Ch.12 Critical Thinking Speakers Exam Questions

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 1

1) Confirmation bias is

a. the psychological predisposition to listen to information that agrees with our beliefs and values and to ignore or distort information that disagrees with them

b. the psychological predisposition to listen to information that confirms another person’s point of view

c. the psychological tendency to listen to information that contradicts our point of view

d. a psychological tendency to do the opposite of what someone orders us to do.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 2

2) True believers

a. willingly accept claims by authorities or valued sources without question

b. are individuals who exhibit a highly negative attitude; they are the naysayers who find fault with the beliefs of others

c. are evidence-driven

d. frequently change their minds on controversial issues

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 3

3) Skepticism is

a. a process of seeking evidence that supports accepted beliefs

b. a process of tearing apart and finding fault with the beliefs and values of others

c. a process of examining claims, evaluating evidence and reasoning, and drawing conclusions based on possibilities

d. a process of examining claims, evaluating evidence and reasoning, and drawing conclusions based on probabilities

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 4

4) Which of the following are valid generalizations about the differences between open- and closed-mindedness?

a. Open-mindedness means carefully examining and considering every claim made by a speaker; closed-mindedness means discarding a claim previously found to be false even when a speaker tries to argue the point

b. Open-mindedness means following where the evidence leads; closed-mindedness means refusing to examine one’s beliefs and points of view when there is compelling evidence contradicting them

c. Open-mindedness means listening to controversial beliefs even when evidence for these beliefs is weak or invalid; closed-mindedness is refusing to listen to controversial beliefs

d. Open-mindedness means being a cynic; closed-mindedness means being a true believer

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 5

5) Burden of proof means

a. challenging someone who disagrees with your claim to “prove it is not true”

b. whoever makes a claim has the responsibility for proving it

c. establishing the degree of possibility of the claim made

d. being open to the claims of others, even if you initially disagree

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 6

6) “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.” This means that

a. a few vivid examples are sufficient to prove your claim

b. a few amazing examples are sufficient to prove your claim

c. even a thousand testimonials asserting a cancer cure would be insufficient to prove such a claim

d. evidence must be so conclusive that the claim is certain to be true.

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 7

7) You’re the leader of the Interstellar Dark Beer Drinking Doomsday cult. You predict that the world will end when consumption of dark beer declines by 5% or more in a year. Consumption declines 7%, but the world does not end. When this fact is pointed out, your response is, “Members of the IDBDD drank mass quantities of dark beer, so they saved the world from extinction, proving the validity of my teachings.” This is an example of

a. data-driven belief

b. cynicism

c. rationalization of disconfirmation

d. plausibility

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 8

8) “According to recent studies, taking 500 mg of calcium per day improves bone mass by 5%, and taking 1000 mg of calcium per day improves bone mass by 10%. Even though the studies haven’t been done yet on higher doses of calcium, it makes sense to take 5000 to 6000 mg of calcium per day to get even better results in bone mass.” This claim is principally based on

a. wishful thinking

b. plausibility

c. probability

d. certainty

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 9

9) A cynic is someone who

a. blindly accepts the opinions of authority figures

b. looks for the good in others

c. is a true believer

d. looks to tear down the beliefs of others but rarely if ever offers a belief of his or her own to defend

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 10

10) Based on data from the Hubble telescope, astronomers now estimate the age of the universe to be between 8 and 10 billion years old, not 15 billion as previously thought. This is an example of

a. the built-in error correction function of skepticism

b. rationalization of disconfirmation

c. confirmation bias

d. the Law of Truly Large Numbers

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 11

11) You challenge a speaker to prove his claim that owning handguns prevents home invasions. The speaker responds, “Prove it doesn’t.” This is an example of

a. accepting the burden of proof

b. shifting the burden of proof

c. cynicism

d. none of the above

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 12

12) Generalizing from a highly unusual event is an example of

a. ignoring the Law of Truly Large Numbers

b. arguing from mere possibility

c. arguing from plausibility

d. a and b

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 13

13) When a speaker asserts that an event or phenomenon is “impossible,” that speaker is demonstrating

a. cynicism

b. skepticism

c. argument from probability

d. none of the above

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 14

14) To be an open-minded person you must

a. entertain any and all claims made

b. never reject any claim, no matter how improbable

c. follow where the evidence leads

d. all of the above

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 12, Question 15

15) Claims that rest on plausibility alone

a. may initially seem strong but can turn out to be wildly incorrect

b. are relatively weak claims

c. have only a moderate burden of proof compared to claims based on probability

d. all of the above

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 16

16) Skepticism is persistently finding fault with the beliefs and opinions of others.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 17

17) True believers exhibit confirmation bias.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 18

18) Establishing the plausibility of a claim is the ultimate goal of a skeptic.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 19

19) Our burden of proof increases as our claims move from possibility to plausibility and then to probability.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 20

20) Claims based on plausibility require you to make a logical case for your claim even though the evidence may not be substantial.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 21

21) The Heaven’s Gate cult returned a telescope to the store where it was purchased because when members looked through the telescope they could see the Hale-Bopp comet but they couldn’t see a spaceship trailing behind it. They deduced that there must be something wrong with the telescope. This is an example of rationalization of disconfirmation.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 22

22) James Randi investigated 105 faith healers and found every one of them to be a fake. No one was cured of any organic disease or affliction. Given this evidence, a skeptic must reject faith healing as simply impossible.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 23

23) You believe in the power of Therapeutic Touch. You see a program on the Discovery Channel that shows examples of TT in action. You are now even more convinced than ever that TT heals people. Another program on PBS, however, announces that it will show TT is a fraudulent therapy. You won’t watch this program because it casts doubt on your belief. This is an example of confirmation bias.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 24

24) You can still be a skeptic by respecting another person’s point of view without necessarily agreeing with it.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 25

25) Shifting the burden of proof means inappropriately assuming the validity of a claim unless it is proven false by another person who never made the original claim.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 26

26) Skeptics are doubters by definition, naysayers looking to find fault with the claims of others.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 27

27) True believers are hucksters looking to con a gullible audience.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 28

28) One of the hallmarks of true belief is a passionate desire to self-correct, to correct erroneous claims.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 29

29) Flu shots typically have about a 60% effectiveness rate in preventing vaccinated individuals from getting the flu. Skeptics, therefore, should reject getting vaccinated because it doesn’t even approach 100% effectiveness.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 30

30) When individuals hold strong beliefs, presenting lots of contradictory evidence that challenges those beliefs is highly likely to change their minds.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 31

31) Research shows that fake news is 70% more likely to be retweeted than real, substantial news.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 32

32) Research reveals that it takes truth ten times as long as misinformation to reach 1,500 people.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 12, Question 33

33) Research shows that truthful information rarely spreads to more than 1,000 people, but the top 1% of false news routinely spreads to between 1,00 and 100,00 people on Twitter.

a. True

b. False