Know Thyself – The Value and Limits of Self-Knowledge: The Examined Life Quiz Answers

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Week 1: Know Thyself – The Value and Limits of Self-Knowledge: The Examined Life Quiz Answers

Quiz 1: Initial thoughts: Your unconscious

Q1. What are your initial ideas about your unconscious mind? Do you think that you have thoughts or emotions that you are not aware of? If so, what reason could you give for thinking they are real? Also, think of all the pop-culture terms that refer to some allegedly unconscious phenomena, such as ‘anal’, ‘neurotic’, ‘passive-aggressive’, and ‘Freudian slip’. Do you think these terms refer to anything real, or are they just contemporary society’s version of mythology?

Please jot down your thoughts (on a digital device of your own, or a sheet of paper) for later reference.

What do you think?
Your answer cannot be more than 10000 characters.;

Quiz 2: Practice Quiz #1

Q1. Professor Green notes that at one point, Sigmund Freud tells his readers that the only
way to test the claims of psychoanalysis is to see whether they apply to
oneself. This is a problematic methodology because:

• It is too easy to come up with answers to questions in ways that are affected by
  your expectations.
• The methodology does not involve controlled trials.
• The methodology does not involve random sampling.
• All of the above.

Q2. In seeking an explanation of a phenomenon that we find puzzling, the principle of
Inference to the Best Explanation counsels us to

• Adopt that theory that most directly, simply and
  effectively accounts for a phenomenon.
• Adopt that theory which we find most personally satisfying.
• Adopt that theory which seems most surprising.
• Adopt that theory that which is most widely accepted.;

Q3. Freud’s ideas seem to fall somewhere in between

• mythology
  and science
• science
  and astrology
• literature
  and scripture
• science and literature

Q4. To say that there is an unconscious phenomenon occurring within somebody carries the implication
that

• it is not possible for her to know about it.
• it is either a cognitive, affective, or
  experiential event.
• that it will result in a psychological disorder.
• that she is in need of extensive psychoanalysis.;

Quiz 3: Creating civilisation a new

Q1. Freud said that in a sense, civilisation is re-created every time a child is raised. Can you offer an example from your own experience in which this process seems to have occurred? This might be a situation where you, as a child, had to learn to control some of your ‘uncivilised’ attitudes, actions or desires, or perhaps as a parent you had to teach this to your own child.

Feel free to go into as much detail as you wish – your answer will not be shared with the other learners or the lecturers. Reflecting on this issue will help you better apply Freud’s ideas and the concept of the unconscious in general to your own life.

What do you think?
Your answer cannot be more than 10000 characters.;

Quiz 4: Module 1 Quiz

Q1. Rene Descartes and Sigmund Freud were both interested in dreams. Which statement best describes their respective interests in this topic?

• Both Descartes and Freud were concerned with how dreams might cause us to be deceived.
• Descartes was interested in how dreams might cause us to be deceived, while Freud was interested in how dreams might be sources of insight into our unconscious minds.
• Descartes was interested in how dreams might be sources of insight into our unconscious minds, while Freud was interested in how dreams might cause us to be deceived.
• Both Descartes and Freud were interested in how dreams might be sources of insight into our unconscious minds.

Q2. Inference to the Best Explanation is most accurately described as

• a form of reasoning in which we deduce that every event that has an explanation has a purely physical explanation.
• a form of reasoning in which we infer from the fact that event B occurred immediately after event A, to the conclusion that event A caused event B.
• a commitment to not multiplying entities beyond necessity.
• a form of reasoning on the basis of which we accept a theory that most completely and parsimoniously explains a range of observable phenomena.;

Q3. We may understand the unconscious as containing two sub-categories. How are these sub-categories best described?

• Pre-conscious and subconscious, where items in the pre-conscious are accessible to introspection and where items in the subconscious are not.
• Pre-conscious and subconscious, where items in the pre-conscious are not accessible to introspection and where items in the subconscious are.
• Latent content and manifest content, where latent content is not accessible to introspection while manifest content is so accessible.
• Latent content and manifest content, where latent content is accessible to introspection while manifest content is not.

