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Note: These questions are part of a larger data base of questions on module 10. The questions are selected to represent the type of question you should expect on unit exam one. You can, in fact, expect to see many of these very same questions on that exam. Exam questions, however, may deal with topics not covered in the self tests or in lectures but are discussed in your textbook. You are responsible for the content of your text book plus the content of lectures, interactive activities, & material on the web site.

    Use these sample questions to test yourself & to practice for the test. Click on your choice to see if you are right.

1.  According to research evidence, professional clinicians

•  rarely overestimate the predictive powers of their clinical intuition.
 •  rarely fall into the trap of self-confirming diagnoses.
  •  are frequently the victims of illusory correlation.
   •  are not fooled by hindsight analysis.

2.  Professional clinical judgment is particularly vulnerable to

illusory correlations.
self-confirming diagnosis.
overconfidence bred by hindsight.
all of these are vulnerabilities.

3.  Following the suicide of someone we care about, feelings of guilt are often magnified by

hindsight bias.
illusory thinking.
confirmation bias.
the fundamental attribution error.

4.  Researchers found that interviewers often test for a trait by

asking those being tested for a general self-evaluation.
looking for information that will contradict it.
looking for information that will confirm it.
doing all of the above.

5.  Research suggests that the prediction of someone’s future academic success is best when the prediction is based on

statistics.
letters of recommendation.
the judgments of trained admissions officers.
statistics plus the judgments of trained admissions officers.

6.  Robyn Dawes suggests that clinicians & interviewers express more confidence in their intuitive assessments than in statistical data because of

cognitive conceit.
the fundamental attribution error.
unreliability in statistical predictions.
the lack of validity in standardized tests.

7.  An important implication of the research on illusory thinking is that

conventional wisdom is almost always wrong.
intuition really has no legitimate place in doing science.
research psychologists must test their preconceptions before presenting them as truth.
the scientific method is the only legitimate way to answer significant human questions.

8.  Clinical intuition as a diagnostic & predictive tool is often

ignored.
overestimated.
underestimated.
equated to science.

9.  Science always involves an interplay between ________ & rigorous test.

intuition.
skepticism.
agnosticism.
the scientific method.

10.  Which bias occurs when we selectively notice or focus upon evidence which tends to support the things we already believe or want to be true while ignoring that evidence which would serve to disconfirm those beliefs or ideas? This bias plays a stronger role when it comes to those beliefs which are based upon prejudice, faith, or tradition rather than on empirical evidence.”

hindsight bias
self-serving bias
confirmation bias
fundamental attribution bias

11.  Clinical judgments can also be considered

illusory.
peripheral.
social judgments
wrong judgments

12.  When a "patient" presents with depression, powerlessness, shame, & feelings of unworthiness some therapists argue that "people who have been abused have those symptoms, so you were probably abused.* This

is insightful.
illustrates hindsight bias.
is motivated by illusory correlations.
is motivated by conformation-seeking bias.

13.  Which of the following is not a problem for clinicians?

Hindsight bias
Illusory correlations
Self-confirming bias
Underestimating their intuition

14.  Self-Confirming Diagnoses are a. k. a.

•  Conformation Bias.
 •  Confirmation Bias.
  •  Conformation Bias &/or Confirmation Bias
   •  Hindsight Bias

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Social Psychology Robert C. Gates