Deck 2: Thinking Critically With Psychological Science

Question 1

Which of the following processes typically takes place shortly after people complete their participation in a research study?

A) empirical analysis
B) informed consent
C) critical thinking
D) debriefing

Answer 1

debriefing

Question 2

Psychologists' personal values

A) have little influence on how their experiments are conducted.
B) do not influence the interpretation of experimental results because of the use of statistical techniques that guard against subjective bias.
C) can bias both scientific observation and interpretation of data.
D) have little influence on investigative methods but a significant effect on interpretation.

Answer 2

can bias both scientific observation and interpretation of data.

Question 3

The scientific attitude of skepticism is based on the belief that

A) people are rarely candid in revealing their thoughts.
B) mental processes can't be studied objectively.
C) the scientist's intuition about behavior is usually correct.
D) ideas need to be tested against observable evidence.

Answer 3

ideas need to be tested against observable evidence.

Question 4

Debriefing refers to

A) the perception that two negatively correlated variables are positively correlated.
B) explaining the purpose of a research study after its conclusion.
C) an insignificant correlation.
D) a correlation that equals -1.0.

Question 5

The scientific attitude requires an open-minded humility because it involves a willingness to

A) perceive order in random events.
B) reject any ideas that can't be scientifically tested.
C) recognize the errors in our own ideas.
D) respect political beliefs that contradict our own.

Question 6

The hindsight bias refers to people's tendency to

A) dismiss the value of skepticism.
B) reject any ideas that can't be scientifically tested.
C) exaggerate their ability to have foreseen an outcome.
D) overestimate the extent to which others share their opinions.

Question 7

Juwan eagerly opened an online trading account, believing that his market savvy would allow him to pick stocks that would make him a rich day trader. This belief best illustrates

A) a scientific attitude.
B) critical thinking.
C) hindsight bias.
D) overconfidence.

Question 8

Which of the following is true, according to the text?

A) Because laboratory experiments are artificial, any principles discovered cannot be applied to everyday behaviors.
B) Psychological science demonstrates why we cannot rely on intuition and common sense.
C) Psychology's theories reflect common sense.
D) Psychology has few ties to other disciplines.

Question 9

After the horror of 9/11, many people said the CIA and FBI should obviously have foreseen the likelihood of this form of terrorism. This perception most clearly illustrates

A) overconfidence.
B) hindsight bias.
C) an empirical approach.
D) a scientific attitude.

Question 10

The perception that psychological research findings merely verify our common sense understanding is most clearly facilitated by

A) critical thinking.
B) hindsight bias.
C) the scientific attitude.
D) curious skepticism.

Question 11

Which of the following BEST describes the hindsight bias?

A) Events seem more predictable before they have occurred.
B) Events seem more predictable after they have occurred.
C) A person's intuition is usually correct.
D) A person's intuition is usually not correct.

Question 12

Ethical principles developed by psychologists urge investigators to

A) avoid the use of animals in experimental research.
B) minimize the use of the experiment with human research participants.
C) treat information about individual research participants confidentially.
D) avoid the use of financial incentives in any kind of research.

Question 13

Jamie and Lynn were sure that they had answered most of the multiple-choice questions correctly because "the questions required only common sense." However, they each scored less than 60% on the exam. This best illustrates

A) intuition.
B) critical thinking.
C) hindsight bias.
D) overconfidence.

Question 14

Political officials who have no doubt that their own economic and military predictions will come true most clearly demonstrate

A) hindsight bias.
B) curious skepticism.
C) overconfidence.
D) an empirical approach.

Question 15

Slender women are considered especially beautiful in one country; in another country, stout women are seen as particularly attractive. In both countries, however, women perceived as very beautiful receive preferential treatment. This best illustrates that ________ often underlie cultural differences.

A) common psychological processes
B) gender differences
C) unconscious preferences
D) genetic dissimilarities

Question 16

Hindsight bias leads people to perceive research findings as

A) unpredictable.
B) inexplicable.
C) unreplicable.
D) unsurprising.