Q4. Freud’s dictum that civilization is constantly being created anew is his way of suggesting that

• Civilization continually improves and becomes more refined as history progresses.
• Great artists such as Shakespeare and Mozart are always needed to keep civilization vital.
• Each new member of civilization needs to have his or her urges reined in by the internalization of social norms.
• Each new generation needs to define itself against all the precedents that have come before it.

Q5. Dreamwork, according to Freud,

• is the unconscious process by which latent content is transformed into manifest content.
• is the unconscious process by which manifest content is transformed into latent content.
• is the process by which unconscious desires are transformed into socially acceptable forms of behavior.
• is the process that we engage in as we try to understand the latent content that produces dreams.;

Week 2: Know Thyself – The Value and Limits of Self-Knowledge: The Examined Life Quiz Answers

Quiz 1: Initial thoughts: “In denial”

Q1. You’ve probably someone described as being “in denial”. In contemporary psychology, this term is generally used to refer to the process of blotting out some aspect of reality that is troubling or in some other respect difficult to accept. But why would someone engage in such apparently irrational behavior? Please write down your thoughts as you try to answer this question, and save them for later.

What do you think?
Your answer cannot be more than 10000 characters.;

Quiz 2: Practice Quiz 1

Q1. According to psychoanalytic theory, a defense mechanism is

• a coping strategy that our unconscious minds use for reconciling our impulses with actual or perceived social pressures.
• a negative reaction on the part of a psychotherapy patient to being told about unconscious desires that she or he finds disturbing.
• a belief system that it is very difficult to undermine or challenge with evidence.

Q2. One way to characterize the difference between reaction-formation and resistance is

• that resistance is much more intense than reaction-formation.
• that reaction-formation is always at the conscious level, while resistance is always unconscious.
• that resistance tends to be more short-term, while reaction-formation tends to be longer-term.
• That reaction-formation only occurs with people hiding homosexual tendencies, while resistance occurs with a wider scope.;

Quiz 3: Practice Quiz 2

Q1. Melanie Klein hypothesized that by observing children in play (choose all that apply)

• one will be unable to learn as much about a child as one would in talk therapy.
• one may observe children using objects as “stand-ins” for caregivers in their lives.
• one may learn things about children’s minds that they be unable to articulate verbally.

Q2. According to Klein, a child who reaches the “depressive position”

• requires clinical intervention in order to combat that depression.
• has come to appreciate that a single caregiver can possess both positive and negative characteristics.
• has a troubled relationship with one or more of their caregivers.;

Quiz 4: Witnessing defence mechanisms

Q1. Have you been witness to a case of introjecting, projecting, or gaslighting?

What do you think?
Your answer cannot be more than 10000 characters.;

Quiz 5: Module 2 Quiz

Q1. Researchers investigating the relation between homophobia and homosexual arousal found that

• there is some correlation between the two phenomena.
• there is no correlation between the two phenomena.
• any correlation between the two phenomena can be explained by a third factor known as a “common cause”.
• the plethysmograph is an unreliable means for detecting sexual arousal in men.

Q2. According to psychoanalysis, one reason people engage in introjection is

• to gain power over the person whose traits are introjected.
• to repress unpleasant emotions that the introjected material will cover up.
• to forge or strengthen a tie with another, most commonly an important figure in one’s life such as a caregiver.

Q3. Projective identification cannot be done alone. Why?

• Because the person who is the target of the projection must introject the projected characteristics.
• Because it is a process that can only be carried out in an advanced society.
• Because it is only possible to project feelings onto a psychotherapist.

Q4. Why do feminist philosophers take an interest in gaslighting?

• Because gaslighting is associated with the “depressive position” as hypothesized by Klein.
• Because gaslighting may be a means by which women are coerced without their realizing it consciously.
• Because gaslighting is a special case of projective identification.

