Exam 1, Biology 301D, 24 September 2002
104 Points Total (22 questions, 7 pages) Printed name ________________
When finished, turn in both the
Scantron and hard copy. You may write on this hard copy, but your grade will be
determined by what you put on the Scantron form. You will get
this hard copy back, if you want, but it will also be posted on the web within
hours of the exam.
None, one, all, or any
combination of individual answers may apply to a
question unless stated otherwise (these questions are designated “multiple
T/F”).
Unless you are told that a
question has just one answer, evaluate each option independently of the others
to decide if it is correct. If any part of an option is incorrect,
consider the entire option incorrect.
(2 pts). CPS Pad number and name. Fill in the correct bubbles for your name and pad number on the scantron form.
Your pad number goes in the last 3 cells of
the ID number field.
If you don’t know your pad number, ask Bull before you turn in the scantron form.
Put your name on this hard copy too.
Posting. The different versions of the exam, keys, your score, and a question-by-question accounting of your exam points will be posted on the web, usually the same afternoon/evening of the day you took the exam.
1 . (6 pts) The following statements pertain to the first-day survey and the
discussion of it in the following lecture.
Which statements are true?
(multiple True/False)
(A)
Some
distributions of responses to a question contained over 90% of the responses in
the combined categories of "definitely so" plus "probably
so." Thus there was a consensus in
the class that those statements were likely true.
(B)
Some
distributions of responses contained responses in all 7 categories (appearing
moderately flat). Thus, while many people were uncertain about the truth of the
statement, some considered it definitely true and others considered it
definitely false.
(C)
The
responses of your class are atypical of attitudes in the U.S. public, in
particular because the U.S. public is largely unaccepting of concepts for which
there is no scientific evidence (e.g., the “paranormal”).
(D)
In
one example, your class and previous classes exhibited a greater willingness to
accept a concept couched in terms of a conspiracy theory (cover-up) than the
concept stated alone.
(E)
One
of the expectations we discussed was that, if we gave the same statements at
the end of the semester, after you have mastered this class material on
decision-making, responses of different students to a statement will be largely
in agreement with each other, even for the statements which experienced a lot
of scatter on day 1.
2). (4 pts) The figure below shows the (unlabeled) steps
of the scientific method. Which of the
following options are true? You are assumed to know the identity of
these steps for this question.
(multiple T/F)
(A)
The
scientific method cycling ends when the process enters step/loop E.
(B)
Continuing
improvement toward a goal can occur with either just step/loop E or just F
present (both are not required), because cycling continues through the
remaining loop, even if one of the loops is missing.
(C)
The
most important step is C because it is central to the most arrows.
3. (5 pts) Which elements of the scientific method are present? Therapeutic Touch (TT) is a controversial
nursing practice that has been taught in the UT Nursing School and elsewhere.
Like other nursing practices, TT purports to improve patient healing and overall
well-being. People are trained in TT methods by taking classes that provide the
basic concepts, and this training enables them to use TT on their own patients.
Practitioners steadfastly refuse to subject their methods to rigorous tests
that would show whether patients are actually healed faster by TT than without
TT, so we don't know if TT has any validity.
(A) Goal |
(B) Model |
(C) Data |
(D) Evaluation |
(E) Revision |
(F) None |
4. (4 pts). Which institutions or processes were described as lacking at
least evaluation (and perhaps other elements)?
(A) religion |
(B) astrology |
(C) many government agencies |
(D) the criminal justice system |
(E) car repair |
(F) cooking from a recipe |
5. (5 pts) Choose the one best answer pertaining to the
scientific method in the following description?
David is writing a computer program to determine all
whole numbers between one and a billion (109), which when multiplied
by 3, give a palindrome (a palindrome reads the same way forward as
backward). The first 10 of these
numbers were given to him by someone else, but there are possibly hundreds or
thousands of numbers satisfying this criterion. He starts out by writing a simple computer program. It fails to generate even his list of 10, so
he looks closely at the program and discovers that the program approximates
numbers rather than treating them as exact values. He fixes this problem. Now his program correctly provides his list
of the first ten palindromes plus others; these others are correct solutions to
the problem. But the program has
another difficulty: the program stops
considering numbers at 108, so David still does not know the
palindromes between 108 and 109. After calling a friend for help, neither of
them is able to solve the problem. The
program remains unfixed, and David has an incomplete list of solutions to his
problem.
A) all elements of the
scientific method are present in this example.
B) only revision is missing –
the program is never fully fixed
C) only data are missing –
there are no observations from “nature” in this example
D) both revision and data are
missing
E)
this
example does not fit the scientific method, because there is an exact answer to
the problem (due to its mathematical nature); thus the types of uncertainty and
inexactness that characterize a true scientific problem are absent
Models
6. (8 pts) General points about models (multiple T/F)
still question 6: General points about models
(multiple T/F)
7. (4 pts) One of the themes about false models is that
different models have different strengths, so that by using a variety of
different models, the ways in which one model is false can be compensated by
another model. That is, two models have
different limitations, so their strengths can complement each other (e.g., one
model may be convenient, another accurate).
Which of the following topics explicitly used or illustrated this
principle?
