Science

Question 1

Give 3 philosophical assumptions of science.

Answer 1

Determinism, empiricism, and skepticism.

Question 2

Give 3 methodological principles of science.

Answer 2

Observation, measurement, and experimentation.

Question 3

Give 3 reasoning principles of science.

Answer 3

Parsimony, falsification, and objectivity.

Question 4

What did Francis Bacon believe was the ultimate authority in science?

Answer 4

Direct observation.

Question 5

What are Bacon’s idols of the cave?

Answer 5

Personal biases arising for heredity, experience, education and feelings.

Question 6

What are Bacon’s idols of the tribe?

Answer 6

Biases due to human nature.

Question 7

What are Bacon’s idols of the marketplace?

Answer 7

Biases that result from bing overly influenced by the meaning of words.

Question 8

What are Bacon’s idols of the theatre?

Answer 8

Biases that arise from bling allegiance to a specific viewpoint.

Question 9

Give 3 cognitive factors affecting evidentiary reasoning errors.

Answer 9

Difficulties with randomness, sampling and probabilistic reasoning.

Question 10

Give 4 social factors affecting evidentiary reasoning errors.

Answer 10

Difficulties with motivation, second-hand information, first-hand information and exaggerated impressions of corroboration.

Question 11

Give 4 distortions of second-hand information.

Answer 11

Due to memory limitations, due to bias, to enhance efficiency of communication or due to plausibility adjustment.

Question 12

Give 5 key features of science.

Answer 12

Originality, detachment, universality, skepticism and public accessibility.

Question 13

Describe Aristotle’s frequency law of association, also known as Thorndike’s law of effect.

Answer 13

The more something is experienced, the easier it is to recall.

Question 14

Describe Aristotle’s contiguity law of association, also known as associationist memory.

Answer 14

Things that occur together tend to be thought of together.

Question 15

Describe Aristotle’s similarity law of association, also one of Gestalt’s principles.

Answer 15

Things that are similar tend to be thought of together.

Question 16

Describe Aristotle’s contrast law of association, also one of Gestalt’s principles.

Answer 16

Things that are the opposite of what we are thinking also tend to be thought of.

Question 17

Briefly describe reductionism.

Answer 17

Attempts to provide a complete explanation for observable phenomena by looking at the underlying physiological and biochemical processes.

Question 18

What did Socrates was key to life/science?

Answer 18

Understanding the essence of things (humans, beauty, etc.).

Question 19

What was Plato’s theory of ideas or ideal forms?

Answer 19

Objects in the physical world merely resembled perfect forms in the ideal world.

Question 20

What was Plato’s theory of awareness?

Answer 20

Claims about the physical world, even scientific, we’re opinions.

Question 21

What was Plato’s theory of knowledge?

Answer 21

All knowledge is innate, clouded by sensory experience and attained only through introspection.

Question 22

How did Plato believe the soul worked in a just person,

Answer 22

The rational component, supported by the will, controlled the appetite.

Question 23

Give 4 beliefs Sophists held about “truth.”

Answer 23

It it a matter of opinion, depends on the perceiver, can vary between perceivers, and can be influenced by culture.

Question 24

What does constructive relativism believe about the scientific method?

Answer 24

It is no more trustworthy than ordinary thinking, as all truth is constructed by the mind and relative to various frameworks.

Question 25

Define constructivism.

Answer 25

The mind has innate mechanisms for interacting with the world and building progressively more complexity behaviours and views.

Question 26

What is a common reason that components and operating do not line up linearly?

Answer 26

To create feedback loops etc. to regulate operation of the system.