Question

Which logical fallacy is used in the text?
Since Leah Petersen became vice president of the parent-teacher association, student performance has declined and teacher morale is down. We on the school board believe that Petersen bears sole responsibility for the downtrend.
A. false causation: the assumption that because two things happened together, one caused the other
B. bandwagon fallacy: the assumption that the popular choice is automatically correct
C. false dichotomy: an argument that presents only two choices when more options exist

Answer 1

A. false causation — the passage assumes that because the decline followed Petersen's appointment, her appointment caused it (and even that she alone is responsible), without evidence.