Question 1

Which is NOT a valid criticism of the testimonials supporting Deep Mind Therapy (DMT) in the mock website?

Accepted Answer

A)  Inadequate background information about the persons making the testimonials does not allow for verification. 
B)  The information from the testimonials may be unique to the person, not representative of others, and so not generalizable. 
C)  Only positive, supporting testimonials are provided. 
D)  The testimonials say nothing about how each person believes that he or she was helped by DMT.

Question 2

According to the text, the invention of the Internet and the _____ both led to great changes in the information available to people of their time.

Accepted Answer

A)  printing press 
B)  Industrial Revolution 
C)  telephone 
D)  telegraph

Question 3

The Deep Mind Therapy mock website states that it is "based on the work of the brilliant Swiss psychologist C. G. Jung." This statement is MOST related to the criterion for judging the quality of site in terms of the:

Accepted Answer

A)  clarity and relevance of the arguments made. 
B)  reasonableness of the information provided. 
C)  accuracy of the information on the website. 
D)  credibility of the source and information.

Question 4

The mock website for Deep Mind Therapy has spelling errors. This raises the most serious question about the website's:

Accepted Answer

A)  credibility 
B)  accuracy 
C)  reasonableness 
D)  lack of supporting evidence.

Question 5

Which statement is true concerning the information available on the Internet?

Accepted Answer

A)  The Internet has led to a great increase in information available to people, so it necessarily increases the examination of differing viewpoints in people. 
B)  The Internet has increased the amount of information available to people, and research shows that people can handle the large amount of information available. 
C)  Some psychologists think that the vast amount of information available on the Internet may contribute to "information overload" in users. 
D)  For much of Internet web-placed information, other information is provided by the website to help the user evaluate the quality of the information provided.

Question 6

The tendency of people to respond to online invitations from "Who's Who" advertisements illustrates the common problem with critical thinking of a:

Accepted Answer

A)  lack of critical thinking skills. 
B)  lack of knowledge of the rules for reasoning well. 
C)  lack of a skeptical attitude. 
D)  failure to metacognitively reflect on one's goals.

Question 7

The Telepatherapy mock website describes how one of Dr. David Shainberg's clients knew through a dream that Shainberg's father needed surgery. Which kind of evidence does this provide for the occurrence of telepathy in psychotherapy?

Accepted Answer

A)  Statement of authority, which provides strong support for the claim 
B)  Anecdote, which provides weak support and cannot be replicated 
C)  Commonsense belief, which most therapists would endorse 
D)  Scientific evidence, which provides fairly strong support

Question 8

On the Deep Mind Therapy mock website, the evidence that BEST provides support for the effectiveness of mandala drawing in helping people consists of the:

Accepted Answer

A)  testimonials of patients who have used mandala drawing. 
B)  presumably scientific research studies Jung reported in his book on use of mandalas. 
C)  facts related to Jung having studied with the pioneering psychotherapist, Sigmund Freud. 
D)  facts about similarities among mandalas found in cultures around the world.

Question 9

The degree to which a website provides reference citations and descriptions of studies to evaluate a claim concerns which criterion symbolized by a letter in the mnemonic "CARE"?

Accepted Answer

A)  C 
B)  A 
C)  R 
D)  E

Question 10

The emphasis on intuition in the mock website about Telepatherapy is MOST closely related to:

Accepted Answer

A)  quick-response Type 1 thinking. 
B)  deliberative Type 2 thinking. 
C)  critical thinking. 
D)  rational-analytic thinking.

Question 11

Dr. Reed was reported to have conducted an experiment in which he asked pairs of workshop attendees to imagine a psychic connection with their partners and then verbalize their thoughts. He found that the pairs produced some striking similarities in their thoughts. What is the BEST interpretation of this finding?

Accepted Answer

A)  The pairs of attendees were exhibiting a telepathic connection because of the similarity of their verbal statements. 
B)  The pairs did not have a telepathic connection because of the implausibility of ESP and problems with the quality of the study. 
C)  Telepatherapy works, but it cannot be proven that a telepathic connection exists. 
D)  A statement of authority in support of Telepatherapy by Dr. Reed should lead people to conclude that it is effective.

Question 12

The mock website for Deep Mind Therapy seems to have been written by a webmaster or some unidentified person. This raises the MOST serious question about the site's:

Accepted Answer

A)  credibility. 
B)  accuracy. 
C)  reasonableness. 
D)  lack of supporting evidence.

Question 13

For scientific-minded psychologists, the claims on the mock website about the effectiveness of Telepatherapy would be MOST convincing if:

Accepted Answer

A)  a famous, living psychologist endorsed the ideas of Telepatherapy. 
B)  the research on its effectiveness was based on randomized trial experiments. 
C)  more scientific case studies had been conducted on Telepatherapy. 
D)  a large correlational study showed that people who used the therapy tended to improve.

Question 14

In general, which kind of web resource is likely to have better quality control over the quality of the information it provides?

Accepted Answer

A)  Web-placed 
B)  Web-based 
C)  Web-interfaced 
D)  Web-entrenched

Question 15

A common problem with the inclusion of testimonials as support for treatments in websites such as the mock website for Deep Mind Therapy is that testimonials:

Accepted Answer

A)  are not balanced, showing a confirmatory bias for the ones included. 
B)  show only that everyday individuals have found the treatment useful. 
C)  make it seem as if the treatments are not useful for all kinds of people. 
D)  occur mostly in web-based sites and reduce the credibility of such sites.

Question 16

The mock website says that the Telepatherapy website is accessed through mindshelpingminds.com and seems to be promoting sale of a course for training in therapy that it also claims is effective. This raises the MOST concern about:

Accepted Answer

A)  how careful the source is in providing credible information. 
B)  the accuracy of the information that is provided. 
C)  a possible conflict of interest and the reasonableness of the claims. 
D)  the quality of testimonials provided as evidence.

Question 17

The testimonial in the mock site for Deep Mind Therapy (DMT) about how DMT helped a man get in touch with his unconscious mind provides:

Accepted Answer

A)  good support for DMT, because it is the personal experience of someone who has been treated with DMT. 
B)  no support for DMT, because it is not an argument in the strict sense. 
C)  questionable support for DMT, based on untested assumptions about the unconscious mind. 
D)  good support, because Jung studied with Sigmund Freud, who was an expert on the unconscious mind.

Question 18

The approach of the Deep Mind Therapy mock website, which involves contact with the spirit world through a medium, raises questions MOST related to the website's:

Accepted Answer

A)  credibility. 
B)  accuracy. 
C)  reasonableness. 
D)  quality of supporting evidence.

Question 19

If a website is has an address that ends in ".com" and seems to be promoting a product that is supported in a one-sided way, then this raises questions about which CARE criterion?

Accepted Answer

A)  Credibility 
B)  Accuracy 
C)  Reasonableness 
D)  Evidence

Question 20

All of the following are plausible alternative explanations for why people reported in the testimonials that Deep Mind Therapy worked for them EXCEPT

Accepted Answer

A)  functionality of information 
B)  credibility of the source 
C)  relevance of the information 
D)  reasonableness of the information

Exam 8: Critical Thinking and the Internet