Directions: Read each passage. Then circle the appropriate letter to indicate an error in reasoning contained in the passage.
Note: This exercise includes the slippery slope error, which is particularly common among tabloid journalists. This kind of thinking insists that one step in a particular direction will invariably lead to more of the same, only much worse. Here's an example:
Because some children are allergic to peanuts, cafeterias are beginning to eliminate peanut-based foods. While it's unfortunate that some children cannot eat peanuts without suffering a terrible reaction, forcing every child in the school to forgo peanuts does seem unfair. And where will the list end? I'm allergic to tomatoes, does that mean that were I to attend grammar school, tomatoes would be forbidden? Perhaps strawberries, which cause hives in so many of us, would have to disappear from the school menu as well. Then would come eggs. By the time the food censors were through, there would be little or nothing left in the school cafeteria to eat.
Those fond of the slippery slope approach assume that similar cases or events are exactly the same in every aspect. Thus they are bound to produce the exact same results. Slippery slope thinkers don't take significant differences in similar situations into account. To accept the above argument about the school cafeteria, for example, one has to ignore that for allergic children, eating peanuts can prove deadly whereas eating strawberries sometimes causes hives but doesn't lead to death. Thus accepting the fact that peanuts have to be purged from the menu does not automatically mean that strawberries and eggs will have to go too.
1. The U.S. government should follow Sweden's lead and ban commercial advertisements in television programs for children under nine years of age. According the American Psychological Association, young children do not realize that commercials present biased information for the purpose of selling products. Because kids are too easily persuaded by TV ads, they are easy prey for marketers. As psychologist Dale Kunkel expresses it, turning kids into pint-size consumers is "like shooting fish in a barrel." Once you get the child interested in a particular television program, it's only a hop, skip and a jump before they are asking for the clothing, toy or food, which the program advertises. Our culture's emphasis on consumerism, on the notion that buying things will make us happy, is the number one reason why credit card debt and resultant bankruptcies have doubled in the last decade. (Source of information: Marilyn Elias, "Television Ads Aimed at Kids Must Change, Psychologists Say," USA Today, February 24, 2004, p. 9D.)
Error:
| a. circular reasoning b. attack on the person |
c. slippery slope d. irrelevant reason or fact |
2. According to the U.S. Justice Department, the number of Americans who were in prison, on probation, or on parole in 2004 was close to seven million, and that number is increasing every year. This is far too many people for our criminal justice system to deal with, and overly long prison sentences are a big part of the problem. To alleviate the logjam, the sentences for most crimes should be shortened. Doing so would save a good part of the more than $50 billion per year taxpayers now pay annually to incarcerate over two million people. Surely, this money would be better spent on other things, including academic, vocational, and substance abuse programs that would truly rehabilitate offenders. In addition, fewer people would be locked up for shorter periods of time. Because most prison sentences are unnecessarily long, they could easily be cut by half or even two-thirds. Doing so would reduce the burden on our overcrowded prison system. (Source of information: Fox Butterfield, "U.S. 'Correctional Population' Hits New High," The New York Times, July 26, 2004, p. A10.)
Error:
| a. circular reasoning b. slippery slope |
c. irrelevant reason or fact d. unattributed or dated research |
3. Preschool teachers serve a very important role in today's society. That's why they should be required to have at least a bachelor's degree with specialized training in early childhood education, and their salaries should be significantly increased to better compensate them for their knowledge and skills. Teachers with formal education are more likely to know how to turn even the smallest incident into a learning experience. Consequently, the children benefit. Studies of child care centers conducted in the 1960s revealed that when teachers stress creative thinking activities in day-care centers, children's IQ scores, problem-solving ability, creativity, language development, and arithmetic skills all improve. Plus, when the qualifications and pay of a profession are increased, people look at the profession in a more positive way. More positive attitudes toward preschool education would not only result in greater respect for the challenging and important work that preschool teachers do, it would also attract more young people to the field. (Source of information: Greg Toppo, "It's as Simple as ABC: Preschool Teachers Should Have a B.A.," USA Today, July 28, 2004, p. 5D.)
Error:
| a. circular reasoning b. slippery slope |
c. irrelevant reason or fact d. unattributed or dated research |
4. In a society where you can't go anywhere-even a church-without hearing a ringing cell phone or a loud cell phone conversation, airplanes have been the last sanctuary from cell phone noise. Now, though, some people are pushing airlines to lift their ban on passengers' in-flight use of cell phones. Nevertheless, airlines should hold their ground and continue prohibiting cell phone use aboard their aircraft. It's a fact that cell phones can interfere with navigational and communication equipment used by pilots and air traffic controllers. Therefore, allowing passengers to use their mobile phones would be irresponsible. It could jeopardize the safety of everyone on board the plane. Some countries, like Finland, have also banned the use of cell phones at gas stations because of the risk that electronic impulses might start a fire. Because of this potential danger, gas stations in the United Kingdom and Australia have posted warning signs at gas pumps. Cell phones might also contribute to growing incidents of "air rage." Air travelers are already cramped, stressed out by delays and security hassles, and anxious about terrorist threats. Forcing them to listen to other passengers' loud cell phone conversations will only add to the frustration and provoke hostile confrontations. (Sources of information: Peggy Post, "Give Fliers a Break," USA Today, August 4, 2004, p. 10A; John Blau, "Cell Phones Still Pose Flight Risks," PC World, May 5, 2003, www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,110576,00.asp)
Error:
| a. circular reasoning b. slippery slope |
c. irrelevant reason or fact d. unattributed or dated research |
5. Gambling on team sports, both pro and amateur, is illegal, but it shouldn't be. Congress should make wagering on sports legal and give states the right to regulate and tax these operations. Placing a bet on a sports team is not all that different from buying a lottery ticket. And what about the fact that in many states, like Florida, you can not only buy a lottery ticket but also lose your money at a dog track? It's illogical to make parimutuel gambling legal and still make sports gambling illegal. Besides, making sports gambling legal could help solve some of our state's money problems. In Nevada, for example, where gambling is legal, gamblers bet over $1.8 billion in 2003 on sports. Over $123 million of that amount was tax money that went to Nevada's state treasury. Legalizing sports gambling would, no doubt, result in a huge increase in our own state's revenue, which could be used to fund education, highway construction, or many other needed projects. Unfortunately, our own governor has sided with those who oppose legalizing sports gambling on moral grounds. If the truth be known, though, he is no moral authority on any subject. The company he ran before entering politics was investigated for fraudulent record keeping, so his opinions about gambling are not to be taken seriously. (Source of information: Alan Schmadtke, "Seeing Green," The Orlando Sentinel, July 18, 2004, pp. G1-G2.)
Error:
| a. attack on the person b. slippery slope |
c. irrelevant reason or fact d. unattributed or dated research |
Last change made to this page: Jan. 8, 2007