Q5. Transference differs from projection in that

• transference involves socially unacceptable emotions whereas projection does not.
• projection, unlike transference, only occurs in a therapeutic setting.
• transference involves redirecting one’s feelings toward one person onto another, while projection involves redirecting feelings within oneself onto another.;

Week 3: Know Thyself – The Value and Limits of Self-Knowledge: The Examined Life Quiz Answers

Quiz 1: Initial Thoughts

Q1. Have you ever seen a video of yourself speaking? If so, you know that the experience can be disconcerting. In addition to all the “uhm’s” and “likes” you pepper your speech with you may find a lot of mannerisms that you were not even aware of! These are examples of automatic behaviors of which most of us are unaware, and that show themselves dramatically when we’re speaking to a camera and in face-to-face conversation.

Try to make yourself a “fly on the wall” to see if you engage in such behaviors, and make a note of them. Can you make some of them stop? Why or why not?

What do you think?
Your answer cannot be more than 10000 characters.

Quiz 2: Practice Quiz #1

Q1. The example of Ian Waterman is used to illustrate what idea?

• That neurological disorders can be devastating.
• That most of us are able most of the time to effortlessly and unconsciously monitor the positions of our limbs and other body parts.
• That proprioception takes of a great deal of conscious awareness.

Q2. Examples of automatic, unconscious processing include (select all that apply):

• The semantics of language, in which we discern the literal meaning of a phrase or sentence.
• The pragmatics of language, in which we deduce from what someone says, a further conclusion about something else they mean.
• The interpretation of facial expressions.;

Quiz 3: Your personal spin doctor

Q1. Have you been witness to somebody’s unconscious ‘spin-doctoring’ in which they present themselves as better (prettier, smarter, richer, more successful, etc.) than they are, or refuse to accept failure, but seem to do all this unconsciously? Perhaps a friend, or maybe a celebrity?

Think how their actions would fit in their ‘psychological immune system’ which we just discussed. What were the stories their brains spin-doctored to defend them?

What do you think?
Your answer cannot be more than 10000 characters.

Q2. Time to turn a critical onto yourself. Can you think of a situation where you might have been doing a bit of spinning yourself? Note that this might have well been completely unconscious – perhaps you only realised you were doing it after the fact, maybe somebody had to point it out to you.

Whatever you write here won’t be shared with the other learners or with the lecturers. We hope that this exercise will help you gain better self-knowledge!

What do you think?
Your answer cannot be more than 10000 characters.;

Quiz 4: Practice Quiz #2

Q1. In the novel Jane Eyre, Jane’s former caregiver Mrs. Reed refuses to admit that Jane might not be such a bad person as she had long thought. This refusal appears to be an example of what phenomenon?

• The psychological immune system.
• Implicit bias.
• Reaction-formation.

Q2. Somebody who “humblebrags”

• brags a lot, but only among her friends.
• says something that has the superficial appearance of a complaint, but which also gives them a chance to show off something enviable about themselves such as looks, wealth, or social status.
• brags about how modest they are.;

Quiz 5: Module 3 Quiz

Q1. The “adaptive unconscious” is adaptive because

• it makes us perfectly suited for our environments.
• it aids our survival by “outsourcing” various processes that would otherwise require the expenditure of a great deal of conscious attention.
• it divides into separate modules.

Q2. In one experiment meant to test the power of the adaptive unconscious, subjects were subliminally primed with emotionally charged words. Researchers found that

• the subliminal priming had no effect on subjects’ subsequent behavior.
• the subliminal priming did not remain subliminal, but rather became part of conscious awareness.
• the subliminal priming did have an effect on how subjects interpreted descriptions of socially ambiguous situations.

Q3. What is the psychological immune system?

• It is that part of the brain that protects it from germs.
• It is that system by means of which we interpret negative or ambiguous information in a more positive light in order to protect our self-esteem.
• It is the same as humblebragging.
• It is the part of the mind that keeps our proprioception working properly.

Q4. If someone harbors implicit bias,

• then they hold prejudices against certain groups (racial, gender, etc.) at the subconscious level.
• then they hold prejudices against certain groups (racial, gender, etc.) at the pre-conscious level.
• then they hold prejudices against certain groups (racial, gender, etc.) without telling others.

