Question 1

In Haidt's (2001) experiment, participants seemed unable to give a rational reason for why it was wrong for siblings Mark and Julie to make love and said that they just knew it was wrong. This suggests the influence of which kind of thinking?
A) Type 1 thinking
B) Type 2 thinking
C) Rational-analytic thinking
D) Post hoc thinking

Accepted Answer

Type 1 thinking is characterized by quick, automatic and intuitive responses, which often rely on emotions and gut feelings rather than reasoning. The participants seemed to rely on their emotional reaction that incest is simply wrong without being able to provide a rational justification. This scenario demonstrates Type 1 thinking.

Question 2

Dorothy Martin, the leader of a UFO cult, made a prophecy about a destructive flood on Earth. After the prophecy failed to materialize, the members of the UFO cult began to seek new members as a way to:
A) reduce the group's cognitive dissonance, because its ideas must be true if other people believed them.
B) prevent the members from splintering into smaller groups, which would effectively end the group's beliefs.
C) introduce new ideas into the group that would be more acceptable to the members than were the original ideas.
D) reduce infighting and group tensions surrounding the failed prophecies.

Accepted Answer

This behavior is explained by the theory of cognitive dissonance. The members faced a dissonance between their beliefs and reality. By seeking new members who would accept their beliefs, they aimed to reduce this dissonance, reinforcing the idea that their beliefs must be true if others could be convinced to believe them as well.

Question 3

Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress have shown a great reluctance to examine the other side's proposals and instead prefer to stick to their own party's talking points. The BEST remedy for dealing with this thinking error is for members of Congress to:
A) try to make their own arguments more logical and compelling.
B) look for their bias blind spots and acknowledge them.
C) consider the other side's views and try to understand them.
D) explain their own views in a more sympathetic way.

Accepted Answer

The best remedy for dealing with this thinking error is for members of Congress to consider the other side's views and try to understand them. This will help to reduce bias and promote compromise, which is necessary for effective governance. Trying to make their own arguments more logical and compelling, looking for their bias blind spots, and explaining their own views in a more sympathetic way are all helpful strategies, but understanding the other side's views is the most important first step.

Question 4

Michael Shermer observed that Democrats tend to watch liberal news outlets, while Republicans tend to watch conservative outlets. This tendency of people to attend to a news source that agrees with their beliefs and ignores sources that disagree with them shows:
A) belief bias.
B) belief perseverance.
C) confirmation bias.
D) illusory correlation.

Accepted Answer

This tendency of people to seek out and prioritize information that confirms their preexisting beliefs and ignore information that challenges them is known as confirmation bias.

Question 5

Confirmation bias and belief perseverance are both examples of:
A) logical fallacies.
B) thinking errors found in deductive reasoning.
C) emotional influences that lead to irrational behaviors.
D) thinking errors related to motivated reasoning.

Accepted Answer

Confirmation bias and belief perseverance are both examples of thinking errors related to motivated reasoning, where people tend to favor information that confirms their pre-existing beliefs and are often resistant to changing those beliefs even when presented with contradictory evidence. This type of thinking can lead to irrational behaviors and attitudes, and can hinder one's ability to objectively evaluate new information.

Question 6

The research by Tetlock and Kim (1987) on motivated reasoning found that when participants made predictions about how other people would respond on a personality test, the participants considered more alternative interpretations if they:
A) had been encouraged to report their impressions honestly.
B) were told they would be accountable for justifying their judgments.
C) were encouraged to be sympathetic to the people responding on the personality tests.
D) knew people who had similar personality traits as the people they were judging.

Accepted Answer

The research found that participants considered more alternative interpretations when they were told they would be accountable for justifying their judgments.

Question 7

Dorothy Martin, the leader of a UFO cult, said that she had been in contact with aliens after two of her prophecies had failed to occur. The aliens told her that the cult and Earth would be saved because the cult had acted so commendably. The alien message fulfilled the function of:
A) reinterpreting the failed prophesy and reducing cognitive dissonance.
B) encouraging the group's belief bias by explaining away the failed prediction.
C) using confirmation bias to ignore the negative evidence and maintain belief.
D) making an argument from possibility for the group's belief bias to be maintained.

Accepted Answer

The alien message is fulfilling the function of reinterpreting the failed prophecy and reducing cognitive dissonance. By saying that the cult and Earth will still be saved, it eases the cult members' discomfort caused by the failed prophecies.

Question 8

The text discusses a UFO cult and its leader, Dorothy Martin. Even though Martin's prophecy about aliens did not come to pass, she told her followers that she maintained contact with the aliens. Martin's response provides a good example of which thinking error?
A) Cognitive dissonance
B) Belief bias
C) Confirmation bias
D) Belief perseverance

Accepted Answer

Martin's response is an example of belief perseverance, which is the tendency to cling to one's initial beliefs even in the face of contradictory evidence. Despite her failed prophecy, Martin continued to maintain her belief in the existence of aliens and her supposed contact with them.

