Exam 1: Introduction, Acquiring Knowledge, and the Scientific Method

Visual illusions, such as the vertical/horizontal illusion, provide a demonstration of one problem with the ____ method of knowing or acquiring knowledge.

Looking up your local weather report online is an example of using the ____.

Which method of acquiring knowledge is being used by students who are learning from teachers and textbooks?

When you "know" that you do not want to eat chocolate-covered crickets, even when everyone around you says that they taste great, your decision is based on the method of ____.

Explain what it means to say that the scientific method or the research process can be viewed as a never-ending circle or a spiral of steps rather than a linear process that leads to an end.

What kind of reasoning uses a few specific observations to produce a statement about a larger possible set of observations?

A student who believes that his or her performance on tests is influenced by wearing a lucky hat is using the method of ____.

Using observations of a small number of humans to make a statement about human behavior in general is an example of ____ reasoning.

An important element of the scientific method is that research results should be made public.

In the scientific method, a prediction is evaluated by ____.

A hypothesis is a ____ statement and a prediction is a ____ statement.

Kenji believes that food poisoning causes food aversions, so when he finds out that his friend Brielle hates seafood, he assumes that Brielle must have had food poisoning after eating seafood sometime in her past. Kenji is using the ____.

An artist tries putting a freshly painted canvas outside during a rainstorm to see how the painting will change from the pattern of the raindrops. Which method of acquiring knowledge is she using?

A person who buys a lottery ticket because s/he just feels lucky is using the method of ____.

A researcher conducts a study in which 50 rats are assigned to different treatments and tested. In the study, the rats are called research ____.

Humans who participate in a research study are properly called research subjects.

Research participants must be informed of all relevant aspects of the study, including any risks or dangers that may be involved.

Marisol just found out she is pregnant and tells everyone that she has a feeling she will have a girl.  In this case, Marisol is using the ____.

Describe how the rational method and the method of empiricism are both utilized as parts of the scientific method.

Based on a few students whom you know, you decide that art majors wear funky clothes and that physics majors tend to be nerds. This is an example of inductive reasoning.