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Psychology 2e

Critical Thinking Questions

Psychology 2eCritical Thinking Questions

Critical Thinking Questions

17.

How might someone espousing an arousal theory of motivation explain visiting an amusement park?

18.

Schools often use concrete rewards to increase adaptive behaviors. How might this be a disadvantage for students intrinsically motivated to learn? What are educational implications of the potential for concrete rewards to diminish intrinsic motivation for a given task?

19.

The index that is often used to classify people in terms of weight and body fat is called BMI. Given that BMI is calculated solely on weight and height, how could it be misleading?

20.

As indicated in this section, White women from industrialized, Western cultures tend to be at the highest risk for eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Why might this be?

21.

While much research has been conducted on how an individual develops a given sexual orientation, many people question the validity of this research citing that the participants used may not be representative. Why do you think this might be a legitimate concern?

22.

There is no reliable scientific evidence that conversion therapy actually works. What kinds of evidence would you need to see in order to be convinced by someone arguing that they had successfully converted their sexual orientation?

23.

Imagine you find a venomous snake crawling up your leg just after taking a drug that prevented sympathetic nervous system activation. What would the James-Lange theory predict about your experience?

24.

Why can we not make causal claims regarding the relationship between the volume of the hippocampus and PTSD?

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