Exam 1: Introduction to Critical Thinking in Psychology and Everyday Life

Marika's astrologer calculated the positions of the stars and planets at the time of Marika's birth and the current alignment of the stars and planets. After casting Marika's horoscope, he said, "Based on my calculations, I believe you are entering a very vulnerable time and should not make any major decisions in the next few days." Has Marika's astrologer made a basic argument?

A man's brain was damaged in a motorcycle accident. When a neurologist gave the man several cognitive tests, the man showed extreme difficulty in learning new things. At the same time, the man's long-term memory for events that happened before his accident was fairly good. The neurologist told the man and his family members, "Based on my observations and tests, I have made a diagnosis. You have anterograde amnesia, a condition that impairs the ability to learn new things when damage occurs in the temporal lobe of the brain." The neurologist has made a basic argument because:

The "total time" hypothesis states that the more time an individual studys, the more that person will learn. From this hypothesis, a cognitive psychologist predicted that if a group of students studied a list of words for 10 minutes and another group studied the same list for 5 minutes, the group studying for 10 minutes would later recall more words than the other group. After conducting the experiment, the psychologist stated that the total time hypothesis is accurate. A basic argument has been made because it:

Julio said to Arina, "I believe that the U.S. economy is the strongest in the world, and you also should believe it if you are a loyal American. " Is Julio making a basic argument?

In an argument, the word "therefore" often indicates that:

Suppose an experienced critical thinker discusses an important question with a person offering an opinion. The critical thinker asks the other person, "Why do you think that?" The critical thinker MOST likely asks this question when:

The text discusses differences in theories. Which statement is MOST consistent with the position taken in the chapter?

A(n) _____ is a statement asserting that someone or something has a particular characteristic or property that is assumed to be either true or false.

"In 1963, the psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted an important experiment showing that participants were willing to administer high voltage shocks to other people in the study. This could explain why people such as the Nazis in World War II were willing to hurt other people in obedience to authority." Has a basic argument been made?

The word "because" used in a statement often signals that a _____ follows immediately after it.

An example of a _____ is the idea that when taking a test it is better to stick with an initial answer than to change an answer.

Rick went to a clinical psychologist and complained that his work was never good enough. He told the psychologist that often he would do his work, feel anxious about it, and then do it again. The psychologist had Rick complete some clinical assessment inventories and discuss his other symptoms. The psychologist said that based on her evaluation and after checking symptoms in the psychiatric manual DSM-5, she decided that Rick had obsessive-compulsive disorder. The psychologist has made a basic argument because she:

Criteria are MOST closely related to _____ in making judgments.

If a person makes a snap judgment about whether two different-colored pieces of furniture look good together, which of the following kinds of thinking is that person likely to use?

A(n) _____ is an idea that has been objectively demonstrated to be true by research or some other means.