One 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...
Explanation
This question highlights a specific heuristic described in the chapter: the tendency to accept widely-shared and intuitive beliefs without evidence.
Other questions
What is the collective term for the intuitive beliefs people hold about human behavior, thoughts, and feelings?
According to scientific research cited in the chapter, what is the actual effect of 'letting out' anger, for instance, by punching something?
What is the common but incorrect belief regarding false confessions to crimes, according to the text?
Which of the following is listed as one of the 'great myths' of popular psychology discussed by Scott Lilienfeld and colleagues?
What mental shortcuts do people tend to rely on in forming and maintaining their beliefs, which contributes to being wrong about human behavior?
What is the term for the tendency to focus on cases that confirm our intuitive beliefs while ignoring cases that disconfirm them?
The chapter defines the scientific attitude of skepticism as...
What is the attitude that scientists cultivate when there is not enough evidence to fully evaluate a belief or claim?
Which of the following beliefs is NOT listed in the 'Some Great Myths' section of the chapter?
Why is it nearly impossible for individuals to form accurate beliefs about group differences (like talkativeness between men and women) using informal observation?
What example does the chapter use to illustrate confirmation bias in action?
What is another reason people hold incorrect beliefs, as exemplified by the belief in the effectiveness of calorie-reducing diets for long-term obesity treatment?
According to the chapter, why is scientific psychology necessary despite the existence of common sense or intuition?
What does taking an attitude of skepticism toward a magazine article's claim that a weekly allowance helps children develop financial responsibility entail?
What is the relationship between an empirically testable question and the scientific attitude of tolerance for uncertainty?
The book '50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology' by Scott Lilienfeld and colleagues is cited to demonstrate what?
According to the chapter, why do psychologists and other scientists understand that they are susceptible to the same incorrect intuitive beliefs as anyone else?
What is the common but incorrect belief about psychiatric admissions and crimes mentioned as a 'great myth'?
How many great myths of popular psychology are explicitly listed in the chapter's 'Some Great Myths' section?
The chapter suggests that if a research question is important enough, what should an attitude of skepticism lead one to do?
What is the primary reason the chapter gives for why the scientific approach to psychology is necessary?
Which researcher is cited in the text in relation to the common-sense myth about venting anger?
The 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...
What is the key difference between the scientific attitude of skepticism and being cynical?
What does the chapter suggest about the accuracy of folk psychology?
The 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...
From 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?
Which of the following describes the myth about learning styles as presented in the chapter?
What conclusion did Kassin & Gudjonsson's empirical research on confessions lead to, as cited in the chapter?
The chapter identifies how many main contributing factors for why our intuitive beliefs about human behavior can be so wrong?
The 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...
What is the final 'great myth' listed in the chapter from Lilienfeld et al.'s book?
An attitude of skepticism, when applied to a claim, means that if the issue is important enough, one might...
Which statement best summarizes the chapter's view on the relationship between scientific psychology and common sense?
The chapter describes confirmation bias as being 'compounded' by our tendency to...
What 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?
In the context of the chapter, what is the role of scientific attitudes like skepticism and tolerance for uncertainty?
When 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?
What is the common folk psychology belief about anger that scientific research by Bushman (2002) has shown to be incorrect?
Which of the following cognitive errors is NOT identified in the chapter as a reason for why our intuitions are often wrong?
The chapter ends by suggesting that when we do not know the answer to an interesting and empirically testable question, this uncertainty is...
The statement 'Low self-esteem is a major cause of psychological problems' is presented in the chapter as...
What is the primary characteristic of the evidence that a skeptical person would search for?
The 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...
What does the existence of cognitive errors like confirmation bias and heuristics imply about human reason, according to Gilovich (1991)?
How many contributing factors does the text explicitly identify to explain how our intuitive beliefs about human behavior can be so wrong?
The chapter's main purpose is to explain...
The fact that scientists cultivate a 'tolerance for uncertainty' shows that the scientific process...
According 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?