True/False Questions

Using an evolutionary framework, we would conclude that men evolved to do underwater welding and other dangerous jobs

False

We examined country by country data on the proportion of women in STEM. These data showed that more "gender-equal" a country is, the greater STEM participation among women in that country

False

When looking at data across multiple racial and ethnic groups, those groups which have experienced greater discrimination consistently have worse economic outcomes than those groups which have experienced lesser discrimination

False

If people use stereotypes or categorical information in judging another person, this can be take as evidence that the person is prejudiced toward that group

False, because even non-prejudiced people can store and be influenced by stereotypes

The early rise in births to unwed mothers and decline in marriage has been shown to be caused, at least in part, by the government welfare programs created during the 1960s.

True

The main conclusion of the Sowell reading is that differences in pay between men and women in the US today are primarily due to factors other than discrimination by employers

True

The rank ordering of different racial/ethnic groups in terms of classroom performance is the same as the rank ordering of groups in terms of standardized test performance (such as the SAT)

True

A distribution is a list of frequencies of some set of outcomes

True

Data on minority males vs. minority female outcomes generally support the "double-jeopardy" hypothesis from intersectionality theories

False

A 2017 study of dual-couple physicians found that male physicians were paid more than female physicians, even though male and female physicians both worked the same number of hours per week

False

A consistent pattern of those minority groups who have risen economically has been that they have first achieved political power, influencing legislation that then allowed them to rise economically

False

According to Sowell (2008b), changes over time in single-parent families for Black Families is most consistent with a "legacy of slavery" explanation

False

According to Sowell (2008b), the strongest economic rise of Blacks during the 20th century is best understood as a result of government laws and practices (such as Civil Rights Act and affirmative action programs)

False

According to Valla & Ceci (2014), the most productive way to increase women's participation in STEM is to strengthen young women's STEM ability

False

According to evolutionary psychology, we should expect the mind to have general, all purpose mechanism for learning

False

All cognitive processes we see in humans today can be understood as "adaptations"

False

As discussed in class, according to Arcidiacono & Lovenheim (2016) there will always be a net benefit to an individual student in attending a higher quality rather than lower quality college

False

Because there are no differences in college preparedness across different racial and ethnic groups, affirmative action programs cannot have negative unintended effects

False

Both Jews and the Overseas Chinese have generally been disliked by the native people in the regions in which these groups have settled. This dislike has prevented these groups from attaining economic success when living among such natives.

False

Family structure matters for child outcomes in that children living with both biological parents tend to have better outcomes than those children living with mothers who have never been married. However, data show that this is entirely due to differences in socio-economic status.

False

For visuospatial abilities, sex differences are small and unreliable

False

Given the definition from this unit, a behavior can be altruistic if there is no cost to the altruistic individual

False

Having good intentions will guarantee that your solutions to reducing inequality will be effective.

False

Hsin & Xie (2014) showed that Asian-American students did not have higher achievement in the classroom compared to White Students

False

If an event is a rare event, the likelihood of the event occurring *cannot* differ between groups

False

If two groups do not have larger average differences on some characteristic, then the groups cannot differ in any meaningful way that could result in disparate outcomes. For example, if men and women only differ in *average* quantitative ability by a *small amount*, then quantitative ability cannot account for why men and women earn mathematics degrees at different rates

False

If we want to know whether "equal pay for equal work" exists, it *would* be appropriate to compare the average income of all working men in the US with the average income of all working women in the US

False

Is the following statement an example of the moralistic fallacy? "Because animals in nature have been found to eat members of their own species, it is therefore OK to be a cannibal."

False

Prejudice requires power, and therefore only majority group members or high status individuals can be prejudice

False

Research on quantitative ability suggest that sex differences emerger only later in life, after boys and girls have taken different classes in school

False

Research on stereotype accuracy by Jussim and colleagues (2009) support the idea that stereotypes are learned by illusory correlation processes

False

Sherif's work on the Robber Cave Experiment showed that mere contact between groups was sufficient to reduce intergroup prejudice

False

Stereotype threat can explain achievement gaps between groups

False

Stereotype threat is a phenomenon limited to academic performance only

False

Teacher bias likely accounts for most of the differences across racial groups in school suspension and expulsion rates

False

The "blank slate" view of the human mind is correct.

False

The best explanation for women's underrepresentation in STEM is their lower average quantitative ability (as assessed by SAT-Math)

False

The changes in births to unwed mothers since the 1960s can largely be attributed to changes in attitudes toward birth control and sex outside of marriage.

False

The data we covered in class strongly support the notion that poorer economic performance among the lower income classes is due entirely to a lack of any jobs available for people at that level.

False

The evolutionary perspective supports the view that the brain evolved to care about race per se.

False

The fear of extinction research by Navarrete et al. (2009) supports the hypothesis that Whites show greater prejudice against Blacks (compared to Blacks against Whites).

False

The main conclusion of the Sowell reading is that strong evidence of gender discrimination in pay exists

False

The probability that a person likes pasta given that the person is Italian is the same as the probability that a person is Italian given the person likes pasta

False

There are no non-White minority groups in the U.S. who do better (in terms of economic achievement) than native White U.S. citizens.

False

Understanding a group's history of discrimination sufficiently explains that group's current economic achievement.

False

According to Valla & Ceci (2014), the most productive way to increase women's participation in STEM is to make it more interesting to women by emphasizing the social aspects of STEM

True

Cooperative learning and superordinate goals may both reduce intergroup prejudice by redefining outgroup members as part of the in-group

True

If more women join STEM disciplines and careers, it is necessarily true that the proportion of women in Psychology, English, Education, and other non-STEM fields will decline

True

Is the following statement an example of the Naturalistic fallacy? "Because animals in nature have been found to eat members of their own species, it is therefore OK to be a cannibal."

True