Worked Examples: Assumptions and Arguments

This lesson provides a comprehensive set of worked examples covering assumption identification, strongest argument evaluation, and argument analysis. Each example is solved step by step with explicit reasoning. Use this lesson for practice and as a revision reference before your UCAT.

---

Example 1: Identifying an Assumption (Negation Test)

Time budget: 45 seconds

"The hospital should switch to electronic prescribing to reduce medication errors. A study at another hospital found that electronic prescribing reduced errors by 40%."

Which is an assumption of this argument?

A. Medication errors are the most common type of hospital error. B. The study's results are applicable to this hospital. C. Electronic prescribing is cheaper than paper prescribing. D. All medication errors are preventable.

Apply the negation test:

A. "Medication errors are NOT the most common." → The argument does not claim they are the most common, only that they should be reduced. Argument survives. ✗

B. "The study's results are NOT applicable to this hospital." → If the study does not apply here, there is no evidence that switching will reduce errors at this hospital. Argument collapses. ✓