Question 9

Aliyah's critical thinking instructor was talking about the importance of being fair-minded in considering the sides of an argument. Aliyah said to herself, "I think I am more fair-minded than most of the students I have met." If Aliyah's self-evaluation reveals that she is showing a thinking error, it is MOST likely:
A) the better-than-average effect.
B) the fundamental attribution error.
C) belief bias.
D) confirmation bias.

Accepted Answer

Aliyah's belief that she is more fair-minded than most students she has met is an example of the better-than-average effect, which is a cognitive bias where individuals tend to overestimate their abilities or qualities in comparison to others.

Question 10

The text discusses a UFO cult and its leader, Dorothy Martin, who awaited rescue by aliens from a coming flood on Earth. When an alien UFO did not arrive to rescue the cult, Martin responded to the failed prophesy by:
A) doubting that the aliens were contacting her, and changed her belief.
B) continuing to believe that the aliens were contacting her.
C) telling her followers that she had misunderstood the prophecy.
D) explaining that the followers had not been worthy of the aliens.

Accepted Answer

Dorothy Martin continued to believe that the aliens were contacting her despite the failed prophecy, a phenomenon often associated with cognitive dissonance.

Question 11

_____ are often marked by expressive behaviors, subjective experience, motivated dispositions to behave a certain way, and physiological changes.
A) Motives
B) Emotions
C) Cognitions
D) Dispositions

Accepted Answer

The characteristics described in the question (expressive behaviors, subjective experience, motivated dispositions to behave a certain way, and physiological changes) are all commonly associated with emotions, making option B the best choice. Motives refer to the underlying drives or reasons for behavior, cognitions refer to mental processes such as perception and thinking, and dispositions refer to enduring personality traits.

Question 12

The BEST interpretation of the reaction shown by people who were affected by the 1938 radio play broadcast of The War of the Worlds suggests that:
A) emotional reactions to both real and staged events can lead to psychological disorders.
B) through motivated reasoning, people may interpret events the way they want to.
C) the emotion of fear may sweep rapidly through people and lead to perceptual errors.
D) listeners should realize that newscasters cannot be trusted to present accurate information.

Accepted Answer

The best interpretation of the reaction shown by people who were affected by the 1938 radio play broadcast of The War of the Worlds suggests that the emotion of fear may sweep rapidly through people and lead to perceptual errors. The broadcast caused a mass panic as listeners believed the fictional story to be a real news report, showing that fear can distort reality and lead to misinterpretations.

Question 13

The tendency for people to lack accurate knowledge of their own biases is MOST related to a deficiency in which aspect of critical thinking?
A) Critical thinking skills
B) Metacognitive reflection
C) Knowledge of the rules for reasoning
D) Knowledge of a subject

Accepted Answer

Metacognitive reflection involves thinking about one's own thinking processes, including recognizing biases and limitations in one's own thinking. Therefore, the tendency for people to lack accurate knowledge of their own biases is most related to a deficiency in metacognitive reflection.

Question 14

Suppose a mayor made a public prediction based on her beliefs, and then the outcome did not match her prediction. According to Leon Festinger's study of disconfirmed predictions, the mayor would MOST likely experience:
A) cognitive dissonance.
B) emotional disparity.
C) motivational distortion.
D) goal distortion.

Accepted Answer

Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory proposes that individuals experience psychological discomfort when their beliefs or attitudes are inconsistent with their behaviors or experiences. In this scenario, the mayor's prediction did not match the outcome, which creates inconsistency between her belief and reality. Therefore, she is likely to experience cognitive dissonance as she struggles to reconcile her belief with the actual outcome. Emotional disparity, motivational distortion, and goal distortion are not directly related to the theory of cognitive dissonance.

Question 15

The tendency for people to lack accurate knowledge or awareness of their own biases is called:
A) my-side bias.
B) confirmation bias
C) self-serving bias.
D) the bias blind spot.

Accepted Answer

The bias blind spot is the tendency for people to be aware of biases in others, but not in themselves. This means that individuals may not accurately perceive their own biases or may downplay their impact. Choices A-C describe specific types of biases that a person may have, but do not necessarily relate to the concept of bias blind spot.

Question 16

Arousing and directing a behavior towards a goal is a common definition of:
A) emotion.
B) motivation.
C) motivated reasoning.
D) cognition.

Accepted Answer

The definition given clearly describes motivation, which is the process of stimulating action towards a desired outcome or goal. Emotion refers to a subjective experience that often accompanies motivation, but it is not the same thing as motivation. Motivated reasoning refers to the tendency to interpret information in a way that supports one's pre-existing beliefs or desires, which is related to motivation but not the same thing. Cognition refers to the mental processes involved in thinking, knowing, and understanding, but it is not directly related to the definition provided.

