Exam 3: Inductive Reasoning in Psychology and Everyday Life

Miya and Zach were discussing whether coffee improves concentration. Miya told Zach that caffeine did help because a friend of hers usually had trouble concentrating during tests, but one time when her friend drank coffee before taking a test, the friend had no trouble concentrating-and even scored an A on the exam. Which kind of evidence is Miya using?

Which of these claims is NOT a psychological misconception?

After finding out that Julie had been cheating on him, Malik said he couldn't forgive Julie for her infidelity. Joey, Malik's best friend, said, "I couldn't forgive her either. Maybe you should break up with her." Malik said, "I think you're right, Joey. I've always been able to trust your judgment about women. I'm going to tell Julie I want to break up, tomorrow." Which is true about these statements?

Of the following, the BEST one-word synonym for plausible is:

Which kind of reasoning is used to generalize or draw a general conclusion from several bits of evidence?

Steve went to an astrologer, who predicted he would have a business success in the near future. The next day, Steve was offered a promotion at work. Caitlin said that she knew of a well-controlled study that tested the predictions of astrologers and found they could not predict future events at better than chance levels. Which evidence should people trust MOST in drawing a conclusion about astrology?

The strongest of inductive conclusions is most appropriately called a _____ conclusion.

The strength of an inductive conclusion, such as an evaluation of the evidence found in a literature review, should depend on a well-reasoned evaluation of the _____ of the evidence.

A psychologist read the literature review in the textbook on whether critical thinking can be taught. After examining all of the evidence, she concluded that the evidence suggested that critical thinking could be improved through proper instruction and that, therefore, creative thinking could be improved as well. Which thinking error has the psychologist made?

A police investigator interviewing a witness to a murder told the witness to imagine that she was going back to the scene of the crime. He further told her that her memory was like a video recorder and she would recall details very accurately if she imagined the crime this way, just as if watching it on television. The police interviewer's approach is showing which problem with thinking?

Which kind of reasoning is used the most by scientists to justify their theories?

In a 2006 TV interview, the actor Tom Cruise criticized psychiatrists, a position consistent with Scientology, for using harmful techniques such as shock therapy. Cruise maintained that he understood the problems with psychiatry because he had studied its history. Cruise concluded that the interviewer did not understand the dangers of psychiatry because the interviewer had not studied the history. Which kind of evidence was Cruise providing?

The paranormal claims of parapsychology about ESP do not seem reasonable given what is known in physics about the transmission of energy and what is known in psychology about perception. Consequently, these claims:

A problem with personal experience as evidence is that it tends to be:

Most of the high-quality evidence from the literature review in the textbook supports the conclusion that critical thinking (CT) can be taught, especially when explicit CT instruction is employed. What is the MOST appropriate conclusion that can be drawn from this statement?

Which strategy is MOST likely to help a person fix or avoid making a sweeping generalization?

Commonsense belief may seem more persuasive because of the contribution of a psychological _____ effect.

Hakeem read an advertisement for a self-help program to stop smoking. In the ad, a famous athlete said that as a former smoker, he knew how important it was for physically active people to quit smoking and that the program was the most effective one available. Hakeem tried the program but it didn't seem to help him quit. What is the main problem or limitation with the kind of evidence used in the advertisement that seems to have persuaded Hakeem?

Which of the following is true about the findings of the experiment on subliminal learning tapes by Greenwald and his colleagues (1991)? This experiment:

Explain how nonscientific evidence differs from scientific evidence.