Exam 4: Critical Thinking and Scientific Reasoning

Ron was researching his favorite presidential candidate in his political party. He went to the party's website, which listed all of the candidates, but he read about only his favorite candidate. Ron concluded that he will vote for her and did not read more about any other candidate. Which thinking error is Ron MOST likely committing?

Psychological science takes an empirical approach, which means it relies on:

Which of the following studies provides the STRONGEST evidence to support a scientific claim?

Jane Goodall studied primates and made many important discoveries about chimpanzee behavior when she studied these animals in their natural environment. Goodall used a _____ research design for her study.

A true experiment is said to have _____ when the independent variable and no other variable has caused the changes in the dependent variable.

Assuming the study is conducted properly, which research design can allow for causal inferences to be made?

A researcher randomly assigned participants to two different types of personality description that she said were based on their astrological sign. The descriptions were actually very similar and differed only in how general or specific they were. The group that received general information rated the description as more accurate than the group that received more specific descriptions. What conclusion may be drawn from this study?

A scientist makes a prediction from an established theory, conducts an experiment to test this hypothesis, obtains data consistent with the hypothesis, and concludes that the theory has been strengthened. Which characteristic(s) BEST describe(s) the thinking that the scientist is engaging in?

A(n) _____ is the predicted relationship between two or more variables.

Devin was worried about taking his statistics exam, even though he studied diligently. On the morning of the exam, he wore his favorite, softest shirt so that he would be comfortable during the test. When he received a surprisingly high grade, Devin said to himself, "I think it was the shirt; it is lucky and helped me do well." Which thinking error is Devin MOST likely making?

Dr. Robert Balch and his graduate student David Taylor studied a UFO cult that later was called Heaven's Gate. Cult members believed that they were chosen to rendezvous with aliens from space. In the 1980s, Taylor infiltrated the group to study it undercover, interacting and observing members for more than a year. The type of research evidence provided by Taylor was a:

Using survey results as evidence can be advantageous because surveys:

A psychologist found a significant correlation between a history of childhood physical abuse and the likelihood of a person later becoming aggressive. Other researchers conducting correlational studies replicated this finding. What is the BEST conclusion that the psychologist can draw from the results of these studies?

As Kevin took his exam, he looked over each true/false question and thought about how confusing the test was for him. After a while, he seemed to observe a pattern: Every time a question confused him, the answer seemed to be false. Kevin was surprised when he got his test back and found that an equal number of confusing items were true and false. Which of the following thinking errors was involved in Kevin's perceived pattern of true/false answers?

Survey research studies that examine the association between responses to different questions are often:

Two psychiatrists conducted an experiment to test the effectiveness of a new drug expected to help people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The researchers tested 60 clients with OCD, randomly assigning 30 to a group that received the drug and 30 to a placebo control group that received a pill without the drug. The use of a placebo control group and random assignment are most closely related to which criterion for showing causation?

The Balch and Taylor participant observer study (1977) on the Heaven's Gate group is most similar to a:

A psychoanalyst predicts from psychoanalytic theory that an insecure student is likely to join a fraternity as a way to strengthen his ego, demonstrating Freud's defense mechanism of identification by wanting to be part of a group. If the student never joins the fraternity because he wants time to study, the psychoanalyst could explain this decision as the defense mechanism of rationalizing instead of identification. Which kind of thinking error has occurred in this situation?

A speech therapist conducted a study using Facilitated Communication (FC) to assist an autistic man communicate by helping him type messages on a computer keyboard. Before using FC, the man had been able to speak only a few words; with FC, the man could communicate in long sentences. The speech therapist concluded that FC was effective in helping autistic people to use their previously untapped language and intellectual abilities that they had been presumed to lack. The research evidence provided in this scenario was from a:

Suppose a cognitive psychologist was studying how scientists think. Her focus was on how scientific thinking moves from an initial state to a goal state as scientists arrive at a solution. The approach that the psychologist is taking views scientific thinking as a kind of: