PHIL 105 Test 1

26 questions to know

What is an "amphiboly"?

A grammatically ambiguous sentence.

What is a 'simple statement'?

One that has no component statements in it.

What is '"lexical ambiguity"?

A sentence that is ambiguous because it contains one or more ambiguous words in it.

What is a 'compound statement'?

One that has one or more component statements in it

What is 'critical thinking' as a reasoning process?

The development of ever more accurate world view, and using it in decision-making.

Define 'sound argument'.

A valid argument with true premises.

Define 'relevant.'

A responsive answer to the question, or evidence for a responsive answer to the question.

What is a 'direct answer'?

Statements that provide the information requested, no more, no less.

What is a 'loaded question'?

A question with a false or debatable presupposition.

What is an 'interrogative sentence'?

A string of words ending with a question mark.

Define 'indirectly relevant'.

Evidence for a responsive answer to the question.

What is a 'worldview'?

 A set of beliefs about the world or part of it

Define 'erotetic concept.'

A concept related to the logic of questions.

What is grammatical ambiguity?

Grammatical ambiguity is when a sentence is ambiguous due to poor word order.

What is 'inductive strength'?

An argument is strong if and only if it is unlikely but not impossible for the premises to be true while the conclusion is false.

Define 'deductive validity'.

An argument is valid if and only if it is impossible for all the premises to be true while the conclusion is false

What is 'critical thinking' as an academic discipline?

A new hybrid discipline that studies the process of how people can and do develop ever more accurate world views.

What is a 'sentence'?

A string of words in a language.

Define 'directly relevant'.

A responsive answer to the question.

Define 'fallacy.'

An argument that is neither valid nor strong

What is a 'statement'?

A speech act that is true or false.

What is a 'question'?

A speech act that seeks information.

What is a 'presupposition' to a question?

Any statement that must be true for the question to possibly have a true direct answer.

What is a 'corrective answer'?

A statement that denies one or more presuppositions.

What is an 'argument'?

Set of one or more statements, called 'premises,' taken as evidence for another statement, called the 'conclusion'.

Define 'ambiguous.'

A word or phrase that has more than one meaning

What is a 'projected property'?

 

A property which you notice holds in the sample you have observed.

What is push-polling?

 

A propaganda device in which someone pretends to conduct a poll, but instead asks questions loaded with negative ideas about the target.

What are the 3 rules for judging an inductive instantiation?

 

The closer the general rule is to 100%, the stronger; the case the rule is applied to must be typical, not unusual; and the bigger the margin of error, the stronger the inference.

Identify the 5 factors or criteria for evaluating eyewitness testimony.

 

How consistent the report; how well-positioned the reporter; how credible the reporter; how plausible the report; how corroborated the report.

Identify the 5 factors or criteria for assessing the reliability of observation.

 

How good the physical conditions; how good the sensory acuity; how normal the perceptual situation; how adequate the cultural and education backgound; and how adequate the vocabulary.

What is a 'sample'?

 

The group of individuals you observe.

Identify the 7 factors or criteria for assessing the reliability of memory.

 

How recent the event; how consistent the memory; how suggestible the person; how plausible is the memory; how continuous the memory; how much corroboration; how much prompting of the person.

Identify the 5 factors or criteria for assessing analogical arguments.

 

How numerous the cases compared; how numerous the relevant similarities; how numerous the relevant differences; how varied the cases in other respects; how large the margin of error.

What is 'self-selection bias'?

 

A case in which people can choose whether to be excluded or included in the sample.

What is a 'time-lapse sample'?

 

Sampling done precisely the same way at set time intervals.

What does it mean for a sample to be 'random'?

 

That every individual in the population has exactly the same chance of being in the sample.

What are the three elements of the theory of cognitive dissonance?

 

People are aware of inconsistent cognitions in themselves and others; that this awareness causes an unpleasant feeling called dissonance; and that to relieve this dissonance, people will employ two strategies, one broadly logical, the other broadly illogical.

What is the difference between an epistemic authority (i.e, an expert) and a deontic authority?

 

Deontic authority is based on power; epistemic authority is based on knowledge.

What are the 4 uses of analogy?

 

To describe; to argue; for heuristic guidance; and to define. 

What is the most important rule for assessing the strength of an analogical argument?

 

There should be no major, relevant differences between the subject and the analogs.

What is the key factor or criterion for assessing the application of a general rule to a new case (i.e., inductive instantiation)?

 

That the new case be typical.

What does it mean for a property R to be 'relevant' to a generalization?

 

It means that individuals with R are either more likely or less likely than average for the population to have the projected property.

What is a 'population'?

 

All the individuals of a certain sort.

What does it mean to say a law is 'defeasible'?

 

That it can be rendered null and void by exceptional circumstances.

Identify the 10 factors for evaluating expert testimony.

 

The person cited should be: identified; qualified; personally credible; speaking in his/her field of expertise; base his/her testimony on open evidence; base his/her on theories and practices generally accepted in the field; current; quoted accurately; and the more numerous and varied the experts the better.

What is 'exclusion bias'?

 

A case in which some subgroup of the population is systematically under-represented in the sample.

Identify the 4 criteria for judging a generalization.

 

How large the sample; how random the sample; how well matched the sample is to the general population; how large the margin of error.

What are the two strategies people employ to relieve or lessen cognitive dissonance?

 

One is to decrease the number of inconsistent cognitions (for example, dropping beliefs from your worldview); the other is to increase the number of consistent cognitions (for example, seeking confirming opinions on the internet).

What does it mean for a sample to be 'stratified' (or 'matched') to the general population?

 

 That the sample shares all the relevant properties in the same percentages as the population.

Briefly describe the set-up of a control group experiment.

 

First, draw a large, representative sample of the target population. Second, divide the initial sample into two closely matched sub-samples, the control and the experimental group. Third, measure the frequency of the effect. Fourth, administer the suspected cause to the experimental group, but otherwise treat the control group the same way. Fifth, measure the frequency of the effect again. Sixth, compare the frequencies, and if the frequency of the effect is significantly higher (or lower) after administering the cause than it was before, we conclude that the suspected cause is real.

What does it mean to say two factors A and B are correlated (statistically linked) within a population?

 

Factors A and B are correlated if the percentage of individuals with B are either higher or lower among those with A than those without A. 

Describe a purely observational effect-to-cause study.

 

First, draw a large representative sample of the target population; divide it into two groups, the first of individuals who have the effect, the other of those who don't; examine the frequency of the suspected cause in both groups; if there is a significantly greater amount of the suspected cause in the first group, the suspected cause is probably real.

What is a 'sufficient' cause?

 A sufficient cause by itself alone produces the effect.

Describe a purely observational cause-to-effect study.

 First, draw a large representative sample of the target population; divide it into two groups, the first of individuals who have been subjected to the suspected cause, the other of those who haven't; examine the frequency of the effect in both groups; if there is a significantly greater amount of the effect in the first group, the suspected cause is probably real.

What are the four kinds of decision situation?

 Decision under conflict; decision under uncertainty; decision under risk; decision under certainty.

Identify the 4 factors or criteria for assessing a control group experiment.

 

Is it double-blind; how closely matched the control and experimental groups are; how great te difference in of observed frequency of the effect at the end; and how representative the initial sample.

What is a 'deterministic' cause?

 

A deterministic cause is one that always produces its effect in every case.

Identify the 12 psychological mechanisms exploited by sales and political agents.

 

Contrast; scarcity; greed; familiarity; salience; association; entrenchment; reciprocity; egalitarianism; authority; social proof; sympathy.

What is 'due diligence'?

 The concept that one has an obligation to research all of the options open to him, and the costs and benefits of each, before making any major decision.

What is a 'remote' cause?

 

A remote cause is farther away in time.

What are the 6 factors in judging rhetoric?

logical; rightfully targeted; transparent; truthful; not coercive; evidence-based.

What is the 'inference to the best explanation'?

An argument of the form: A and B are temporally or statistically linked; A causing B would be the best explanation of the linkage; so probably A causes B.

What is a 'necessary' cause?

A necessary cause is one in whose absence the effect cannot occur.

What are the two kinds of temporal linkage?

Precedence and simultaneity. 

What is 'constant conjunction'?

When two events are invariably temporally linked.