Question

When his midterm is returned with a C grade, Bruce is furious. He tells his sociology professor that he had read each of the assigned chapters three times, and if someone can do that and just be average, then there's something wrong with the test! The professor is outraged by Bruce's comments. They begin to have a heated conversation, and both parties make degrading statements to each other.
a. Based on your understanding of critical thinking and memory, describe one flaw in Bruce's reasoning.
b. Describe two possible explanations for Bruce's average performance.

Answer 1

The correct answers to these open questions are the following.

a) Based on your understanding of critical thinking and memory, describe one flaw in Bruce's reasoning.

I consider that the problem Brice has is biased. It is not the professor's fault. The exam is well designed. The issue is the way Bruce is studying. Bruce can read four or five more times the questions, but if he does not understand the questions, the answers will never be correct. If he is not understanding, what he memorizes won't be correct.

B) Describe two possible explanations for Bruce's average performance.

Number one, he is not getting the right ideas of the question. If he is just memorizing the concepts, his brain maybe is not getting enough time to remember them at the moment of the examination.

The other issue is that he could believe that what he is understanding is correct, but his knowledge is limited to what he thinks is correct. This does not mean that he indeed has the right answers.