Q5. The pervasive tendency toward durability bias seems to help account for

• People’s tendency to think that winning the lottery will produce happiness and fulfillment for the rest of their lives
• People’s tendency to “spin” negative information in a more positive light.
• People’s tendency to change their minds only very slowly.;

Week 4: Know Thyself – The Value and Limits of Self-Knowledge: The Examined Life Quiz Answers

Quiz 1: Initial Thoughts

Q1. Our discussion of the adaptive unconscious last week shed some light on how we make everyday decisions. However, some decisions cannot be made by letting “automatic” processes take their course. In such cases we must exert conscious effort in sorting through options as we aim at the most reasonable course of action. Is it ever okay in such situations to follow your gut instincts? Try to answer this question for yourself, and see if you can formulate reasons for giving the answer that you do.

What do you think?
Your answer cannot be more than 10000 characters.

Quiz 2: Practice Quiz #1

Q1. Whereas theoretical rationality is concerned with the question, What is the case?, practical rationality

• is concerned with the question, What is the moral thing to do?
• is concerned with the question, What is the best way to gain information about the world?
• is concerned with the question, What is the most prudent course of action?

Q2. Subsequent to the tragic accident of a steel rod piercing his cranium, Phineas Gage

• continued to live, but lost the power of speech.
• continued to live, but lost all memories.
• continued to live, but lost the power to regulate his life in ways that were prudent.;

Quiz 3: Practice Quiz 2

Q1. One characteristic of basic or primary emotions is

• that they only occur in early childhood.
• that they are very powerful.
• they occur universally across human cultures both in the past and present.

Q2. To say that an item of experience is somatically marked, is to say that

• it has an emotional aspect that is an integral part of the experience itself.
• it fills us with elation or bliss just by thinking about it.
• it allows us to empathize with Phineas Gage and the difficulties he had with acting prudently.;

Quiz 4: A SEUT just for you

Q1. See if you can make a SEUT analysis of something you are contemplating doing, such as making a new purchase, going on a vacation, or accepting a new job.

In doing so, make sure you identify the relevant somatic markers and how they affect the values your put in various cells in your outcome space.

What do you think?
Your answer cannot be more than 10000 characters.

Quiz 5: Module 4 Quiz

Q1. Damasio suggest that Phineas Gage and the patient he calls Elliott are similar in that

• both have severe deficits in theoretical rationality.
• both are irascible and rude to others.
• both have severe defects in practical rationality.

Q2. The so-called “basic emotions” may be characterized as

• emotions that all “neurotypical” humans experience at some time or another, regardless of their race, culture, or geographical location. Each such emotion has characteristic causes, physiological markers, behavioral signatures, and facial expression.
• that set of emotions that we experience in early childhood.

Q3. We have seen there are (at least) two different types of smile, the Duchenne and the social smile. The Duchenne smile

• requires the activation of both the zygomatic major and obicularis oculi muscles.
• requires the activation of only the zygomatic major muscle.
• requires the activation of the obicularis oculi muscle.;

Q4. Damasio hypothesizes that one characteristic of what he
calls “sick” cultures (in which groups of people are systematically persecuted
on the basis of their race, sexual orientation, gender, tribal affiliation,
religion, etc,)

• is that their most powerful members lose their capacity
  for emotion.
• is the pervasive breakdown of theoretical rationality in
  such cultures.
• is
  the disintegration of normal somatic markers as they are directed upon members
  of persecuted groups.
• is the breakdown of processes of sublimation in which
  repressed desires are released through cathartic behaviors.

Q5. In what way are somatic markers relevant to self-knowledge?

• They are relevant because they show that it is easy to be deceived about the causal efficacy of conscious will.
• They are relevant because by introspecting on one’s somatic markers, one can learn about one’s subconscious mind.
• They are relevant because they show that by attending to one’s response to external objects (including memories and future contingencies), one can learn about one’s emotions.;

Q6. Does Subjective Expected Utility Theory (SEUT) require that for a person to act rationally, they must engage in an explicit calculation with a decision matrix listing the available acts, relevant states of the world, and outcomes of those acts depending on what state the world turns out to be in?

• No, because one can maximize SEU without doing an explicit calculation.
• Yes it does, since otherwise one is apt to act irrationally.
• No, and it is always irrational to do such a calculation since it will take too long.

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