Friday, July 20, 2007

Thinking For Yourself Chapter1-12 Exercise

Ch12 Exercise P.348
Deductive Reasoning: How Do I Reason from premises?
Deduction:an amount or percentage deducted; something that is inferred deduced or entailed or implied; reasoning from the general to the particular (or from cause to effect); subtraction: the act of subtracting (removing a part from the whole); discount: the act of reducing the selling price of merchandise.
Deductive logic:Deductive reasoning is the kind of reasoning in which the conclusion is necessitated by, or reached from, previously known facts (the premises). If the premises are true, the conclusion must be true. This is distinguished from abductive and inductive reasoning, where the premises may predict a high probability of the conclusion, but do not ensure that the conclusion is true.
Reasoning: is the mental (cognitive) process of looking for reasons to support beliefs, conclusions, actions or feelings.

Ch11 Exercise P.303
Inductive Reasoning and Inductive Fallacies: How Do I Reason from Evidence?
1.Induction:Is an argument the truth of whose premises would not serve to guarantee the truth of its conclusion, yet would provide some evidence for it. Sometimes said to be "inductively but not deductively valid". 2.Reasoning:Is the act of using reason to derive a conclusion from certain premises. There are two main methods to reach a conclusion. One is deductive reasoning, in which given true premises, the conclusion must follow (the conclusion cannot be false). This sort of reasoning is non-ampliative - it does not increase one's knowledge base, since the conclusion is self-contained in the premises. A classical example of deductive reasoning are syllogism.
3.Empirical: Refers to that which is based on observation or experience rather than on theory.
4.Scientive methos: Is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena and acquiring new knowledge, as well as for correcting and integrating previous knowledge. It is based on gathering observable, empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning, the collection of data through observation and experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.
5.Inductive reasoning:A type of type of mathematical reasoning which involves observing patterns and using those observations to make generalizations.

Ch10 Class Discussion P.294
Fallacies: What's a Faulty Argument?
1. (1)TV can't be harnful to children, (2)because it occupies their attention for hours and keep them off the streets. (take from S. Morris Engel's With Good Reason, St. Martin's Press, 1982)
2. (1)Those who are so ferociously involved in Mothers Against Drunk Driving would (2)better spend their time in working with A.A. to help alcoholics.
3.Why are you always nagging at me(2)abount the way I drive(1)?
4. (1)Person A:I oppose school voucher programs because they undermine the public school system and give subsidies to rich families who can already afford to send their children to private schools. (2)Person B: I am not going to engage in class warfare. The real issue here is opportunity.

Ch9 ExerciseP.259
Argument: What is Deductive Reasoning?
1. Student who want well-paying careers upon graduation should (R)train themselves to be computer programmers. (C)Most cities are full of advertisements for computer programmers.
2. By the study of different religions (R)we find that in essence they are one. All are concerned with revelations or breakthrough experiences that can (C)redirect lives and empower them toward good.
3. (R)I am not pro-abortion at all. I think that people nowadays use abortion as an essay from of borth control. (C)It's also against my religion.
4. (R)Guns kill people; that's why handguns should be banned.(C)
5. (R)Deep fat frying can ggreatly increase the calories of foods such as fish, chicken, and potatoes. Therefore, (C)it is better to bake, boil, or steam foods.
6. " It is important that (R)individual citizens equip themselves with a baloney detection kit to determine whether politiciand, scientists, or religious leaders are lying-it's an important part of becoming a citizen of the world."(C)
7. (R)America should put a freeze on immigration. Its first duty is to take better care of its own disadvantaged, poor, and unemployed.(C)
8. (R)America boasts about its wealth and prosperity as the world's most competitive economy. Yet its citizens are told there is not enough money for health care, environmental protection, for parks, safety nets for the poor and elderly, or public funding for the arts(C). Isn't there something wrong with this picture?
9. (R)"If nothing happened, if nothing changed, time would stop. For time is nothing but change. It is change that we perceive occurring all around us, not time. In fact, time doesn't exist."(C)
10. (R)I don't know drink because alchohol gives me a brief high followed by a longer depression.(C)

Ch8 Discovery ExercisesP.220
Viewpoints: What's the Filter?
Viewpoint-The position of the camera in relation to the subject.
Point of view-the perspective from which a story is told.
Attitude-a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways.
Bias-influence in an unfair way, a partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation.
Perspective-Perspective may mean: Literally, in visual topics:
Perspective (visual), is the way in which objects appear to the eye. Perspective (graphical), means to represent the effects of visual perspective in drawings.
Frame of reference-A frame of reference is a particular perspective from which the universe is observed. Specifically, in physics, it refers to a provided set of axes from which an observer can measure the position and motion of all points in a system, as well as the orientation of objects in it.
Opinion-a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty.

