Chapter 9 Practice Quiz

. Inference to the best explanation ________

never goes beyond the given evidence.

provides necessary conclusions.

reasons from a fact about a state of affairs to an explanation of that fact.

can conclusively separate strong conclusions from weak conclusions.

. According to the criteria of adequacy, the assessment of a theory is complete only if ________

alternative or competing theories have been considered.

the truth of the candidate for the best explanation has been confirmed.

inconsistencies in the theory have been acknowledged.

a conclusion has been adequately proven or disproven.

. A theory that makes assumptions regarding the existence of an "unknown force" in order to explain a phenomenon ________

fails to satisfy the criterion of internal consistency.

is testable.

has a very broad scope.

fails to satisfy the criterion of simplicity.

. A fruitful theory ________

is testable and successfully predicts known phenomena.

is not necessarily testable, but sometimes predicts previously unknown phenomena.

is testable and successfully predicts previously unknown phenomena.

is not testable and cannot predict previously unknown phenomena.

. A theory that cannot be verified independently of the phenomena it is trying to explain is ________

a theory that fails the criterion of conservatism.

an unfruitful theory.

an ad hoc thesis.

a strong theory.

. A theory satisfies the criterion of conservatism if and only if ________

it is coherent with our established beliefs.

it reflects free market economic ideals.

it is consistent with the traditional beliefs of the dominant cultural group.

it does not support radical political movements.

. A theory that is free of contradictions is called ________

abductive.

externally consistent.

internally consistent.

conservative.

. The standards used to judge the worth of explanatory theories are called ________

minimum requirements.

criteria of adequacy.

testability.

scrutiny.

. A four-step theory for evaluating the worth of a theory is called ________

the TEST formula.

the OTE process.

abduction.

criteria of adequacy.

. Abduction is sometimes referred to as ________

consistency.

guesswork.

observation.

conservatism.

. A fruitful theory makes novel predictions.

True

False

. If there is no possibility of discovering evidence that could prove a theory incorrect, then that theory is an excellent theory.

True

False

. All other things being equal, a theory that meets the criterion of conservatism is better than an alternative theory because a conservative theory makes fewer assumptions.

True

False

. The simplest theory is one that makes the fewest assumptions.

True

False

. If a theory fully accounts for all available data, then it is said to be externally consistent.

True

False

. A theory that explains more phenomena than an alternate theory is preferable, other things being equal.

True

False

. A theory which is internally consistent is by definition externally consistent.

True

False

. A theory satisfies the criterion of simplicity to the extent that it makes a number of novel predictions.

True

False

. If there is some way to determine whether a theory is true or false, then it is called "fruitful."

True

False

. A conservative theory fits with our established beliefs.

True

False

. An inference to the best explanation always goes "beyond the evidence"—it tries to explain facts but does so by ________

positing a theory that is derived entirely from those facts.

selecting a theory from a world of facts.

positing a theory that is not derived entirely from those facts.

positing tentative facts.

. If there is some way to determine whether a theory is true or false, it is said to be ________

testable.

transparent.

simple.

fruitful.

. If a theory predicts something other than what it was introduced to explain, it is ________

fruitful.

conservative.

testable.

superfluous.

. A theory that fits with our established beliefs is ________

testable.

conservative.

simple.

fruitful.

. Our established beliefs can never be shown to be false.

True

False

. The best theory is the eligible theory that meets the criteria of adequacy better than any of its competitors.

True

False

. A theoretical explanation is a theory, or hypothesis, that tries to explain ________

how something is done or how an action is carried out.

why something is the way it is, why something is the case, or why something happened.

the purpose of something, how it functions, or how it fits into a plan.

the meaning of terms or states of affairs.

. The criteria of adequacy include ________

testability, scope, and consistency.

testability, complexity, and conservatism.

testability, scope, and ad hoc hypotheses.

testability, scope, and conservatism.

. An ad hoc hypothesis cannot be ________

verified independently of the phenomenon it is supposed to explain.

verified independently in light of alternative theories.

stated in a coherent way.

understood in any way.

. The first step in the TEST formula is ________

check the premises.

state the theory and check for consistency.

scrutinize alternative theories.

assess the evidence for the theory.

. The second step in the TEST formula is ________

check the premises.

assess the evidence for the theory.

state the theory and check for consistency.

scrutinize alternative theories.

. The fourth step in the TEST formula is ________

test the theories with the criteria of adequacy.

state the theory and check for consistency.

scrutinize alternative theories.

assess the evidence for the theory.

. The fact that Einstein's theory could explain everything that Newton's theory could explain plus many phenomena that Newton's theory could not explain is indication of the theory's ________

consistency.

scope.

conservatism.

simplicity.

. The main problem with most conspiracy theories is that they fail the criterion of ________

scope.

plausibility.

acceptability.

simplicity.

. Sherlock Holmes's investigative methods are an example of ________

deduction.

inference to the best explanation.

propositional logic.

categorical logic.

. Charles Darwin offered the theory of evolution by natural selection as the best explanation for a wide variety of natural phenomena.

True

False

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