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Exam 6: Evaluate the Credibility of Claims and Sources

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Question 21

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In the weeks leading up to an election the media are filled with campaign ads, some of which are emotionally charged and some of which make highly negative claims about candidates for office or propositions on the ballot. A strong critical thinker would be wise to treat all campaign ads as __________.

A) true claims provided by trustworthy experts
B) false and ugly claims made by unethical individuals and organizations
C) cynical attempts to frighten and mislead the voting public
D) sincere attempts to fully and accurately inform the voting public
E) influential manifestations of free speech, which need to be fact-checked

F) A) and B)
G) A) and E)

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Question 22

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Since there is no reliable way of telling that a claim, standing alone, is true or false (except for tautologies and self-contradictory claims), how should a strong critical thinker treat claims standing alone?

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A strong critical th...

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Question 23

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Todd, who graduated with a degree in History, has prolonged, relevant experience and significant on- the-job training as a real estate agent. You want to buy a condo and so you consider asking Todd to be your agent. This will be the first time you ever bought real estate. Todd agrees to represent you and then shows you three condos in your price range. Although he does not tell you this, Todd owns two of the three himself. In this situation is Todd an expert whom you would be wise to trust to give you advice and information about buying a condo?

Why do we say "trusted expert" instead of "trusted authority"?

Which of the following is not necessarily a characteristic of a trustworthy expert on topic X?

When evaluating the plausibility of claims, a strong critical thinker approaches the challenge __________.

Define self-contradictory claim and give an example.

Thinking about the potential benefits of the process, one reason for using argument and decision mapping is to be able to share with others our analysis of the arguments being made.

When we describe a claim as "self-contradictory" we mean that because of its grammatical construction and the meanings of the words used to express the claim, the claim should be regarded as __________.

What should a strong critical thinker do when faced with a claim that seems plausible, is widely believed, and yet is presented without any basis or reasons given?

Medical doctor X, a world-renowned physician, is paid by pharmaceutical company to use the drugs it produces in X's practice. The pharmaceutical company pays all of the expenses for Dr. X, and the doctor's family too, to attend medical conferences, which are always held at expensive holiday resorts. The pharmaceutical company arranges for Dr. X to be interviewed on TV and to speak at hospitals and colleges on the benefits of the drugs, which the company produces. And the company pays the doctor to do research on those drugs and it publishes that research when it shows that their drugs are effective. Given this information, should the advice Dr. X might give about which drugs are best to use in a given situation be regarded as trustworthy?

Our healthy sense of skepticism tells us that if we can neither confirm nor disconfirm a claim through independent investigation, then we would be wise to __________.

What is the connection between the SPLC and a presentation on evaluating the credibility of claims and sources?

A claim becomes more plausible if we can find confirmatory information or information that is consistent with the claim.

Waldo insists that immunization vaccines cause autism, even though he knows that there is no credible scientific evidence to support that claim. This is an example of __________.

Based on the "Levels of Thinking and Knowing," which of these people is most likely to be trusting of people in positions of authority?

What does it mean when we say that an expert has a "fiduciary relationship" with a client?

Define tautological claim and give an example.

When we describe a claim as "tautology" we mean that because of its grammatical construction and the meanings of the words used to express the claim, the claim should be regarded as __________.

An alternative to trying to confirm that the claim is true, a strong critical thinker may set about trying to.__________.