Deck 4: Knowledge, Evidence, and Errors in Thinking

Question 1

Immanuel Kant argued for which of the following claims?

A) We can have unmediated knowledge of how the world is, independently of our ways of experiencing it.
B) Our knowledge comes primarily from sense experience.
C) We can only have knowledge of the world as we experience it.
D) Knowledge comes only from reason.

Answer 1

C
Explanation: Kant rejected the claim that our knowledge comes primarily from either sense experience or pure reason. He argued that our minds impose a certain amount of structure on how we perceive the world. So our knowledge is not knowledge of how the world is in itself, but rather knowledge of the world as we experience it. We can have no knowledge of how the world is "out there."

Question 2

What conclusion did the U.S.Air Force draw in their Blue Book report?

A) Evidence from alien autopsies confirm that UFOs exist and merit further study.
B) Since there is no evidence that UFOs exist, we can safely conclude that they do not exist.
C) Most UFO sightings can be explained without accepting the existence of extraterrestrial beings, but a small number of these sightings have yet to be explained and deserve continuing study.
D) All UFO sightings can be explained as hoaxes or natural phenomenon such as ball lightening.

Answer 2

B
Explanation: In 1948, the United States Air Force undertook a long study of UFO sightings. Over ninety percent of the studied sightings could be explained without accepting the existence of extraterrestrial beings. Although the report concluded that UFOs probably do not exist the report did not dismiss the possibility that UFOs might exist.

Question 3

The phenomenon of the moon appearing larger when it is near the horizon is known as what?

A) the moon illusion
B) the moon hoax
C) the McGurk effect
D) the LOL effect

Answer 3

A
Explanation: NASA refers to the misleading appearance of the moon near the horizon as the "moon illusion." The moon appears larger as it approaches the horizon, but of course it never actually changes in size. This is a simple example of the sorts of misperception that our minds are capable of.

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a type of social error or bias?

A) stereotyping
B) confirmation bias
C) "one of us/one of them" error
D) collective delusion due to social expectations

Question 5

Which of the following is true of evidence?

A) Evidence has no important role to play in rationally evaluating arguments.
B) Evidence can only come from one source.
C) Evidence for a claim provides us with reasons for believing that claim.
D) Evidence cannot be used to support premises in an argument.

Question 6

The common belief that dying individuals can delay their death past holidays and personally significant days illustrates the interplay of which of the following pairs?

A) confirmation bias and Gödel effect
B) confirmation bias and memorable events error
C) memorable events error and self-serving bias
D) memorable events error and Gödel effect

Question 7

Knowledge requires which of the following?

A) A person has an opinion.
B) A person feels strongly about a particular belief.
C) The person with knowledge has evidence for his or her belief.
D) Knowledge requires all of these: belief, the truth of the matter, and evidence that it is true.

Question 8

Which of the following is one of the four strategies that researchers have determined most people use to increase their ability to remember visual experiences?

A) People hope they will remember.
B) People associate the image with a series of seven numbers.
C) People carefully note the details of the image.
D) People sing a song to themselves while inspecting the image.

Question 9

Which of the following is a way that memory can become misleading?

A) Memory can be altered by social pressure.
B) Memory can be affected by language.
C) Memory can be altered by the passage of time.
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 10

Which of the following is true of evidence based on reports from others?

A) Hearsay (evidence that is reported by a person that has heard from another person who may have heard it from others) is generally reliable.
B) Anecdotal evidence is evidence based your own observations.
C) Anecdotal evidence is generally reliable.
D) Testimony from experts is generally reliable.

Question 11

Which of the following is true of evidence and experience?

A) An experience can be used as evidence if other evidence does not contradict it.
B) Experience is always credible evidence for a claim regardless of what other evidence is available.
C) Experience can never be evidence for a claim.
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 12

Which of the following is a good research habit?

A) keeping full citation information
B) presenting quoted material in quotation marks and with an acknowledgment of the source
C) citing sources for paraphrased material, surveys, graphs, and charts
D) All of these are good research habits.

Question 13

Which of the following is true of rationalism or empiricism?

A) Rationalists believe that knowledge comes primarily through the senses.
B) Empiricists believe that knowledge comes primarily through the senses.
C) Immanuel Kant was a prominent empiricist.
D) Empiricists believe that knowledge comes primarily through the use of reason.

Question 14

Which of the following is a self-serving bias?

A) believing we are in control of things beyond our control
B) a tendency to minimize our strengths
C) a tendency to exaggerate our weaknesses
D) a tendency to underestimate ourselves as compared to others

Question 15

Which of the following is true of expert testimony?

A) An expert with a good reputation is generally more reliable.
B) Expert testimony is generally unreliable.
C) Expert testimony is always reliable.
D) Experts never disagree.

Question 16

Which of the following best describe the phenomenon known as "diffusion of responsibility"?

A) When something bad happens, individuals tend to regard everyone including themselves as equally at fault.
B) When something bad happens, individuals tend to regard themselves as most at fault.
C) When something bad happens, individuals tend to think that only they as individuals have any responsibility to provide aid.
D) When something bad happens, individuals tend to think they have no responsibility.

Question 17

Which of the following is an important source of information for research?

A) dictionaries
B) government documents
C) scholarly publications
D) All of these answers are correct.

Question 18

Albert Ellis maintains which of the following is the primary source of psychological problems such as depression?

A) self-serving bias
B) irrational ideas
C) critical thinking courses
D) None of these answers is correct.

Question 19

Which of the following is a habit of a good researcher?

A) refusing to consider evidence that contradicts beliefs already held by others
B) being able to draw a conclusion after considering all the evidence
C) only accepting opinions put forth in textbooks
D) assuming that all experts are equally reliable

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT a common perceptual or cognitive error?

A) probability errors
B) self-fulfilling prophecy
C) Schnekler's error
D) gambler's error

Question 21

Complete certainty can be had about most things.

Question 22

Knowledge requires evidence.

Question 23

We should always be skeptical of what others tell us.

Question 24

A confirmation bias can prevent us from accurately interpreting data.

Question 25

A rationalist believes that all knowledge comes from reason alone.

Question 26

Memories are always reliable sources of evidence.

Question 27

Humans are better able to remember outstanding events than to remember mundane events.

Question 28

The Internet is never a reliable source of evidence.

Question 29

Social pressures can sometimes lead to our making mistakes in reasoning.

Question 30

Most people blame themselves when they fail.

Question 31

Our brains give us an accurate representation of the world.

Question 32

We should usually be skeptical of what others tell us.

Question 33

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant defended rationalism and rejected empiricism.

Question 34

Human beings often believe randomly occurring patterns in large amounts of data are significant.

Question 35

The belief that previous events affect the probability of current events is known as self-serving bias.

Question 36

The belief that you are in control of a situation is always a good belief to have.

Question 37

Experts are never biased towards one particular view in their field of expertise.

Question 38

If there is no evidence for a claim,then we must simply suspend belief (not believe the claim or deny the claim).

Question 39

If a claim conflicts with our experience,then we have a good reason to be suspicious of that experience since we can never directly experience the world.