Ch7 Discovery ExercisesP.196
Evaluations: What's Judged?
Judge-determine the result of (a competition), a public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court of justice Appraise-To estimate the value of real estate.
Estimate-an approximate calculation of quantity or degree or worth; "an estimate of what it would cost"; "a rough idea how long it would take". Value-a numerical quantity measured or assigned or computed; the quality (positive or negative) that renders something desirable or valuable.
Evaluate-In this final stage of multimedia development, the focus is on evaluating the presentationĂ­s effectiveness in light of its purpose and the assessment context.

Ch6 Chapter QuizP.190
Opinions: What's Believed?
1.T,Expert opinion calculates the risk involved in spacing the gap between the known and the unknown for a particular situation.
2.F,Giving advice is not a way of offering an opinion.
3.F, The result of public opinion polls are equivalent to votes in elections.
4.T, Opinions in the forms of judgments state what is right and wrong, bed and good.
5.T, Some opinion are based on generalizations, such as streotypes, as in the statement " All Chinese look alike."
6.F, Responsible opinions are based on a careful examination of the evidence.
7.F, opinion are the samr as facts.
8.T, Gossip is opinion sharing without any requirement for substantiation.
9.F, Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion because all opinion carry equal value.
10.T, Prevailing sentiment refers to popular opinion that changes with the times.

Ch5 Discovery ExercisesP149
Assumptions: What's Taken for Granted?
Assumptions-premise: a statement that is assumed to be true and from which a conclusion can be drawn; "on the assumption that he has been injured we can infer that he will not to play"; a hypothesis that is taken for granted; "any society is built upon certain assumptions" the act of taking possession of or power over something; "his assumption of office coincided with the trouble in Cuba"; "the Nazi assumption of power in 1934"; "he acquired all the company's assets for ten million dollars and the assumption of the company's debts"

Ch4 Discovery ExerciseP.108
Inferences: What Follows?
Reasoning-Reasoning is the act of using reason to derive a conclusion from certain premises. There are two main methods to reach a conclusion. One is deductive reasoning, in which given true premises, the conclusion must follow (the conclusion cannot be false). This sort of reasoning is non-ampliative - it does not increase one's knowledge base, since the conclusion is self-contained in the premises. A classical example of deductive reasoning are syllogism.
Conclusion-decision: a position or opinion or judgment reached after consideration; "a decision unfavorable to the opposition"; "his conclusion took the evidence into account"; "satisfied with the panel's determination"; an intuitive assumption; "jump to a conclusion".
Guess-think: expect, believe, or suppose; put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation.
Explanation-a statement that makes something comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances etc.
Imagine-form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case.
Infer-deduce: reason by deduction; establish by deduction.
Inference-the reasoning involved in drawing a conclusion or making a logical judgment on the basis of circumstantial evidence and prior conclusions rather than on the basis of direct observation.
Interpret-make sense of; assign a meaning to; "What message do you see in this letter?"; "How do you interpret his behavior?"

Ch3 Discovery ExercisesP75
Facts: What Real?
Know-be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about; know how to do or perform something.
Certain-certain(a): definite but not specified or identified;
certain(p): having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty;
certain(p): established beyond doubt or question; definitely known.Verified-corroborated: supported or established by evidence or proof.
Existence-being: the state or fact of existing; is an ontological topic par excellence.
Real-being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory.
Fact-a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred.

Ch2 Discovery ExercisesP.46
Word Precision: How Do I describe It?
1.F, Dictioneries are like phone books; basically, they all offer the same information.
2.F, If a dictionary is named Webster's, that means it is one of the best.
3.F, Exports who decide how we should speak English write dictionaries.
4.F, Small, pocket dictionaries are the best kind to use for in-depth word study because they eliminate unnecessary, confusing information and make understanding easier.
5.F, Since a dictionary can confuse us with so many definitions for any single word, it is better to try to figure out a word's meaning from its context or ase someone else.
6.F, Dictionaries are like cookbooks; a family needs to buy only one for the family's lifetime.
7.F, Dictionaries gives us information about spelling and definitions, but that is about all they offer.

Ch1 Chapter QuizP38
Observation Skills: What's out There?
1.F, Obervation skills are learned mainly through book learning. Support for Answers. On the contrary, observation is learned from participation, which is more active and spontaneous than reading. Samuel Scudder learned observing through the active coaching of his teacher Agassiz ab well as from his own efforts, curiosity, and persistence in studying his fish.
2.T, The standard academic study of all the physical sciences requires observation skills, whether in the field or laboratory.
3.T, In thinking, the correctness of our conclusions usually depends on the clarity of our perceptions.
4.T, Observation skills can be extended to observing how you observe.
5.T, An insight is an experience of understanding that can occur spontaneously after we observe something intently for a while. One illustration of this experience is the story of Archimedes, who, while in his bath, discovered the means of measuring the value of an irregular solid by the displacement of water.
6.F, Agassize was simply too busy to give his student all the assistance he needed.
7.T, Perception and sensation are synonyms
8.T, It is difficult to feel sensation and to think at the same time. If we want to feel whether a pair of new shoes fits properly, we have to pay attention.
9.T, Assimilation, according to Piaget, is an experience of easily understanding something that readily fits into our preexisting schemes or world view.
10. F, The word thinking, according to the dictionary, has only one meaning.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch14-Summary & Map


Evaluating Internet sources is particularly difficult because anyone can put up anything he or she wants to on the Internet. Be sure to document what you find on the Internet in such a way that others can locate what you found. This is most easily done when you accessed the data. Include the date you accessed the material since it can be changed or updated later on. Be sure to browse around on the Web site to be sure you know who the author is, what the sponsoring organization is, and so on so that you can cite the source fully and so that you can evaluate it properly before including it in your paper.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch13-Summary & Map


Critical reading is actually a two-step process: reading for understanding and analyzing what you have read. When you are asked to evaluate a piece of writing, you must first be sure that you clearly understand what you have read. Knowledge level of thinking includes common terms, specific facts, basic concepts, and principles.Comprehension level of thinking includes explain, infer, summarize, predict, and rewrite.Application level of thinking includes change, modify, apply, and use.Analysis level of thinking includes outline, classify, infer, and defferentiate.Synthesis level of thinking includes write, design, create, tell, and compose.Evaluation level of thinking includes support, judge, conclude, and jusitfy.

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch12-Summary & Map


Argument is a series of statements arranged in a logical sequence, supported with sound evidence, and expressed powerfully so as to sway your reader or listener.Arguments always have the structure of at least one reason and one conclusion. An argument is a reason or chain of reasons used to support a cliam. To use argumentationwell, you need to know how to draw logical conclusions from sound evidence.

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch11-Summary & Map


Authors often use visual aids to help reader to understand the more information they are reading.Types of visual aids include outlines, mind maps, time lines, graphs, diagrams, chart and tables.It is really good to draw a map for yourself to shows the main point during the paragraph. Highlight the main idea and points expressed in the visual aids to remind yourself to review the material when preparing for exam.

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch10-Summary & Map


Textbook marking is mark and label reading tool, that helps you distinguish important ideas from less important onces.Students find many effective marking systems, for example, double underline or star the most important points, single underline supporting points.When you have determined the main ideas, highlight them or underline with the pen of your choice.

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch9-Summary & Map


PSR stands for preview, study-read, and review. When you reading assignment, try to get a general idea of what the reading is about. Being by reviewing any question or study guides you have received. Read the introductory and concluding paragraph and look briefly at each page. Always ask questions about the material, that you hope to answer as you read.Keeping you involved and thinking about what is coming up next.

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch8-Summary & Map


In this chapter, authors being able to recognize organizational methods in :listing, analysis, cause/effect,comparison/contrast, definition/example, and sequence.Author organize their lists in a variety of ways: alphabetically, numerically, by order of importance, or by category. Analysis is about classify information, compare objects, trace a process, or explain causes. Cause/effect is something happened, or something that occurred. Comparison/contrast is the similarities or differences between two or more ideas.Definition/example is to identify the topic and main idea of the reading paragraph. Sequence is a list of steps performed as part of a run.

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch7-Summary & Map


Inference is the act or process of drawing a conclusion based solely on what one already knows, and is the process of drawing a conclusion from given evidence. To reach a decision by reasoning.The following strategies will help me to effectively infer meaning:author's reason for writing, comparisons to illustrate their points between writing a telegram and writing in general, identifying an author's tone, recognizing his or her purpose for writing, noting the use of comparisons and implied similarities, picture the person with whom you are having a textbook conversation, and recognize information gaps.And also we need to combine the topic with new information you have learned, identify the topic of the reading material, and most important step is read carefully.

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch6-Summary & Map


In this chapter I learned, what are supporting details, major support details, and minor supporting details. In supporting details, authors use details to illustrate and explain their main ideas.Major support details are provide support for the main idea of a reading.Minor supporting details are intened to clarify and enhance the major supporting details and are not usually considered as important.Create topic headings and indent subtopics, identifying main ideas, note supporting details below main ideas, use signal words to organize your notes, use symbols and abbreviations.

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch5-Summary & Map


Locate an author's main idea is key to understanding your reading. As I read this chapter I can understand the definitions of the terms in main idea, topics, and details.Main idea is the author makes about the topic,and controlling ideas of whole reading.Topics is the most general idea.Detail is a point of information. It is good to show your own ideas by drawing a map.

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch4-Summary & Map


Efficient reading time is limited for each reader,but many readers waste a lot of time on unimportant things. As a result, I often fail to understand the word and the sentence.I don't know how one sentence relates to another, and how the whole text fixes together. I am not reading efficiently. Efficient reading involves enough comprehension with appropriate reading rate. Pointing out the factors that influence reading rate and comprehension, this chapter wrote some suggestions on efficient reading.

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch3-Summary & Map


Memory is the process of storing information, and as in any process, successive steps or stages are essential for it to work.There are three stages in the memory-sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory.Memory is to helps you to recall information, to recover information and previous experiences.

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch2-Summary & Map


Vocabulary includes definition, detail, comparison, contrast and example.Vocabulary is very important to help reader to understand material they are about to read.Increasing vocabulary knowledge is a basic part of the process of education.Reading and listening will help me to know more words and vocabulary will help me succeed in the school, business, and even social situations.

Critical Reading for College and Beyond-Ch1-Summary & Map


Reading is an active process, that includes your thinking,understanding, interpretation, communication, using written language or symbols, and two ways to communication between an author and a reader.Learning journal is to identify what you do understand, to pursuit what you think, and help you to modify your critical reading strategies.Concentration is a skill that can be learned with parience and indomitable.The way to improve your concentration are called concentration blocks. There are two kinds of distracters-internal and external. Internal distracter is comes from inside you, and external distracter iscomes from your environment. Different people learn in the different ways and that is good to know what your own preferred learning style is.

Thinking for yourself Ch12-Summary&Map


The study of deductive reasoning, called logic, shows us how to take such a statement and break down its thought structure; when we can do that, we can begin to see its strength and weaknesses. This chapter will explain the fundamental standards that govern deductive reasoning. It will introduce you to logical basic vocabulary and explain the interplay of deduction and induction in our thinking.

Thinking for yourself Ch11-Summary&Map


Inductive reasoning is used as a method for obtaining information when it would be impossible to examine all the data available, is the process of reasoning in which the premises of an argument are believed to support the conclusion but do not ensure it. An inductive fallacy is a fallacy where induction goes wrong. Induction means that you are trying to find general principles from known facts, it can be done through sensory observation, causal reasoning, and from pattern recognition.

Thinking for yourself Ch10-Summary&Map


Fallacies may crop up in your own thinking, in your opposition's thinking, or in such public arguments,political appeals, and talk shows. Because fallacies may sway an unsuspecting audience, they are dangerously persuasive. By learning to recognize fallacies, you may identify them in opposing arguments and eliminate them from your own qriting.The appeal to an authentic and appropriate authority is not a fallacy, it can provide excellent support for claims.

