Chapter 11: Inferences
Lab Activity 52: Valid Inferences
 
Objective:
To use supporting details to make accurate inferences.

arrow.gifStep 2: Read the following paragraphs from college textbooks, and determine the most logical inference for each selection.


      5.     A procedure called angioplasty (sometimes called balloon angioplasty) is associated with fewer risks and is believed by many experts to be more effective than bypass surgery in selected cardiovascular cases. This procedure is similar to angiography. A needle-thin catheter is threaded through the blocked heart arteries. The catheter has a balloon at the tip, which is inflated to flatten fatty deposits against the artery walls, allowing blood to flow more freely. Angioplasty patients are generally awake but sedated during the procedure and spend only one or two days in the hospital after treatment. Most can return to work within five days. In about 30 percent of all angioplasty patients, the treated arteries become clogged again within six months. Some patients may undergo the procedure as many as three times within a five-year period. Some surgeons argue that given angioplasty's high rate of occurrence, bypass may be a more effective method of treatment.
—Donnatelle, Health, 4th ed., pp. 298–299.
 

 
 
 
 
      6.     Over the years, an emerging pattern of higher risks for cancer among persons who engage (or do not engage) in selected lifestyle variables has captured national attention. In particular, diet, sedentary lifestyle, consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, stress, and other health-related behaviors have provided fertile ground for speculation about risks. Many of the studies supporting these purported risks show associations with lifestyle risks, but they have not been shown conclusively to play a causal role in cancer development.

Likewise, colon and rectal cancer appears to occur more frequently among persons with a high-fat, low-fiber diet; in those who don't eat enough fruits and vegetables; and in those who are inactive; yet we can't say that these behaviors actually will cause cancer. For now, there is compelling evidence that certain actions are clearly associated with a greater than average risk of developing diseases. In any of these situations, apparent increases in risk provide fertile ground for behavior modification.

—Donnatelle, Health, 4th ed., p. 300.
 

 
 
 
 
      7.     In 1610 Galileo had been given the post of lecturer in philosophy at the University of Florence, because up to then his discoveries had not been in direct conflict with church teachings. But with his new findings, he published a letter in which he announced Copernicus had been right all along. Pope Paul V was angered by this public admission and advised Galileo to renounce his belief that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe. The scientist promised to do so, but in 1630 he again defended the Copernican theory in a book, which was immediately banned, and was summoned to appear before the religious authorities. Threatened with excommunication and death, he declared publicly that the earth did not move around the sun and spent the rest of his days as a prisoner, forbidden to write. (A traditional legend is that even as he was denying his former position, he crossed his fingers behind his back and whispered, "Yet it does move!")
—Janaro & Altshuler, The Art of Being Human, 6th ed., p. 52.
 

 
 
 
 
      8.     The founder of classical criminology is the seventeenth-century Italian nobleman and professor of law Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794). Beccaaria published the first book to advocate fundamentally reforming Europe's judicial and penal systems. The book, titled Dei Delitti e della Pene (On Crimes and Punishment), was an impassioned plea to make the criminal justice system rational in the sense that it maximized the probabilities that people would choose not to commit crime.

Beccaria's philosophy contrasted with many common practices in seventeenth-century Europe. For example, the penalties imposed by judges had few restrictions, and appeals were extremely rare. Torture was often used to extract confessions from suspects.

—Ellis & Walsh, Criminology, p. 83.
 

 
 
 
 
      9.     Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who was born the same year as Piaget [1896] but died at the early age of 38, is normally thought of as belonging to the cognitive-development camp, but he placed emphasis somewhat differently. In particular, he was convinced that complex forms of thinking have their origins in social interactions rather than in the child's private explorations. According to Vygotsky, children's learning of new cognitive skills is guided by an adult (or a more skilled child, such as an older sibling), who models and structures the child's learning experience, a process called scaffolding. Such new learning, Vygotsky suggested, is best achieved in what he called the zone of proximal development—that range of tasks that are too hard for the child to do alone but that he can manage with guidance. As the child becomes more skilled, the zone of proximal development steadily shifts upward, including ever-harder tasks.
—Bee, Lifespan Development, 2nd ed., p. 37.
 

 
 
 
 
      10.     When we watch the ways individual families interact with their infants or young children and then follow the children over time to see which ones later have high or low IQs, we can begin to get some sense of the kinds of specific family interactions that foster higher scores. At least five dimensions of family interaction or stimulation seem to make a difference. Families with higher-IQ children tend to do the following:

1. They provide an interesting and complex physical environment for the child, including play materials that are appropriate for the child's age and developmental level.
2. They are emotionally responsive to and involved with their child. They respond warmly and contingently to the child's behavior, smiling when the child smiles, answering the child's questions, and in myriad ways reacting to the child's cues.
3. They talk to their child often, using language that is descriptively rich and accurate. And when they interact with the child, they operate in what Vygotsky referred to as the zone of proximal development, aiming their conversation, their questions, and their assistance at a level that is just above the level the child could manage on her own, thus helping the child to master new skills.
4. They avoid excessive restrictiveness, punitiveness, or control, instead giving the child room to explore, even opportunities to make mistakes.
5. They expect their child to do well and to develop rapidly. They emphasize and press for school achievement.

—Bee, Lifespan Development, 2nd ed., pp. 182–183.
 

 
 
 
 





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