Phil 125 F13: Exam 2 Study Guide

For the exam:

PART I Fallacies: You should be able to explain the following concepts:

  • What a fallacy is.
  • You should be able to identify the definition of and identify examples of the following fallacies. A list of the names of the fallacies will be provided on the exam.
  1. Inconsistency
  2. Fallacy of Affirming the Consequent
  3. Fallacy of Denying the Antecedent
  4. False Dilemma
  5. Hasty Generalization
  6. Red Herring
  7. Smoke Screen
  8. Ad Hominem
  9. Appeal to Authority
  10. Circular Arguments
  11. Post hoc
  12. Ad Populum
  13. Composition
  14. Division
  15. Appeal to Ignorance
  16. Slippery Slope
  17. Straw Man
  18. Appeal to Emotion
  19. False Analogy
  20. Suppression of Relevant Data
PART II Personal Experience: You should be able to explain the following concepts:
  • You should be able to articulate the problems with perception discussed in class as well as provide an example.
  • You should be able to explain Change Blindness and some of the experiments that demonstrate it.
  • You should be able to explain and give an example of pareidolia.
  • You should be able to explain the difference between a Cold and a Hot Reading, as well as explain the significance of this technique.
  • You should be able to explain the experiments of Elizabeth Loftus that we discussed in class and their relation to the issue of memory.
  • You should be able to explain the Gambler's Fallacy.
  • You should be able to explain the Forer Effect and the experiment that revealed it.
  • You should be able to explain the Wason Selection Task.
  • You should be able to explain the Pygmalion Effect and the experiments that reveal it.
  • You should be able to explain the Milgram Experiments and the conclusions drawn from them.
  • You should be able to explain the Asch experiments and the conclusions drawn from them.
  • You should be able to explain why we are all WEIRD, and why this is a potential problem.
PART III Science: You should be able to explain the following concepts:
  • You should be able to articulate the three Foundational Axioms of Science
  • You should be able to describe and provide examples of the three Methods of Scientific Research
  • You should be able to explain the five criteria that help us decide between competing hypotheses.
  • You should be able to explain the four components of the SEARCH method for evaluating claims.
PART IV: Lastly, you should be prepared to write a short essay in which you explain and evaluate Hume's Maxim.
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