Question 17

When Leanne heard about experimental evidence that drinking orange juice triggers hyperactivity in children, she questioned whether the tested children had been randomly assigned to experimental conditions. Leanne's reaction best illustrates

A) experimentation.
B) hindsight bias.
C) critical thinking.
D) overconfidence.

Question 18

If someone were to flip a coin six times, which of the following sequences of heads (H) and tails (T) would be most likely?

A) H H H T T T
B) H T T H T H
C) T T T T T T
D) All of these sequences would be equally likely.

Question 19

Which statement about the ethics of experimentation with people and animals is FALSE?

A) The same processes by which humans learn are present in rats, monkeys, and other animals.
B) Views on whether it is right to place the well-being of humans above that of animals are the same in every culture.
C) The American Psychological Association and the British Psychological Society have set strict guidelines for the care and treatment of human and animal subjects.
D) Most psychological studies are free of such stress as the delivery of electric shock.

Question 20

Giving half the members of a group some purported psychological finding and the other half an opposite result is an easy way to demonstrate the impact of

A) overconfidence.
B) common sense.
C) hindsight bias.
D) intuition.

Question 21

On a series of coin tosses, Oleg has correctly predicted heads or tails seven times in a row. In this instance, we can reasonably conclude that Oleg's predictive accuracy

A) defies the laws of statistical probability.
B) illustrates the phenomenon of hindsight bias.
C) is inconsistent with an empirical approach.
D) is a random and coincidental occurrence.

Question 22

Rodesia insists that Dr. Phillip's theory of aggression be checked against observable evidence. She is demonstrating the scientific attitude of

A) pride.
B) skepticism.
C) practicality.
D) enthusiasm.

Question 23

The scientific attitude of humility is most likely to be undermined by

A) hindsight bias.
B) curious skepticism.
C) critical thinking.
D) ethical standards.

Question 24

Six of the children in Mr. Myer's class were born on exactly the same day. This strikes him as astonishing and improbable. In this instance, he should be reminded that

A) random sequences of events often don't look random.
B) events often seem more probable in hindsight.
C) we humans think we know more than we do.
D) intuition is sometimes correct.

Question 25

Megan was certain that she would never live far away from her family. However, when offered a better job in another state, she decided to move. Megan's experience best illustrates

A) hindsight bias.
B) common sense.
C) unconscious thinking.
D) overconfidence.

Question 26

The fact that the same individual won the New Jersey lottery on two separate occasions best illustrates

A) a random outcome.
B) common sense.
C) overconfidence.
D) the hindsight bias.

Question 27

Which of the following is most likely to inhibit critical thinking?

A) an empirical approach
B) overconfidence
C) curious skepticism
D) the double-blind procedure

Question 28

The tendency to perceive order in random events often leads to overestimating the value of

A) intuition.
B) critical thinking.
C) an empirical approach.
D) humility.

Question 29

Mike Crampton's stockbroker has informed him that he has suffered substantial investment losses. When Mike tells his wife, she angrily responds, "I could have told you that your investment plan would fail!" Her comment best illustrates

A) hindsight bias.
B) overconfidence.
C) a gender difference.
D) skepticism.

Question 30

Several weeks after a political election, voters often exaggerate their ability to have predicted the election outcome. This best illustrates

A) instinct.
B) random sequences.
C) hidden values.
D) hindsight bias.

Question 31

A questioning attitude regarding psychologists' assumptions and hidden values best illustrates

A) experimentation.
B) critical thinking.
C) hindsight bias.
D) overconfidence.

Question 32

The simplified reality of laboratory experiments is most helpful in enabling psychologists to

A) predict human behavior in almost all situations.
B) perceive order in completely random events.
C) develop general principles that help explain behavior.
D) observe random samples of human conduct.

Question 33

By testing their predictions with the observational method of science, psychologists are using

A) their intuition.
B) an empirical approach.
C) critical thinking.
D) common sense.

Question 34

Three key attitudes of scientific inquiry are

A) pride, enthusiasm, and ingenuity.
B) ingenuity, practicality, and certainty.
C) certainty, creativity, and curiosity.
D) curiosity, skepticism, and humility.