Question 17

Eliza said that the reason she was unable to get a job during the recession was because employers were not hiring in her field, but as soon as they began to hire again she got a job because she is a hard worker. According to Eliza, many other unemployed people did not get jobs because they are simply lazy. What is the thinking error she seems to be making?
A) Confirmation bias
B) Bias blind spot
C) Motivated reasoning
D) Fundamental attribution error

Accepted Answer

Eliza is making the fundamental attribution error by attributing her own success to personal characteristics like hard work, while attributing the failure of others to their personal characteristics like laziness, rather than considering external factors such as lack of job opportunities during the recession.

Question 18

The unwillingness for Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress to examine the other side's proposals and instead stick to their own party's talking points is BEST described as the operation of:
A) belief bias.
B) the bias blind spot.
C) motivated reasoning.
D) confirmation bias.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The unwillingness for Republicans and Democrats in...

Question 19

The fundamental attribution error and the better-than-average effect are both related to the _____ as a tendency to evaluate oneself favorably.
A) myside bias
B) confirmation bias
C) self-serving bias
D) the bias blind spot

Accepted Answer

The self-serving bias is the tendency to evaluate oneself favorably and attribute positive outcomes to internal factors (such as skill or effort) while attributing negative outcomes to external factors (such as luck or circumstances). The fundamental attribution error and better-than-average effect both relate to how we evaluate others, but the self-serving bias specifically relates to our own evaluations of ourselves.

Question 20

Theories maintaining that emotions are discrete assume that basic emotions, such as fear and anger, are:
A) continuous or vary by degree.
B) distinguishable from each other and are natural.
C) learned and so vary a great deal right from birth.
D) not biologically based and so cannot be recognized in facial expressions of people from other cultures.

Accepted Answer

Theories maintaining that emotions are discrete assume that basic emotions, such as fear and anger, are distinguishable from each other and are natural. This means that these emotions are not continuous or vary by degree, nor are they learned and thus vary greatly from birth, and they are biologically based and recognizable in facial expressions across cultures.

Quiz 9: Emotion, Motivated Reasoning, and Critical Thinking

In Haidt's (2001) experiment, participants seemed unable to give a rational reason for why it was wrong for siblings Mark and Julie to make love and said that they just knew it was wrong. This suggests the influence of which kind of thinking?

Dorothy Martin, the leader of a UFO cult, made a prophecy about a destructive flood on Earth. After the prophecy failed to materialize, the members of the UFO cult began to seek new members as a way to:

Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress have shown a great reluctance to examine the other side's proposals and instead prefer to stick to their own party's talking points. The BEST remedy for dealing with this thinking error is for members of Congress to:

Michael Shermer observed that Democrats tend to watch liberal news outlets, while Republicans tend to watch conservative outlets. This tendency of people to attend to a news source that agrees with their beliefs and ignores sources that disagree with them shows:

Confirmation bias and belief perseverance are both examples of:

The research by Tetlock and Kim (1987) on motivated reasoning found that when participants made predictions about how other people would respond on a personality test, the participants considered more alternative interpretations if they:

Dorothy Martin, the leader of a UFO cult, said that she had been in contact with aliens after two of her prophecies had failed to occur. The aliens told her that the cult and Earth would be saved because the cult had acted so commendably. The alien message fulfilled the function of:

The text discusses a UFO cult and its leader, Dorothy Martin. Even though Martin's prophecy about aliens did not come to pass, she told her followers that she maintained contact with the aliens. Martin's response provides a good example of which thinking error?

The text discusses a UFO cult and its leader, Dorothy Martin, who awaited rescue by aliens from a coming flood on Earth. When an alien UFO did not arrive to rescue the cult, Martin responded to the failed prophesy by:

_____ are often marked by expressive behaviors, subjective experience, motivated dispositions to behave a certain way, and physiological changes.

The BEST interpretation of the reaction shown by people who were affected by the 1938 radio play broadcast of The War of the Worlds suggests that:

The tendency for people to lack accurate knowledge of their own biases is MOST related to a deficiency in which aspect of critical thinking?

Suppose a mayor made a public prediction based on her beliefs, and then the outcome did not match her prediction. According to Leon Festinger's study of disconfirmed predictions, the mayor would MOST likely experience:

The tendency for people to lack accurate knowledge or awareness of their own biases is called:

Arousing and directing a behavior towards a goal is a common definition of:

The unwillingness for Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress to examine the other side's proposals and instead stick to their own party's talking points is BEST described as the operation of:

The fundamental attribution error and the better-than-average effect are both related to the _____ as a tendency to evaluate oneself favorably.

Theories maintaining that emotions are discrete assume that basic emotions, such as fear and anger, are: