TOK Unit 4 Quiz 1

Naïve theories are the result of:

• Systematic research
• Personal experiences
• Biases in decision-making
• Lack of education

The problem of telling the difference between science and non-science is known as:

• Pseudo-science
• Verification
• Demarcation
• Falsifiability

The logical fallacy “affirming the consequent” is reasoning of the following form: (1) If p then q; (2) q; (3) Hence, p. This fallacy is characteristic of the following demarcation criterion:

• Falsification
• Verification
• Consensus
• Coherence

According to Karl Popper, the defining characteristic of scientific knowledge is its:

• Falsifiability
• Progress
• Confirmation bias
• Empirical support

According to Thomas Kuhn, scientific progress is defined by the ability of new theories to solve more …. that old theories were not able to solve.

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Which of these problems suggest that falsifiability cannot be used as the only scientific principle (tick all that apply)?

• Theory-laden facts (every observable fact already contains an element of theory in it)
• Confirmation bias (scientists have a tendency to look for supporting evidence and downplay contradicting evidence)
• Underdetermination of theory by evidence (usually more than one theory fits the available data equally well)
• Insufficiency of evidence (supporting evidence can be found even for the most absurd beliefs)

The idea that observational facts are inevitably theory-laden suggests that (tick all that apply):

• Observation alone cannot be used to support or refute a theory
• In addition to empirical evidence, there must be some other criterion of choosing between rival theories
• Observation based on a false theory may end up refuting a true theory
• If a theory is inconsistent with facts, it is not necessarily false

This concept suggests that one false theory can be closer to the truth than another false theory, and so it is possible to claim that in a chain of false theories replacing each other there is progress that is bringing us closer to the truth:

• Incommensurability
• Falsifiability
• Verisimilitude
• Verificationism

At any given point, there are views scientists have agreed upon. They are not conducting tests in these areas and not trying to falsify them. What is such a system of agreed-upon views called?

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The idea that theories cannot be directly compared because they categorize the world differently:

• Incommensurability
• Inconsistency
• Incompleteness
• Incomparability