Verified Test Bank Chapter 11 Judging Scientific Theories

Chapter 11: Judging Scientific Theories

Test Bank

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 01

1. The first step in the scientific method is…

a. Observe

b. Derive a test implication or prediction

c. Identify the problem or pose a question

d. Perform a test

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 02

2. A kind of study that does not treat groups and compare the results is known as…

a. A double-blind trial

b. A test-tube study

c. A nonintervention study

d. A cautionary trial

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 03

3. The conditional argument that expresses the logical pattern of disconfirming a hypothesis is called…

a. Modus ponens

b. Denying the antecedent

c. Affirming the consequent

d. Modus tollens

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 04

4. A clinical trial without a control group is generally…

a. Unreliable

b. Reliable

c. Replicated

d. Confirmed

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 05

5. The standards used to judge the worth of scientific theories are known as…

a. The rules of consistency

b. The criteria of evaluation

c. The criteria of adequacy

d. The scientific method

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 06

6. Compared to Ptolemy’s geocentric theory, Copernicus’s heliocentric theory was…

a. More conservative

b. Superior in scope

c. More complicated

d. Simpler

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 07

7. Science is distinct from technology because unlike technology, science…

a. Is a specific worldview

b. Has no particular methodology

c. Is a way of searching for truth

d. Is irrelevant to the practical concerns of life

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 08

8. The fallacious leap to a nonnatural explanation for a phenomenon is an example of the fallacy of…

a. Appeal to ignorance

b. Begging the question

c. Straw man

d. Division

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 09

9. A nonintervention study is also known as a…

a. Noninvasive study

b. Population study

c. Group study

d. Double-blind trial

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 10

10. According to actively publishing climate scientists, climate change is best explained by…

a. The Earth’s natural cycles of warming and cooling

b. Human activity

c. Surges in the sun’s energy

d. Volcanic eruptions

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 11

11. Reasoning for the purpose of supporting a predetermined conclusion, rather than for the purpose of uncovering the truth is known as…

a. Confirmation bias

b. Fallacious reasoning

c. Motivated reasoning

d. Scientism

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 12

12. The scientific method cannot be identified with any particular set of experimental or observational…

a. Parameters

b. Goals

c. Formulas

d. Procedures

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 13

13. If something violates a law of science, it is …

a. Physically possible

b. Experimentally possible

c. Physically impossible

d. Technically possible

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 14

14. To test a hypothesis, scientists must…

a. Not reason deductively

b. Accurately predict the outcome of tests

c. Ignore test implications of the hypothesis

d. Derive a test implication from the hypothesis

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 15

15. In double-blind experiments…

a. Test results are unacceptable

b. Neither the participants nor experimenters know who receives the real treatment

c. Only the experimenters know who receives the real treatment

d. Placebos are not used

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 16

16. The criterion of conservatism is a measure of…

a. How well a theory fits with existing knowledge

b. The amount of diverse phenomena explained

c. The number of novel predictions made

d. The number of assumptions made

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 17

17. Something is logically impossible if…

a. It violates a law of science

b. It violates a principle of logic

c. It cannot be tested

d. It is difficult to understand

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 18

18. The best theory to explain the performances of psychics who claim to speak to spirits of the dead is…

a. Blind reading

b. Cold reading

c. Electromagnetism

d. Slight of hand

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 19

19. The worst fault of the theory that global warming is caused by natural cycles of warming and cooling is that it falls short on the criterion of…

a. Scope

b. Testability

c. Simplicity

d. Conservatism

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 20

20. Maintaining a hypothesis in the face of mounting negative evidence is…

a. Unreasonable

b. Impossible

c. Acceptable

d. Reasonable

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 01

1. Why is science such a reliable way to acquire knowledge?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 02

2. What are the five steps in the scientific method?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 03

3. Why do scientists derive test implications from hypotheses?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 04

4. What conditional arguments are used in the testing of hypotheses?

Type: essay/short answer question

Title: Chapter 11 Question 05

5. What is the difference between physical impossibility and logical possible?