Deck 1: How Do We Know

Question 1

"Occam's Razor" and "Lloyd Morgan's Canon" refer to the principle of:

A)parsimony
B)theoretical coherence
C)comprehensiveness
D)testability

Answer 1

parsimony

Question 2

José believes that all events have meaningful,systematic causes.José is:

A)a determinist
B)an empiricist
C)a scientist
D)a philosopher

Answer 2

a determinist

Question 3

A vague,mildly favorable personality description that most people would consider highly self-descriptive is called:

A)a Rorschach portrayal
B)an intuitive personality portrait
C)an astrological reading
D)a Barnum description

Answer 3

a Barnum description

Question 4

Fundamental principles that are accepted largely on faith are referred to as:

A)ground rules
B)conjectures
C)canons
D)theologisms

Question 5

The origin of the phrase "I got it straight from the horse's mouth" is a good illustration of the basic principle of:

A)authority
B)logic
C)logical positivism
D)empiricism

Question 6

According to the text,phenomena such as illusory correlation and superstitious conditioning are consistent with the basic idea behind:

A)determinism
B)empiricism
C)parsimony
D)testability

Question 7

As the term metaphysical is used in the text,metaphysical explanations for human behavior are based on:

A)indirect observations of events
B)supernatural phenomena
C)philosophical reasoning
D)the scientific method

Question 8

Falsifiability is closely associated with the idea of:

A)parsimony
B)theoretical coherence
C)comprehensiveness
D)testability

Question 9

According to the text,which of the following is NOT an example of a metaphysical system?

A)animism
B)mythology
C)astrology
D)philosophy

Question 10

The two most important historical precursors (forerunners)of experimental psychology were:

A)philosophy and physics
B)philosophy and physiology
C)anthropology and biology
D)physics and biology

Question 11

Metaphysical explanations violate:

A)common sense
B)established physical laws
C)logical rules of reasoning
D)conversational norms

Question 12

Maxine believes that ingesting the experimental drug theratonin increases aggressive behavior by making aggressive thoughts highly accessible.Sam believes that ingesting theratonin increases aggressive behavior by (1)making aggressive thoughts highly accessible and (2)making people worry less about the consequences of their behavior.If we knew that theratonin does increase aggressive behavior but knew nothing else,which theory should we prefer?

A)Maxine's theory - because it is more testable than Sam's theory
B)Maxine's theory - because it is more parsimonious than Sam's theory
C)Sam's theory - because it is more testable than Maxine's theory
D)Sam's theory - because it is more parsimonious than Maxine's theory

Question 13

Most people agree th_____ was the founder of experimental psychology.

A)Gustav Fechner
B)Carl Jung
C)Hermann von Helmholtz
D)Wilhelm Wundt

Question 14

The belief that natural phenomena (e.g. ,the sun,the wind)are alive is referred to as:

A)animism
B)paleoanthropism
C)primitivism
D)naive realism

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT one of the four canons of science mentioned in the text?

A)determinism
B)empiricism
C)parsimony
D)reliability

Question 16

Galileo tried to solve the problem of how gravity works by:

A)dropping a heavy and a light cannon ball from the Leaning Tower of Pisa
B)performing a thought experiment
C)rolling balls down a series of inclined planes
D)both B and C are correct

Question 17

Dr.Rabinowitz believes that the best way to understand the world is through the use of logical reasoning.Dr.Rabinowitz is most likely to be:

A)a psychologist
B)a philosopher
C)a physiologist
D)a political scientist

Question 18

Muriel believes that science should be based solely on things that can be observed with absolute certainty.What school of thought is she likely a member of?

A)The Barnum Society
B)logical positivism
C)parsimony
D)phrenology

Question 19

Testability is very closely associated with the idea of:

A)operational definitions
B)parsimony
C)logical negativism
D)prelogical operationism

Question 20

Superstitious conditioning refers to:

A)lay people's erroneous assumptions about luck and fate
B)bits of folk wisdom that people are rewarded for expressing
C)the false conditioning of random behaviors
D)a learned aversion toward situations people don't understand

Question 21

How would a physicist be likely to rank order the importance of the four "ways of knowing" emphasized in the text? (1= most,4 = least important)

A)1.logic,2.intuition,3.observation,4.authority
B)1.observation,2.authority,3.logic,4.intuition
C)1.logic,2.observation,3.authority,4.intuition
D)1.observation,2.logic,3.intuition,4.authority

Question 22

The four "ways of knowing" emphasized in the text include:

A)authority,intuition,logic,and observation
B)authority,intuition,knowledge,and wisdom
C)perception,intuition,deduction,and application
D)deduction,induction,perception,and sensation

Question 23

The "Draw-A-Person Test" once used by clinical psychologists is an example of scientists relying on this "way of knowing":

A)authority
B)logic
C)intuition
D)observation

Question 24

According to the text,which of the "ways of knowing" emphasized in the text would be ranked most highly (most favorably)by a politician or minister?

A)logic
B)intuition
C)authority
D)observation

Question 25

"Batting a pitched ball directly over the outfield fence (without bouncing)within the first and third base lines" is a_________ of a home-run in baseball.

A)operational definition
B)falsifiable description
C)empirical description
D)logical delineation

Question 26

According to Karl Popper,what,more than anything else,makes a field of study scientific?

A)openness to criticism and revision
B)the use of scientific methods and procedures
C)systematic observation of behavior
D)the formulation of theories