A. mechanical and human
tests of condoms |
C. the different abstract
models of dose extrapolation |
B. lamp demonstration in
class |
D. mathematical models of
epidemics |
8,9. Each of the following options compares two
models for a particular goal. You are
asked to evaluate whether the first model compared to the second
model is more accurate (question 8), or more convenient (question 9). An option may be used no times, once, or
twice. Use lecture and the book as the
basis for your answers. (multiple
answers)
(A)
The
airburst test instead of volunteers in tests of condoms
(B)
Yeast
instead of mice in toxicity tests of chemicals for human exposures
(C)
Humans accidentally exposed to dioxin instead of guinea pigs deliberately
exposed to dioxin in testing the toxicity of dioxin for humans
(D) Low doses of a pesticide versus high doses of it fed to rats for testing whether traces of the pesticide in food causes cancer.
(E)
LD50
in rats versus assays of tumor formation as a model of a chemical’s
ability to cause cancer in rats
8 (4 pts). In which options is the first of the two models more accurate? (A)
(B) (C) (D)
(E)
9 (4 pts). In which options is the first of the two models more convenient? (A)
(B) (C) (D)
(E)
10 (5 pts). Your responses to questions on this exam
would be a false model of what you have learned and retained in this class
if/because: (multiple T/F)
(A) You
interpreted the question differently than it was intended
(B)
You
forgot some of the material needed to answer the question
(C) You
accidentally filled in the wrong blank from what you intended
(D) Someone
copied your answers and got the same score as you
(E) Your
score differed from the class average score
(F) The
exam questions did not cover all the material you learned
11. (5 pts) Are the first 10 students in the Bio301D class roster a useful model
or false model of the 400 students in Bio301D? (multiple T/F)
(A) false:
grades given to the 10 may not match the grades given to the other 390
students in the class
(B) useful:
understanding why the 10 students missed certain questions on exam 1
could help the instructor understand why other students missed those questions.
(C) false:
if none of the 10 required special accommodations (students with
disabilities), that does not guarantee that none of the other students require
special accommodations
(D) useful:
knowing how those 10 students felt about exam 1 would help the
instructor know how the other 390 felt.
HIV and Mathematical models
in epidemiology
12. (5 pts) From the Notes and lecture,
indicate which of the following elements of the models template apply (in the
way stated below) to our understanding of the timing of HIV transmission.
(multiple T/F)
(A)
Goal:
to determine how soon after the person becomes infected that they can infect someone
else with the virus and how this timing impacts the spread of the HIV epidemic
(B)
Model:
a relatively small amount of transmission during the "primary
infection" (phase I) can account for the rapid spread of HIV in
populations (the primary infection is the early peak of HIV in the blood)
(C)
Data:
direct monitoring of couples (one HIV+, one HIV-) has shown that transmission
to the uninfected partner is especially likely when the infected partner is
entering the primary infection stage
(D)
Evaluation:
the model of early transmission has not been rejected (refuted) by scientific
studies
13. (4 pts) Which of the following interest rate schemes yields
the most money over 10 years?
A)
1/12%
compounded monthly
B)
1%
compounded annually
C)
10%
compounded every 10 years
D)
There
is no difference in the money accumulated.
Condoms
14. (4 pts)
Which condom
tests are useful (accepted) for determining whether an intact condom will block
transmission of an STD (e.g., HIV)?
(choose the best answer)
15. (4 pts) It was suggested that industry prefers quality control tests such as the airburst test because of which factors (choose the best answer):
A. Accuracy |
C. Uniformity |
E. Accuracy & uniformity |
G. Accuracy, convenience & uniformity |
B. Convenience |
D. Accuracy & Convenience |
F. Convenience & uniformity |
16. (4 pts) (multiple T/F) The abstract models (graphs) we considered in
extrapolating from high to low doses
17. (4 pts) Of the examples discussed, which one(s) highlighted
problems in extrapolation from lab animals to humans? (multiple T/F)
18. (3 pts) Which graph(s) depict an accelerating risk of
exposure? (none, one, or many answers)
19. (4 pts) (multiple T/F)
A MSDS (material
safety data sheet) is
20. (4 pts) There were several messages given in the lectures
and chapter on extrapolating health risks.
Identify which one of the following options is wrong, or
choose option e if none is wrong.
(one answer only)
21. (10 pts) Each of the following options lists or refers to a theme in the course
notes and then offers an explanation of what it means. Which of these
statements about Meaning are true? (multiple T/F)
(A) Theme: One-to-many, many-to-one. Meaning:
when pursuing one goal, we may at first use many different models (e.g., the
airburst test and water-leak test of condoms), but eventually, we will converge
on using just a single model for achieving that goal.
(B) Theme: the goal determines model
usefulness. Meaning: the value (usefulness) of a particular model depends
on what goal we are trying to achieve.
(C) Theme: The importance of model accuracy. Meaning:
ultimately, the most useful model (the one we most want to use) is the one that
most closely matches what we are trying to represent. For example, human
subjects are the most useful model for studying whether a food additive causes
of cancer in humans, as opposed to mice or bacteria, because mice and bacteria
are not humans.
(D)
Theme: the scientific method is a
cyclic method that, through repetitions, enables progress toward a goal. Meaning: the scientific method is
fundamentally similar to trial and
error.
(E) Theme:
pieces and parts as models. Meaning:
a model of something is more likely to be useful the closer it comes to
representing the "whole" of it, rather than just a part of it.
(F)
Theme: ACU (accuracy, convenience,
uniformity). Meaning: ultimately,
the most useful model (the one we most want to use) is the one that is the most
accurate. Convenient but inaccurate
models are ultimately going to be replaced by more accurate ones.
(G) Theme:
All models must be falsifiable (refutable). Meaning: just another way of saying that all models are false.
22. (2 pts.) Exam
Key Code: Fill in (AB) on question 22 to indicate your exam code.