What kind of reasoning is represented when a parent assumes a school will have a better basketball team due to new attendance boundaries?

The reasoning in question is best represented by causal oversimplification. This type of reasoning occurs when someone attributes a complex outcome to a single cause without considering other relevant factors that may contribute. In this situation, the assumption that a school will have a better basketball team solely due to new attendance boundaries overlooks other critical elements such as the quality of coaching, the skill levels of the players, training facilities, and other environmental influences that can affect a team's performance.

Causal oversimplification involves drawing a direct link between one factor—in this case, attendance boundaries—and an outcome, thereby ignoring the multifaceted nature of outcomes that involve various causes. Thus, the reasoning exemplified by the parent’s assumption reflects a neglect of these additional influences, leading to an overly simplistic conclusion about the school’s basketball team being improved by the change in attendance.