Deck 14: Reasoning and Hypothesis Testing

Question 1

Popper (1968) argued that hypotheses can never be proved to be true by:

A) Formal reasoning
B) Genetic studies
C) Simply generalising from confirming instances
D) Brain-lesion studies
E) Inductive reasoning

Answer 1

Simply generalising from confirming instances

Question 2

A syllogism consists of how many premise(s), followed by a conclusion?

A) One
B) Two
C) Two or more
D) Three or more
E) Any number

Answer 2

Two

Question 3

If Susan is angry, then I am upset. I am upset. Conclusion: Susan is angry. This type of conditional reasoning is known as:

A) Denial of the antecedent
B) Affirmation of the consequent
C) Modus tollens
D) Modus ponens
E) Base-rate fallacy

Answer 3

Affirmation of the consequent

Question 4

One of the central assumptions of mental models theory is that people will search for what, after constructing an initial mental model and generating a conclusion?

A) Validity
B) Inconsistent inferences
C) Invalid inferences
D) Counterexamples
E) Real-world relevance

Question 5

Working memory capacity has been found to predict performance on all of the following tasks EXCEPT:

A) Conditional reasoning
B) Syllogistic reasoning
C) Belief-bias reasoning problems
D) Sunk-cost effect
E) Real-world reasoning

Question 6

Johnson-Laird's theory assumes that individuals minimise demands on working memory by only constructing mental models representing explicitly:

A) What involves the fewest chunks
B) What is false
C) What is true
D) What fires consistent schemas
E) Only what is true and what is false, disregarding what is ambiguous

Question 7

Participants in Dunbar's (1993) genetic controlled study were led to focus on the hypothesis that the gene control was by ______ whereas it was actually by ______:

A) activation, inhibition
B) deactivation, inhibition
C) inhibition, activation
D) inhibition, deactivation
E) activation, predetermined decisions

Question 8

Hahn and Oaksford (2007) suggest everyday rationality is founded on uncertain rather than certain reasoning, and so ______ provides a better starting point for an account of human reasoning than logic

A) concreteness
B) uncertainty
C) mental models
D) relevance
E) probability

Question 9

Camerer and Hogarth (1999) reviewed 74 reasoning studies and concluded that:

A) When steps were taken to ensure that participants fully understood the problem their performance was still inadequate
B) Medical experts were biased by irrelevant information in diagnosis problems
C) The tasks used in deductive reasoning experiments are unlike the problems people encounter in real life
D) People are mostly rational, most of the time
E) The provision of incentives rarely led to improved performance

Question 10

Houdé and Borst (2015) argued the ________ is involved in ______ incorrect responses triggered by Type ____ processes

A) right inferior frontal cortex, inhibiting, Type 1
B) left anterior frontal cortex, activation, Type 1
C) bilateral frontal cortex, inhibiting, Type 2
D) right inferior frontal cortex, activating, Type 2
E) left inferior frontal cortex, inhibition, Type 1

Question 11

Tom is taller than Dick, and Dick is taller than Harry, therefore Tom is taller than Harry. Drawing the conclusion that Tom is taller than Harry is an example of:

A) Deductive reasoning
B) Problem solving
C) Decision-making
D) Judgement
E) Inductive reasoning

Question 12

According to which theory will there be less belief bias when Type 2 processes are used?

A) Dual-process theories
B) Theories of forgetting
C) Theories of conditional reasoning
D) Theories of deductive reasoning
E) Mental models

Question 13

Stanovich and West (2007) specified three different reasons why individuals produce incorrect heuristic responses. Specifically, the lack of what is said to be the cause in Path 1?

A) Decoupling capacity
B) Inhibitory control
C) Attentional resources
D) Mindware
E) Frame

Question 14

One defining feature of Type 1 processing is its lack of involvement in working memory. What is its other key feature?

A) Capacity-limited
B) Consciousness
C) Controlled motivation
D) Autonomy
E) Serial

Question 15

Which form of reasoning involves making a generalised conclusion from premises referring to particular instances?

A) Deductive reasoning
B) Problem solving
C) Decision-making
D) Judgement
E) Inductive reasoning

Question 16

According to Evans (2008) and Stanovich and West (2000), differences in intelligence are mostly associated with the functioning of:

A) System 1 thinking
B) System 1 and 2 thinking
C) System 2 thinking
D) System 2 and 3 thinking
E) System 3 thinking

Question 17

The tendency for participants to select items named in a given rule describes what type of bias:

A) Selection
B) Bracketing
C) Hill climbing
D) Matching
E) Ratio

Question 18

Only 21% were correct on their first attempt, and 28% never discovered the rule at all. To which hypothesis-testing task, devised by Wason (1960), do these findings refer?

A) Remote Associates Test
B) 2-4-6 task
C) Selection task
D) Tower of Hanoi
E) Tower of London

Question 19

Which of the following is NOT one of the factors Hahn and Oaksford identified as influencing the perceived strength of a conclusion?

A) Degree of previous conviction or belief
B) Negative arguments have more impact than positive ones
C) Evidence strength
D) Positive arguments have more impact than negative ones
E) All of the above

Question 20

Which task poses the question "If there is an R on one side of the card, then there is a 2 on the other side of the card"?

A) The standard conditional reasoning task
B) The Tower of London task
C) The standard Wason selection task
D) The transitive inference task
E) The card-sorting task

Question 21

According to McCrudden et al. (2017), what can reduce myside bias?

A) Perspective taking
B) Motivation to support one's own beliefs
C) Reasoning
D) Optimism
E) Mindfulness

Question 22

Many "errors" in human thinking reflect what rather than irrationality?

A) Environmental constraints
B) Anticipation of future consequences
C) Heightened information capacity
D) Limited processing capacity
E) Incomplete knowledge