Critical Thinking for Better Judgment

Chapter Quiz

Chapter Quiz: Critical Thinking for Better Judgment and Decision-Making (linkedin.com)

Introduction

1. What is NOT a common critical thinking killer?

black-and-white thinking

asking too many questions

hasty moral judgments

labels

2. What causes us to bucketize items and miss important distinctions?

excessive reliance on authority

resistance to change

hasty moral judgments

labels

1. The Critical Thinking Difference

1. Ivory is listening to a manager present statistics that they believe supports a new initiative. Which type of critical thinking question would Ivory most likely ask at this point?

Are we all agreeing on the meaning of this idea?

What can we safely assume?

Why are we doing this?

How strongly is our reasoning supported by relevant information?

2. Mack and his team have debated on what should be included in the next release of a product. However, they still believe there is more to consider. Which critical thinking condition is the team using?

academic process

ability to think strategically

reflective skepticism

ability to change one’s mind

3. Which choice is the best example of a critical thinking question?

How can we find out if this is true?

How can we solve this differently?

How can we do that?

What’s our mission?

4. You are in a meeting where a coworker is presenting a new product. You start asking questions about the market trends. Which type of thinking is this?

strategic thinking

product thinking

critical thinking

creative thinking

5. Which common element of thinking corresponds to the question, “What is the best way to interpret this information?”

concept

purpose

conclusion

perspective

6. Which is a necessary condition for critical thinking?

influence

collaboration

the ability to change your mind

global perspective

2. Minimizing Bad Judgment

1. Which statement is true about fast thinking?

Fast thinking allows you to evaluate a decision.

Fast thinking enables you to withstand long meetings.

Fast thinking is prone to misleading biases and judgment errors.

Fast thinking is effortful.

2. Rasherz has done 10 analysis reports this month. His boss thinks Rasherz is on a streak. Which type of bias is Rasherz’s boss displaying?

clustering illusion

consensus bias

confirmation bias

availability heuristic

3. Which statement reflects confirmation bias?

She doesn’t support the proposal.

Everyone we asked agreed with us

Nobody wants to hear from him

Her data suggests otherwise

4. Which statement reflects slow thinking?

My intuition suggests otherwise

I have a bad feeling about this

He looks happy about that

Let’s check the safety of that assumption.

3. Improving Decision Quality

1. Which statement does NOT reflect loss aversion?

I will not sell my house for less than what I paid for it.

Let’s not renegotiate because we may end up with a worse contract

You win a few, you lose a few.

Those who might lose will fight harder than those who might gain.Incorrect

2. Which type of counterfactual refers to an improved outcome?

incline counterfactual

upward counterfactual

decline counterfactual

downward counterfactual

3. Which technique is recommended for a loss aversion situation?

Analyze the quality of relevant information with the quality of irrelevant information.

Analyze the quality of a decision process separate from the quality of the people.

Analyze the quality of a decision process separate from the quality of the outcome.

Analyze the quality of the outcome with the quality of the alternatives.

4. What are the three conditions necessary to trust intuition?

regularity, exposure, feedback

exposure, confidence, feedback

reality, expertise, frequency

confidence, regularity, expertise

5. Which condition would you least rely on when deciding whether to use your intuition?

regularity

exposure

feedback

confidence

6. Indra is using counterfactual thinking to discover alternatives for a past unexpected outcome. What is the next step she should take?

Assess consequences of each modification.

Identify factors along the path to the outcome

Select one factor at a time to modify.

Generate a counterfactual.

4. Critical Thinking Fallacies

1. Which is a key benefit of spotting and avoiding fallacies?

knowing who to support

having more influence

separating fact from fiction

winning more arguments

2. Which statement does NOT reflect a potential planning fallacy?

Our situation is unique

Let’s find statistics from a similar project.

They took longer because they didn’t know what we know

Let’s go with our best-case scenario

3. Nathan is getting ready to lead a project. What would you recommend he do to avoid the planning fallacy?

Use your optimism.

Use the outside view

Use your intuition.

Use the inside view.

4. Armina has a message to give to her department in which the outcome is uncertain. How should she frame her argument?

Armina should use a gain frame

Armina should use a positive frame.

Armina should use a loss frame

Armina should use an emotional frame.

5. You are listening to coworkers and notice an ad hominem fallacy in their conversation. What do you need to caution against with this fallacy?

dismissing valid evidence from people with whom you do not agree

confusing correlation with causation

relying too much on your own experiences and jumping to conclusions

substituting sneaky arguments

6. Which statement is false?

Acme should win is a positive frame. “Widget should lose” is a negative frame.

Frames can’t make you think you see things that you don’t actually see

If the outcome is uncertain, loss-frames are more persuasive than gain-frames.

How information is presented influences your judgment and decisions in ways that can defy reason.

5. Creating the Critical Thinking Culture of Curiosity

1. Which type of questioning can you use to determine whether you are asking the right questions in a situation, and whether those questions are of the best quality?

opinion questions

interrogation questions

judgment questions

bucket questions

2. Nellwyn hears about a problem in her department, and she needs to determine whether it is true. Which type of reasoning should Nellwyn use?

deliberative

deductive

inductive

intuitive

3. You are conducting a critical thinking workshop and using the circles of competence mental model with your team. What is the most important aspect you should consider when using this model?

You should consider the size of the circle

It highlights what we know.

It identifies our lack of knowledge

You should know its boundaries

4. What are the three types of bucket questions?

knowledge, authority, critical

assessment, agreement, discernment

knowledge, opinion, judgment

five whys, biased, knowledge