Science and Common Sense
50 questions available
Questions
What is the collective term for the intuitive beliefs people hold about human behavior, thoughts, and feelings?
View answer and explanationAccording to scientific research cited in the chapter, what is the actual effect of 'letting out' anger, for instance, by punching something?
View answer and explanationWhat is the common but incorrect belief regarding false confessions to crimes, according to the text?
View answer and explanationWhich of the following is listed as one of the 'great myths' of popular psychology discussed by Scott Lilienfeld and colleagues?
View answer and explanationWhat mental shortcuts do people tend to rely on in forming and maintaining their beliefs, which contributes to being wrong about human behavior?
View answer and explanationWhat is the term for the tendency to focus on cases that confirm our intuitive beliefs while ignoring cases that disconfirm them?
View answer and explanationThe chapter defines the scientific attitude of skepticism as...
View answer and explanationWhat is the attitude that scientists cultivate when there is not enough evidence to fully evaluate a belief or claim?
View answer and explanationWhich of the following beliefs is NOT listed in the 'Some Great Myths' section of the chapter?
View answer and explanationWhy is it nearly impossible for individuals to form accurate beliefs about group differences (like talkativeness between men and women) using informal observation?
View answer and explanationWhat example does the chapter use to illustrate confirmation bias in action?
View answer and explanationWhat is another reason people hold incorrect beliefs, as exemplified by the belief in the effectiveness of calorie-reducing diets for long-term obesity treatment?
View answer and explanationAccording to the chapter, why is scientific psychology necessary despite the existence of common sense or intuition?
View answer and explanationWhat does taking an attitude of skepticism toward a magazine article's claim that a weekly allowance helps children develop financial responsibility entail?
View answer and explanationWhat is the relationship between an empirically testable question and the scientific attitude of tolerance for uncertainty?
View answer and explanationThe book '50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology' by Scott Lilienfeld and colleagues is cited to demonstrate what?
View answer and explanationAccording to the chapter, why do psychologists and other scientists understand that they are susceptible to the same incorrect intuitive beliefs as anyone else?
View answer and explanationWhat is the common but incorrect belief about psychiatric admissions and crimes mentioned as a 'great myth'?
View answer and explanationOne of the key reasons our intuitions about human behavior are often wrong is that if a belief is widely shared and makes intuitive sense, we tend to...
View answer and explanationHow many great myths of popular psychology are explicitly listed in the chapter's 'Some Great Myths' section?
View answer and explanationThe chapter suggests that if a research question is important enough, what should an attitude of skepticism lead one to do?
View answer and explanationWhat is the primary reason the chapter gives for why the scientific approach to psychology is necessary?
View answer and explanationWhich researcher is cited in the text in relation to the common-sense myth about venting anger?
View answer and explanationThe tendency for people to believe that calorie-reducing diets are effective long-term treatments for obesity, despite evidence to the contrary, is used to illustrate that...
View answer and explanationWhat is the key difference between the scientific attitude of skepticism and being cynical?
View answer and explanationWhat does the chapter suggest about the accuracy of folk psychology?
View answer and explanationThe practice of forming beliefs based on mental shortcuts is identified as a reason for being wrong. The chapter gives a general reason for why we rely on these shortcuts, which is that...
View answer and explanationFrom a scientific perspective, what is the value of discovering that we do not know the answer to an empirically testable question like whether an allowance makes children materialistic?
View answer and explanationWhich of the following describes the myth about learning styles as presented in the chapter?
View answer and explanationWhat conclusion did Kassin & Gudjonsson's empirical research on confessions lead to, as cited in the chapter?
View answer and explanationThe chapter identifies how many main contributing factors for why our intuitive beliefs about human behavior can be so wrong?
View answer and explanationThe text states that forming accurate beliefs would be nearly impossible without science because it requires powers of observation, memory, and analysis to an extent that...
View answer and explanationWhat is the final 'great myth' listed in the chapter from Lilienfeld et al.'s book?
View answer and explanationAn attitude of skepticism, when applied to a claim, means that if the issue is important enough, one might...
View answer and explanationWhich statement best summarizes the chapter's view on the relationship between scientific psychology and common sense?
View answer and explanationThe chapter describes confirmation bias as being 'compounded' by our tendency to...
View answer and explanationWhat is the primary flaw in thinking that is at play when someone continues to believe that women are more talkative than men by only paying attention to talkative women and silent men?
View answer and explanationIn the context of the chapter, what is the role of scientific attitudes like skepticism and tolerance for uncertainty?
View answer and explanationWhen the chapter states that for an important issue, skepticism might mean 'turning to the research literature,' what does this imply about the nature of scientific knowledge?
View answer and explanationWhat is the common folk psychology belief about anger that scientific research by Bushman (2002) has shown to be incorrect?
View answer and explanationWhich of the following cognitive errors is NOT identified in the chapter as a reason for why our intuitions are often wrong?
View answer and explanationThe chapter ends by suggesting that when we do not know the answer to an interesting and empirically testable question, this uncertainty is...
View answer and explanationThe statement 'Low self-esteem is a major cause of psychological problems' is presented in the chapter as...
View answer and explanationWhat is the primary characteristic of the evidence that a skeptical person would search for?
View answer and explanationThe chapter suggests that if you read in a magazine that giving children an allowance is a good way to help them develop financial responsibility, a skeptic would first...
View answer and explanationWhat does the existence of cognitive errors like confirmation bias and heuristics imply about human reason, according to Gilovich (1991)?
View answer and explanationHow many contributing factors does the text explicitly identify to explain how our intuitive beliefs about human behavior can be so wrong?
View answer and explanationThe chapter's main purpose is to explain...
View answer and explanationThe fact that scientists cultivate a 'tolerance for uncertainty' shows that the scientific process...
View answer and explanationAccording to the chapter, which of these is an example of a common-sense belief about human behavior that scientific research has shown to be incorrect?
View answer and explanation