Critical Thinking, Critical Thinking And Clear Writing Flashcards
What is vagueness
Lack of distinctness of meaning
Define ambiguity
open to more than one interpretation; have a double meaning
What are the 3 types of ambiguity
Semantic ambiguity
Syntactic ambiguity
Grouping ambiguity
Define semantic ambiguity
When a word in a sentence has multiple meanings
Define syntactic ambiguity
When sentence-structure (syntax) allows for different interpretations
Define grouping ambiguity
When it’s unclear if you are referring to a group of things collectively of individually
Define generality (aka overgenerality)
Lack of specificity
Information is too broad to be useful
What is lexical definition
Reports standard use of the term in the community
“Most critical thinking contexts call for lexical definition
Define stimulative definition
Definition that articulates your intended meaning
Define precising definition
Definition to make a vague word more precise
Combines lexical and stipulation
Define persuasive definition
Definition meant to persuade, often slanted
Attempts to attach emotive meaning to a term
Definition by example (ostensive)
Pointing to or identifying actual examples of the thing or quality being defined
(As we do for a child)
Definition by synonym
Assigns a meaning to a word by offering another word that has the same meaning as the word being defined
Define analytical definition
Specifies features that a thing must possess in order for the definition to be applied
(Almost all lexical definitions are analytical)
