Lab Activity 34: The Definition Pattern

Chapter 7: More Thought Patterns
Lab Activity 34: The Definition Pattern

Objective
To use transitions and the definition pattern to comprehend the details and main idea in a paragraph.

Step 2: Read the passages from different college textbooks, and answer the questions that follow them.

11. Besides basic emotions, humans are capable of a second, higher-order set of feelings, including shame, embarrassment, guilt, envy, and pride. These are called self-conscious emotions because each involves injury to or enhancement of our sense of self. For example, when we are ashamed or embarrassed, we feel negatively about our behavior, and we want to retreat so others will no longer notice our failings. In contrast, pride reflects delight in the self's achievements, and we are inclined to tell others what we have accomplished.

—Berk, Development Through the Lifespan, 3rd ed., p. 179

What is the implied main idea of this paragraph?

a. Humans are capable of a second, higher-order set of feelings called self-conscious emotions.

b. Guilt involves injury to our sense of self.

c. Pride reflects delight in the self's achievements.

d. Envy and embarrassment are things we try to avoid.

12. The example signal words relating illustrations of self-conscious emotions described in this paragraph include all of the following except

a. besides.

b. for example.

c. including.

13. About three generations ago William Ogburn (1922/1938), a functional analyst, coined the term cultural lag. By this, Ogburn meant that not all parts of a culture change at the same pace. When some part of a culture changes, other parts lag behind.
Ogburn points out that a group's material culture usually changes first, with the nonmaterial culture lagging behind, playing a game of catch up. For example, when we get sick, we could type our symptoms into a computer and get an immediate printout of our diagnosis and the best course of treatment. In fact, in some tests, computers outperform physicians. Yet our customs have not caught up with our technology, and we continue to visit the doctor's office.

—Henslin, Essentials of Sociology, 5th ed., p. 50

What is the definition of cultural lag presented in this paragraph?

a. the functional analysts' views of culture

b. the way all parts of a culture change at the same pace

c. the way a group's material culture usually changes first, with the nonmaterial culture lagging behind

d. the way people tend to trust doctors more than other health professionals

14. The example presented to illustrate the definition is

a. how computers are more reliable than professionals.

b. how people prefer old methods and will trust professionals such as doctors, even though a computer diagnosis of their illness might actually be more accurate.

c. how people still prefer face-to-face contact when dealing with health issues.

d. how doctors are reluctant to use computer diagnoses for patient illnesses because they still believe them to be less reliable.

15. It is helpful to be familiar with a term social scientists often use in ecological research. The term is ecological fallacy. It refers to a common tendency to assume that because some statistical relationship exists between two variables when studying individuals that the same relationship will be found when studying groups. In other words, even though crime rates are highest among persons in their teens and twenties, one may not necessarily find unusually high crime rates in populations with the largest proportions of persons in that age range. In fact, we will find in this chapter that there is no clear relationship between neighborhood crime rates and the proportion of adolescents and young adults in those neighborhoods.

—Ellis and Walsh, Criminology, 2000, pp. 142–43.

What is the implied main idea of this paragraph?

a. Ecological fallacy helps social scientists be familiar with terms used in research.

b. There is a clear relationship between neighborhood crime rates and the proportion of adolescents and young adults in those neighborhoods.

c. Social scientists have differing views that negatively impact criminology.

d. Ecological fallacy refers to a common tendency to assume that because some statistical relationship exists between two variables when studying individuals that the same relationship will be found when studying groups.

16. The signal word or phrase that indicates the example of the defined term is

a. In fact.

b. and.

c. even though.

d. in other words.

17. Another aspect of IQ tests that has received considerable research attention is a phenomenon known as intellectual imbalance. This refers to the fact that significant numbers of persons score higher on one of the two main aspects of IQ tests than on the other. Specifically, most studies have shown that those who score significantly higher on the performance (nonverbal) aspects of IQ tests than on the verbal aspects have been found to have an elevated risk of criminal/antisocial behavior.

—Ellis andWalsh, Criminology, 2000, p. 259.

What is being defined in this paragraph?

a. IQ tests

b. research phenomena

c. intellectual imbalance

d. verbal and nonverbal aspects of IQ tests

18. What signal word or phrase introduces the example for the definition presented?

a. research

b. the fact that

c. specifically

d. have been found

19. The capacity to make changes in behavior on the basis of experience is called learning. This deceptively simple definition encompasses a vast array of different phenomena. A toad learns to avoid distasteful insects, a baby shrew learns which adult is its mother, a human learns to speak a language, a blackbird learns to use the stars for navigation. Each of the many examples of animal learning represents the outcome of a unique evolutionary history, so learning is as diverse as the animals themselves.

—Audersirk, Audersirk, and Byers, Life on Earth, 3rd, ed., pp. 516–17.

What is the main idea of the paragraph?

a. The capacity to make changes in behavior on the basis of experience is called learning.

b. This deceptively simple definition encompasses a vast array of different phenomena.

c. A toad learns to avoid distasteful insects, a baby shrew learns which adult is its mother, a human learns to speak a language, a blackbird learns to use the stars for navigation.

d. Each of the many examples of animal learning represents the outcome of a unique evolutionary history, so learning is as diverse as the animals themselves.

20. How many examples are presented in the paragraph?

a. one

b. two

c. three

d. four