Deck 5: Constructing Knowledge

Question 1

Most people in our culture are socialized to believe that knowledge and truth are absolute and unchanging.One major goal of institutions is to enculturate all its members into one common mind set.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

People remain in the "Garden of Eden" because they live in a predominantly homogeneous environment surrounded by people who challenge them with competing perspectives.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

People in the "Garden of Eden" stage of thinking tend to see the world in terms of

A)romantic relationships.
B)compelling reasons to support their viewpoints.
C)black and white.
D)euphoric fantasy.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

One important criterion for evaluating your beliefs is that they are .

A)reliable
B)verifiable
C)falsifiable
D)explainable

Question 5

If authorities are not infallible and we cannot trust their expertise, then no one point of view is ultimately more valid than another.This is an example of what philosophical view?

A)relativism
B)authoritarianism
C)hedonism
D)communism

Question 6

A represents an interpretation, evaluation, conclusion, or prediction about the nature of the world that we endorse as true.

A)perception
B)belief
C)thought
D)concept

Question 7

Critical thinkers continually evaluate their beliefs by applying to assess the strength and accuracy of these beliefs.

A)inference
B)reflection
C)emotional evaluation
D)intellectual standards

Question 8

The idea of knowing is the ability to distinguish beliefs supported by strong reasons or evidence from beliefs for which there is less support, as well as beliefs disapproved by evidence to the contrary.

Question 9

How do we work at evaluating the accuracy of our beliefs?

A)by getting the opinions of those we trust
B)by examining the reasons or evidence that support them
C)by regressing back to our childhood to discover the root of the beliefs
D)by testing our beliefs against proven fact

Question 10

Which skill is not a key element of the process of developing accurate and thoughtfully reasoned beliefs?

A)Think critically about information.
B)Develop informed beliefs.
C)Evaluate the accuracy of information and the credibility of courses.
D)Compare your beliefs with those of other people.

Question 11

As you form and revise your beliefs, based on your experiences and your reflections on these experiences, it is important to make them as as possible.

A)complete
B)accurate
C)reflexive
D)unbiased

Question 12

Once one has rejected the dogmatic, authoritarian limitations of the "Garden of Eden" style of thinking, he or she usually becomes highly skeptical of information coming from unknown sources.

Question 13

Which stage of knowing is based upon knowledge being clear, certain, absolute, and provided by authorities?

A)Anything goes
B)Thinking critically
C)Garden of Eden
D)Childhood

Question 14

Which stage of knowing is based upon the concept that some viewpoints are better than other viewpoints, not because authorities say so but because there are compelling reasons to support these viewpoints?

A)Garden of Eden
B)Anything Goes
C)Thinking Critically
D)Organized Perception

Question 15

No matter how much you have experienced in your life, no one person's direct experience is enough to establish an adequate

A)set of accurate beliefs.
B)criteria for judging beliefs.
C)knowledge of a subject.
D)perception of the world.

Question 16

What is the one major goal of social institutions, including family, the school system, and religion?

A)to transfer knowledge
B)to control the masses
C)to create social order
D)to define what is truth

Question 17

The author identifies four parts of our thought system as constituting a belief.What are the four parts?

A)feeling, sensing, predicting, evaluating
B)predicting, sensing, proving, inferring
C)interpretation, prediction, evaluation, conception
D)interpretation, evaluation, conclusion, prediction

Question 18

"You can believe what is not so, but you cannot know what is so."

Question 19

According to the section of the chapter devoted to "Evaluating Online Information," a critical thinker should never accept information at face value without first establishing _.

A)its accuracy, source, and where the source got the information
B)the way the source interpreted their source
C)its accuracy, credibility, and point of view
D)the possible bias of the source of information

Question 20

Everyone has a collection of beliefs that they use to

A)guide their actions.
B)judge others negatively.
C)predict the future.
D)persuade others of their faith.

Question 21

Imagine you were in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.What would your perceiving lens be that would affect how you would write about this event? Could you be unbiased?

Question 22

People in the stage of thinking called tend to see the world in black and white;
right and wrong.

Question 23

When judging information, the critical thinker will evaluate the information on the basis of
and _.

Question 24

Determining the accuracy and justification for your beliefs is .

Question 25

Choose any topical issue and think about it critically by applying the three stages of knowing: (1) the Garden of Eden, (2) Anything Goes, and (3) Thinking Critically.How is the third stage a synthesis of the first two?

Question 26

In critically examining the beliefs of others, you should pursue the same goals of accuracy and breadth that you seek when examining beliefs based on your personal experience.

Question 27

The idea of is the ability to distinguish beliefs supported by strong evidence from beliefs disproved by evidence to the contrary.

Question 28

The author says that in determining the accuracy and justification of your beliefs as a critical thinker, "you should continually try to form and revise your beliefs so that you can understand the world in increasingly effective ways." Think of something that you have changed your belief about and explain why it changed.Consider the roles of believing and knowing as well as of knowledge and truth.

Question 29

Uncritical thinkers generally adopt beliefs without thoughtful scrutiny or rigorous evaluation, allowing these beliefs into their thinking for superficial and illogical reasons.

Question 30

When you select the source of information by seeking people who are experienced or knowledgeable, you increase your chances of getting information.

Question 31

In the spring of 1989, a vigorous prodemocracy movement erupted in Beijing, China in the historic Tiananmen Square.On June 4, 1989, the Chinese government acquiesced to the demands of the demonstrators and thus started the first real inroads to a more democratic government.

Question 32

In the spring of 1989, a vigorous prodemocracy movement erupted in Beijing, China.The protesters and authorities clashed with each other in a famous area called .

Question 33

The of eyewitness testimony are notoriously unreliable.

Question 34

The author tells us that "instead of simply relying on the testimony of authorities, critical thinkers have a responsibility to engage actively in the learning process and participate in developing their own understanding of the world." What steps should you take to develop your own understanding of the world?

Question 35

We depend on the direct experience of to provide us with beliefs since we cannot be at all places at the same time.

Question 36

Everybody has a collection of beliefs; however, what differentiates people is the quality of their
beliefs and the strength and determination they show in keeping those beliefs from substantial change.

Question 37

After September 11, 2001, the world was inundated with images of terrorism.Interestingly enough, the images seen in the Middle East were considerably different than those seen in the Western world.Using your understanding of the differences between believing and knowing, explain why citizens of the Middle East have a different perspective of those events.

Question 38

In the area of evaluating the evidence that we use to determine the quality of our beliefs, the author offers us four areas we might question for accuracy.The first of the four areas is authorities.The other three areas are , and _.

Question 39

are people who have specialized knowledge in a particular area, based upon special training and experience.

Question 40

There is no guarantee that knowledge will be accurate, even when you carefully select knowledgeable sources.