Lesson: Critical/Logical Reasoning - 15t01

Identifying The Assumption

Take a look at this sample stimulus and see if you can identify the assumption. Type the assumption into the Text Entry Box below, and click Continue.

Sally plays volleyball for Central High School. Therefore, Sally must be more than 6 feet tall.

Assumption: All people who play volleyball for Central High must be more than 6 feet tall.

Countinue

This assumption directly links the evidence to the conclusion. And you can see that if this assumption were not true, the author's conclusion would not be valid: Sally might be more than 6 feet tall, or she might not. You would have no way of knowing, unless the assumption were true.

So an assumption is an unstated, yet necessary, part of an argument.

How can you be sure that you've found the correct assumption? Go on to the next screen and we'll show you.