Thinking for yourself Ch9-Summary&Map


An argument is a series of statements arranged in a logical sequence, support with sound evidence, and expressed powerfully so as to sway your reader or listener. An argument is a reason or chain of reasons used to support a claim. To use argumentation well, you need to know hot to draw logical conclusions from sound evidence. There are two outlines to structuring your arguments: first, present your supporting arguments, then address counterarguments, and conclude with the strongest argument. Second, address the arguments and counterarguments point by point.

Thinking for yourself Ch8-Summary&Map


Viewpoints is monitored, edited, and controlled. A person's viewpoint is the product of many things, including education, experience, cultural background, age and spiritual beliefs. Critical thinking in viewpoints means learning to recogniza viewpoints and how they shape the content of any message.Assumptions, opinions, and evaluations can either be consciously or unconsciously assumed in viewpoints.

Thinking for yourself Ch7-Summary&Map


Evaluations are our values, shapeour ideals, decisions, and judgments.Our minds tend to evaluate situations before we have had the time to look them over is part of premature evaluation. Evaluations are not facts. Factual reports keep the distinction between facts and evaluations clear.Critical thinkers can support their evaluations.Evaluations can be conducted at various points in a project or at the end of a project. Some of the purposes of evaluation include: to improve a project of program, to find out how a program is operating, and to understand why a program does or does not work.

Thinking for yourself Ch6-Summary&Map


Opinion is a person's ideas and thoughts towards something. It is an assessment, judgement or evaluation of something. Opinions can take the form of judgments, advice, generalizations, or sentiments. Each type needs to be evaluated differently. Not all opinions deserve careful cinsideration between responsible and irresponsible opinions.Public opinion polls can be use unfairly to determine public opinion as well as to manipulate it. In an essay, the thesis is a statement of opinion.

Thinking for yourself Ch5-Summary&Map


Assumption is a proposition that is taken for granted, in other words, that is treated for the sake of a given discussion as if it were known to be true.Assumption has different meaning. For example, the new mayor's assumption of office takes place next Monday.He is behavior of assumption made him isolated to the whole class.For understanding assumptions, sumptions can be forgotten inferences.Types of assumptions can be conscious or unconscious, warranted or unwarranted.Conscious assumption also called working assumption, it is intentional strategy used to gain more information.

Thinking for yourself Ch4-Summary&Map


Inference is the process of making assumptions, and drawing conclusions about information when an author's opinion or ideas are not directly stated.Inferences can be used as a strategy in planning and choosing alternatives. Facts and inferences are linked together through generalizations. To fully understand a reading assignment, you need to read the material and generate using inference as a tool.

Thinking for yourself Ch3-Summary&Map


A fact is a proposition that has been asserted to be either True or False, a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred. For example, feelings can be facts. An expression for fact is a true statement in the current world state.The standards traditionally used to determine facts are verifiability, reliability, probability and plausibility.Verifiability means the data can be confirmed by another source.A second standard for determining facts is reliability. Probability, as tested through time and repetition, represents another standard used to determine the reliability of a fact. Plausibility is a fourth standard for facts, meaning they undergo the test of credibility.

Thinking for yourself Ch2-Summary&Map


Word precision includes writing, dictionary, definition, connotations and critical reading.Writing is a process, the use of visual symbols to represent words which act as a code for communication.Dictionary is a list of words with their definitions, gives us information about spelling.Word definition is clear thinking, explanation of the meaning of a word or phrase or symbol, expression depend on clear word understanding, and show us something interesting. Definition includes scientific definition (remain more fixed than other kinds of definition), stipulative definition(based on individual or groups agreements), and personal definition( his or her private life and personality).

Thinking for yourself Ch1-Summary&Map


Observation is the act of making and recording a measurement, watching something and taking note of anything it does.The process of observations are sensing, perceiving, and thinking. Thinking is an active process whereby prople organize their perceptions of the world.Percevive is often used loosely as a synonym for sensing , meaning to receive-per,meaning thoroughly.Sensing occurs through sense organs such as the eye and skin.