Name: __________________________ Date: _____________


1.
We need ________ to help us sift genuine predictions from easy hindsight.


2.
The outcome of social psychology experiments are seen as obvious only when they confirm common sense.


3.
The conclusion to be drawn from research on the hindsight bias is that our common sense is usually
A.
wrong.
B.
wrong after the fact.
C.
right.
D.
right after the fact.


4.
When people learn the outcome of an experiment, that outcome seems ________.


5.
The hindsight bias is conducive to an overestimation of our own ________ ________.


6.
The hindsight bias contributes to the idea that
A.
psychological experiments lack mundane realism.
B.
social psychology is potentially dangerous.
C.
the results of psychological experiments are mere common sense.
D.
psychological experiments lack experimental realism.


7.
The point of the module on the hindsight bias is that common sense is predictably wrong.


8.
Two different groups of people are given two different proverbs—an authentic one or its opposite. When asked to evaluate the truth of the proverb,
A.
the group with the authentic proverb will rate it as more true than the group with the opposite.
B.
both groups will rate their proverb as equally true.
C.
the group with the opposite proverb will rate it as more true than the group with the authentic proverb.
D.
both groups will rate their proverb as not at all true.


9.
Physicians told both a patient's symptoms and cause of death find the diagnosis obvious.


10.
Common sense is usually right ________ the fact.


11.
The hindsight bias refers to people's tendency to
A.
see relationships where none exist.
B.
judge the likelihood of things in terms of their availability in memory.
C.
exaggerate, after learning an outcome, their ability to have foreseen how something turned out.
D.
ignore or underuse base-rate information.


12.
The hindsight bias typically causes students to study diligently for their social psychology exam.


13.
The hindsight bias affects the way we view decision makers, making us more likely to
A.
see their decisions as surprisingly insightful and correct.
B.
blame them for making obviously bad choices.
C.
forgive them for making understandable mistakes in crises.
D.
admire them for handling well those choices we ourselves cannot make.


14.
One problem with common sense is that we invoke it after we know the facts.


15.
Amy reads a research article and feels like it didn't tell her anything she didn't already know. Amy's experience illustrates the
A.
hindsight bias.
B.
foresight bias.
C.
confirmation bias.
D.
correspondence bias.


16.
Two contradictory criticisms faced by social psychology are that its findings are obvious and that
A.
its findings are trivial.
B.
its findings are false.
C.
its findings could be used to manipulate people.
D.
its findings are contradictory.


17.
One criticism of social psychology is that it is dangerous because its findings could be used to ________ people.


18.
When researcher Karl Teigen gave students the actual proverb “fear is stronger than love,” most rated it as true. When he gave others the reverse form, “love is stronger than fear,”
A.
most rated it as false.
B.
most rated it as true.
C.
half as many rated it as true.
D.
only 1 percent rated it as true.


19.
If psychologists were to find that alcohol consumption increases aggression, this discovery would likely seem obvious and unsurprising to college students because
A.
most students have had personal experiences in which alcohol produced aggression.
B.
they have great respect for psychologists.
C.
this finding is consistent with the availability heuristic.
D.
students, like everyone else, have a tendency to exaggerate their ability to have foreseen the outcome of past discoveries.


20.
Jason is unhappily surprised by his low score on the social psychology test. “I really thought I knew this stuff,” he complains. “This should have been an easy A.” Jason is a victim of
A.
the naturalistic fallacy.
B.
demand characteristics.
C.
the instructor's hidden values.
D.
the hindsight bias.


Answer Key

1.
SCIENCE
2. False
3. D
4.
UNSURPRISING
5.
INTELLECTUAL POWERS
6. C
7. False
8. B
9. True
10.
AFTER
11. C
12. False
13. B
14. True
15. A
16. C
17.
MANIPULATE
18. B
19. D
20. D