthewcredibilitywofwanwinformatio
nwsource?w-wans-✔✔Whowfundedwit?
w&wDoeswitwtrywtowgetwyouwtowdistrustwotherwsources?


Whilewresearchingwawtopicwonwthewinternet,wawstudentwencounterswtwowdifferentwwebsi
tes,wonewofwthatwlookswmorewofficialwthanwthewotherwandwincludeswtables,wcharts,wand
wstatistics,wwhilewthewotherwdoeswnot.
Whatwiswthewlinewofwreasoningwthiswstudentwshouldwemploywtowdeterminewwhichwsitewi
swmorewcredible?w-wans-
✔✔Itwiswnotwfeasiblewtowdeterminewwhichwsitewiswmorewcrediblewfromwthewinformationw
provided.

Inwwhichwwaywshouldwanwinformationwsourcewbewapproachedwifwitwiswstatingwthatwitwisw
thewonlywsourcewofwrealwinformationwandwthatwotherwsourceswcannotwbewtrusted?w-
wans-✔✔Skeptically,wbecausewthewsourcewmaywlackwcredibility.


PRINCIPLEwOFwCHARITYw-wans-
✔✔Thewprinciplewofwcharitywsuggestswwewshouldwtrywtowunderstandwideaswbeforewcriti
cizingwthem.

Whichwofwthewfollowingwarewreasonswforwapplyingwthewprinciplewofwcharity?w-wans-
✔✔Itwiswmorallywrightwtowgivewotherswthewbenefitwofwthewdoubt.
Itwallowswforwawclearerwunderstandingwofwthewissue.

Smithwiswcommittedwtowthewbeliefwthatwtechnologicalwadvancementwiswalwayswbenefici
alwandwthuswneverwdetrimentalwtowhumanwlife.wSmithwreadswawcarefullywwrittenwandws
ufficientlywarguedwessaywinwwhichwthewauthorwcontendswthatwthewhumanwadoptionwofw
anywnewwtechnologywinvolveswbothwadvantageswandwdisadvantageswtowitswadopters.w
SincewSmithwiswawloyalwtechnophile,wSmithwacceptswthewauthor'swclaimswaboutwthewad
vantageswofwtechnologywbutwrejectswthewauthor'swclaimswaboutwthewdisadvantageswofw
technology.