One Study Found That If Participants Were Told a New

question 48

Multiple Choice

One study found that if participants were told a new fact about robins, they would also believe that the new fact was true of ducks. However, if told a new fact about ducks, participants would not extrapolate this information to robins. This suggests that

• A) participants treat each category member independently (on a case-by-case basis) when applying new beliefs.
• B) participants are willing to make inferences from a typical case within a category to the whole category but not vice versa.
• C) new knowledge about a member of a category is unstable, leading to a change in a person's belief system only on rare occasions.
• D) beliefs within a theory are less likely to affect typical category members than atypical ones.

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Definitions:

Syllogism

An argument involving a sequence of three propositions where the first two serve as the basis for the third, demonstrating a logical relationship.

Mammals

Warm-blooded vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of mammary glands, which females use to nurse their young; also notable for having hair or fur.

Minor Premise

In a categorical syllogism, the premise in which the minor term appears.

Syllogism

A form of reasoning where a conclusion is drawn from two given or assumed premises that share a common term.