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Based on the case context, diagnose why this researcher's deductive argument is flawed despite its logical structure. Compare this scenario to the 'black swan' example of flawed rationalism.
Case context: A student researcher is studying memory retention and proposes the following argument: 'All human beings completely forget details of events after 10 years. Participant B is a human being. Therefore, Participant B has completely forgotten the details of the event they experienced 10 years ago.' Another student points out that some humans have been shown to retain highly detailed memories of events even after decades.
Question: Based on the case context, diagnose why this researcher's deductive argument is flawed despite its logical structure. Compare this scenario to the 'black swan' example of flawed rationalism.
Sample answer: This researcher's argument is flawed because it relies on a false initial premise ('all human beings completely forget details of events after 10 years'). Even though the steps of the deduction are logically structured, the conclusion about Participant B is invalid because the premise is factually incorrect in reality, as some humans do retain detailed memories. This directly mirrors the 'black swan' example, where the deduction that a specific swan is white fails because the premise 'all swans are white' is disproven by the real-world existence of black swans.
Key points:
- Identifies the false starting premise in the memory case context.
- Explains that a logically structured argument still leads to an invalid conclusion if the premise is factually wrong.
- Draws a direct parallel to the 'all swans are white' premise and the existence of black swans in the original example.
Rubric: The response must identify the false premise in the case ('all human beings completely forget details...'), state that the logical structure of the argument is correct but the conclusion is invalid, and draw a parallel to the 'black swan' example where a logically sound deduction fails due to the factual inaccuracy of the starting premise ('all swans are white').
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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU
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