Question 35

Our tendency to believe we know more than we do illustrates

A) hindsight bias.
B) intuition.
C) overconfidence.
D) creativity.

Question 36

Professor Smith told one class that drinking alcohol has been found to increase sexual desire. He informed another class that drinking alcohol has been found to reduce sexual appetite. The fact that neither class was surprised by the information they received best illustrates the power of

A) intuition.
B) hindsight bias.
C) critical thinking.
D) preconceptions.

Question 37

Formulating testable hypotheses before conducting research is most directly useful for restraining a thinking error

A) involving skepticism.
B) known as hindsight bias.
C) resulting from overconfidence.
D) in which random sequences don't look random.

Question 38

Critical thinking is smart thinking that involves

A) intuition.
B) common sense.
C) evaluating evidence.
D) ingenuity.

Question 39

Assessing whether conclusions are warranted by the existing evidence best illustrates

A) critical thinking.
B) observation.
C) experimentation.
D) prediction.

Question 40

When you question whether anecdotal evidence can be generalized to all people, you are applying

A) overconfidence.
B) hindsight bias.
C) basic principles.
D) critical thinking.

Question 41

In an effort to prevent participants in an experiment from trying to confirm the researchers' predictions, psychologists sometimes

A) obtain written promises from participants to respond honestly.
B) treat information about individual participants confidentially.
C) deceive participants about the true purpose of an experiment.
D) allow people to decide for themselves whether they want to participate in an experiment.

Question 42

Studying people of all races and cultures is most helpful for

A) avoiding curious skepticism.
B) making psychology free of value judgments.
C) discerning human similarities and differences.
D) reducing the need for critical thinking.

Question 43

After an experiment, research participants are told its purpose and about any deception they may have experienced. This is called

A) debriefing.
B) replication.
C) informed consent.
D) the double-blind procedure.

Question 44

Psychologists' personal values and goals

A) are carefully tested by means of observation and experimentation.
B) lead them to avoid experiments involving human participants.
C) can bias their observations and interpretations.
D) have very little influence on the process of scientific observation.

Question 45

Psychologists study animals because

A) animal behavior is just as complex as human behavior.
B) experiments on people are generally considered to be unethical.
C) the ethical treatment of animals is not mandated by professional guidelines.
D) similar processes often underlie animal and human behavior.

Question 46

Potential research participants are told enough about an upcoming study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate. This illustrates the practice of seeking

A) a representative sample.
B) informed consent.
C) an operational definition.
D) a placebo effect.

Question 47

Psychological differences between the genders are

A) of little interest to contemporary psychologists.
B) simply reflections of biological differences between the sexes.
C) no longer evident in contemporary Western societies.
D) far outweighed by gender similarities.

Question 48

When your best friend hears that you are taking a psychology course, she asserts that psychology is simply common sense. Explain why your awareness of both the limits of everyday reasoning and the methods of psychological research would lead you to disagree with your friend's assertion.

Question 49

The study of psychology is potentially dangerous because

A) psychological knowledge can be used for destructive purposes.
B) psychologists generally believe that people are not personally responsible for their actions.
C) psychological research necessitates performing stressful experiments on people.
D) psychological research typically violates personal privacy rights.

Question 50

The enduring traditions, attitudes, and behaviors shared by a large group of people constitutes their

A) culture.
B) empiricism.
C) scientific attitude.
D) gender.

Question 51

The first major issue that emerges in debates over experimenting on animals centers around the

A) usefulness of studying biological processes in animals.
B) ethics of placing the well-being of humans above that of animals.
C) obligation to treat information about individual animals with confidentiality.
D) need to obtain the informed consent of animals used in research.

Question 52

The American Psychological Association's ethics code urges investigators to

A) avoid the use of monetary incentives in recruiting people to participate in research.
B) forewarn potential research participants of the exact hypotheses that the research will test.
C) avoid the manipulation of independent variables in research involving human participants.
D) explain the research to the participants after the study has been completed.