CHAPTER 2: REASONING STUDY GUIDE (use with pp.

64- 89 of the Course Companion) ***you can skip the IB Genie poem pp.65-7

1. The first 3 paragraphs on page 64 list some ways in which we reason. Think about your day (or yesterday). Using the terms as a guide, try to write down all the specific ways you used reasoning. For example, if you worked on some math problems for an hour or decided which sandwich to buyperhaps you predicted the surf conditions before you headed out! - Before starting my Cross Country workout yesterday, I observed the temperature outside and took into consideration the length of our run, in order to determine what pace I should keep myself at. 2. Curate an article or video on cognitive computing or cognition in general that appeals to you. Perhaps you want to find something that has to do with the relationship between REASONING and other WAYS OF KNOWING (emotions, sense perception, and language). Post and comment on. Try out this resource: http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/cognition http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/why-music-movesus/201209/background-music-and-cognition - The article above explains that those who have had musical training tend to show enhanced cognitive skills. It was also concluded that those who took a Visio spatial test, (mental imagery and navigation) while background music played, scored relatively the same as those who took the test without background music. This is the case because music is processed in a different area of the brain than Visio spatial stimuli. However when the subjects took a language test, those who took the test listening to background music scored worse than those who took the test without it, because music and language are processed on the same neural pathways.

3. Think of a GENERALIZATION you have made or heard recently (see pg. 68). Can you describe some examples of harmful generalizations? - Harmful generalizations typically have to do with stereotypes. For example if people from a specific ethnic group take place in a lot of crime, some may believe that all people from this ethnicity cant be trusted. Another example of a harmful generalization is if a person owns dogs that are very docile and have never caused harm to anybody. This person may believe that no dog will ever bite, however this is not the case.

4. ***note: be sure you understand the term Implication, (located in the green box on page 70) its part of the TOK essay criteria.

5. Make up your own variables (actual words) for P and Q in the DEDUCTIVE REASONING exercise on page 70. (just try this out so it makes more sense) I tried Swedes and blonde. Using the words peppers and hot 1. An all statement- All peppers are hot -is negated by a statement of the form some peppers are not hot and vice versa. 2. An all statement- Some peppers are hot- is negated by a statement of the form no peppers are hot and vice versa. 3. A some statement- Some peppers are hot- is not negated by another some statement, some peppers are not hot and vice versa. 4. A no statement-No pepper is hot- is negated by a statement of the form some peppers are hot and vice versa.

6. What are the 2 KEY ASSERTIONS of deductive reasoning? What is the MAJOR DISTINCTION between Validity and Truth? - The two key assertions are called premises. There are two premises, minor and major. For example, major- all mammals are warm blooded minor- all brown ponies are mammals conclusion- therefore all brown ponies are warm blooded -validity is the truth we see based on our beliefs, while truth is actual proven facts.

7. Pick up one of your textbooks OR find an article on an online newspaper. Identify its premises and its conclusion. Look for key word hints, such as those located at the top of page 73. Are there any implicit premises (those not stated explicitly but implied)? (***note: premises are sometimes called assumptions) We will exchange in our smaller TOK tribes groups. Is the major premise of the argument true? How could one find out? Is the argument valid? How would you know? Assuming that the minor premise is true , is the conclusion true? How do you know? (see page 74 for help) - http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/08/26/afghanistanpakistan-taliban-peace-talks/2698617/ - The article above is entitled Afghan leader in Pakistan to Discuss Peace Talks. The article makes many assumptions such as that

Pakistan is the key to the peace treaty plan based on their strong connection to the Taliban. It also implies that Pakistans release of Taliban prisoners will jump start the peace process, even though the release of prisoners has been a long standing demand by Kabul, and came too little too late for their approval. The articles conclusion is unclear and leaves the reader asking questions.

8. Construct your OWN deductive argument or SYLLOGISM using the template in the middle of page 73. (remember to go from general to particular) -

9. Construct your OWN FALLACY, or invalid deductive argument, similar to the one on page 74-5.

10. Be sure you understand what COUNTER-ARGUMENTS and COUNTER-CLAIMS are as they are a huge part of the TOK assessments. (***if you ever get a chance, watch Red Eye http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/red-eye/index.html - its full of them). Remember that a strong argument is both VALID and SOUND (see page 76)

11. In your own words, how does INDUCTIVE reasoning differ from deductive reasoning? Can you provide an example of how you personally have used inductive reasoning recently? (see page 76) Deductive reasoning is using general information to move into a more specific conclusion. Inductive reasoning is the opposite, taking specific information and moving up to create a more broad theory. For example using inductive reasoning, I ate mini wheats and an apple for breakfast this morning and got an A on my biology test, therefore, every day that I have mini wheats and an apple for breakfast I will get As on my tests

12. In the last paragraph of page 77, the author states Much of our knowledge about the natural sciences is based on generalizations backed

by repeated observation of phenomena. Can you provide an example of CLASSICAL induction from your own science courses (group 4)? -

13. Try the random percentage experiment discussed in the Statistics area of page 78. Type in 3 different random percentages into Google what do you get? Try to find a statistic with a percentage via Twitter.

14. Find an INFOGRAPHIC that not only offers statistics, but tells the story or offers correlations (see page 79)

15. Provide an example of ANALOGICAL REASONING from your own life. How likely are you to trust your own results, on a scale of 0 to 10? Analogical reasoning is any type of thinking that relies on an analogy(comparison of two objects).

16. ***We might play the Crazy Captains game in class (Hypothetico deductive reasoning)

17. Curate a TED TALK (http://www.ted.com ) that highlights the use of CREATIVE REASONING (pg. 82), post and provide a brief overview. (***you might want to check out TED MED at the top) http://www.ted.com/talks/max_little_a_test_for_parkinson_s_with_a_ph one_call.html

18. Look around your bedroom OR your laptop: In what ways do you classify things? What is the method to your madness? Describe some common classifications in the AOKS (Areas of Knowledge, i.e. all your courses). Can you think of an example where technology or advances in science/ newfound knowledge has changed the classification system?

19. ***We will do more exercises with classification in class.

20. Pages 86-7 discuss the dangers of classification, i.e. racism, stereotypes, and other prejudices. Curate a relatively recent article or video that highlights an instance of one of these issues.

21. What stereotypes, generalizations, or prejudices do you think you have?

22. TRY IT OUT: Take Harvards Race or Gender TEST: http://www.understandingprejudice.org/iat/ OR the Diet and Lifestyle or Race and Advertising TEST at http://www.understandingprejudice.org/drawline/

* follow-up reflection questions on pp.88-89 of your text