
1. Which of the following quotations from Thomas Kuhn illustrates the creative ways that scientists massage the current paradigm in order to preserve it, even in the face of evidence that the paradigm cannot explain new evidence?
~ "...for that theory could be adjusted in many ways. Perhaps phlogiston had negative weight, or perhaps fire particles or something else entered the roasted body as phlogiston left it...But if the problem of weight-gain did not lead to rejection, it did lead to an increasing number of special studies in which this problem bulked large."
@ "...for that theory could be adjusted in many ways. Perhaps phlogiston had negative weight, or perhaps fire particles or something else entered the roasted body as phlogiston left it...But if the problem of weight-gain did not lead to rejection, it did lead to an increasing number of special studies in which this problem bulked large."
a. "It is often said that if Greek science had been less deductive and less ridden by dogma, heliocentric astronomy might have begun its development eighteen centuries earlier than it did."
*b. "...for that theory could be adjusted in many ways. Perhaps phlogiston had negative weight, or perhaps fire particles or something else entered the roasted body as phlogiston left it...But if the problem of weight-gain did not lead to rejection, it did lead to an increasing number of special studies in which this problem bulked large."
c. "Because it demands large-scale paradigm destruction and major shifts in the problems and techniques of normal science, the emergence of new theories is generally preceded by a period of pronounced professional insecurity. As one might expect that insecurity is generated by the persistent failure of the puzzles of normal science to come out as they should."
d. "These...examples are almost entirely typical. In each case a novel theory emerged only after a pronounced failure in the normal problem-solving activity." 

2. Thomas Kuhn states that a plausible candidate for a new paradigm must
~ Kuhn states that the candidate for a new paradigm must explain existing data better than the existing paradigm, thus appearing to scientists as "progress." It must recognize the achievements of the old paradigm and retain its problem-solving ability.
@ Kuhn states that the candidate for a new paradigm must explain existing data better than the existing paradigm, thus appearing to scientists as "progress." It must recognize the achievements of the old paradigm and retain its problem-solving ability.
a. have been discussed and theorized about throughout the lifespan of the current paradigm, or it will not be accepted.
b. not itself have any unexplained or non-factual components.
c. arise as a direct response to a "crisis."
*d. explain existing data better than the existing paradigm, thus appearing to scientists as "progress." 

3. Why, according to Kuhn, are members of a mature scientific community "like the typical character of Orwell's _1984_, the victim of a history rewritten by the powers that be?"
~ Scientists at the time Kuhn was writing were not trained in the histories of their disciplines and were thus not aware of the struggles that produced their current paradigm. Kuhn wrote, "When it repudiates a past paradigm, a scientific community simultaneously renounces, as a fit subject for professional scrutiny, most of the books and articles in which that paradigm had been embodied. Scientific education makes use of no equivalent for the art museum or the library of classics, and the result is a sometimes drastic distortion in the scientist’s perception of his discipline’s past. More than the practitioners of other creative fields, he comes to see it as leading in a straight line to the discipline’s present vantage. In short, he comes to see it as progress."
@ Scientists at the time Kuhn was writing were not trained in the histories of their disciplines and were thus not aware of the struggles that produced their current paradigm. Kuhn wrote, "When it repudiates a past paradigm, a scientific community simultaneously renounces, as a fit subject for professional scrutiny, most of the books and articles in which that paradigm had been embodied. Scientific education makes use of no equivalent for the art museum or the library of classics, and the result is a sometimes drastic distortion in the scientist’s perception of his discipline’s past. More than the practitioners of other creative fields, he comes to see it as leading in a straight line to the discipline’s present vantage. In short, he comes to see it as progress."
a. Paradigms face many external forces that shape their existence, in particular pressure and regulation from the government.
b. Those engaged within the current paradigm will often come to question it in times of crisis.
*c. Scientists at the time Kuhn was writing were not trained in the histories of their disciplines and were thus not aware of the struggles that produced their current paradigm.
d. Most who follow the current paradigm were not involved in its original creation.

4. According to Thomas Kuhn, periods of "normal science" precede 
~ Periods of "normal science" precede periods of "crisis."
@ Periods of "normal science" precede periods of "crisis."
a. the theories of Lavoisier.
b. a general group consensus.
c. a pre-established paradigm.
*d. periods of "crisis."

5. Why, according to Kuhn, is a subject like history not commonly perceived as a science? 
~ History as a discipline has rarely had an agreed upon dominant paradigm. Multiple, conflicting interpretations exist simultaneously, and professional historians may regard them as equally plausible.
@ History as a discipline has rarely had an agreed upon dominant paradigm. Multiple, conflicting interpretations exist simultaneously, and professional historians may regard them as equally plausible.
*a. History as a discipline has rarely had an agreed upon dominant paradigm.
b. Historians do not study the natural world.
c. Historians have failed to properly prevent catastrophes such as World War Two.
d. History as a discipline is still in the process of a paradigm shift.

6. According to Kuhn, the major external factor preventing scientists from accepting Darwin's theory of evolution was
~ According to Kuhn, the major external factor preventing scientists from accepting Darwin's theory of evolution was that it recognized no goal set either by God or nature. Many hesitated to adopt his theory's abolition of a teleological evolution.
@ According to Kuhn, the major external factor preventing scientists from accepting Darwin's theory of evolution was that it recognized no goal set either by God or nature. Many hesitated to adopt his theory's abolition of a teleological evolution.
a. the Catholic Church.
*b. that it recognized no goal set either by God or nature.
c. pre-existing notions of evolution.
d. romanticism.

7. Which of the following examples of a paradigm shift was NOT mentioned in Kuhn's argument? 
~ Pasteur's germ theory of disease is an example of a paradigm shift that was NOT mentioned in Kuhn's argument.
@ Pasteur's germ theory of disease is an example of a paradigm shift that was NOT mentioned in Kuhn's argument.
a. Lavoisier's oxygen theory of combustion.
b. Copernicus's heliocentric model.
c. Darwin's theory of evolution.
*d. Pasteur's germ theory of disease. 

8. A benefit of having a commonly agreed upon paradigm within a community
~ A benefit of having a commonly agreed upon paradigm within a community is that a paradigm is immensely efficient in helping scientists to solve the problems or puzzles it defines.
@ A benefit of having a commonly agreed upon paradigm within a community is that a paradigm is immensely efficient in helping scientists to solve the problems or puzzles it defines.
a. is the feeling of recognized status the paradigm confers over pre-paradigm communities.
b. is the prospect that a newly emerging paradigm will allow for further progress.
*c. is that a paradigm is immensely efficient in helping scientists to solve the problems or puzzles it defines.
d. is the belief in progress that the paradigm confers.

9. Kuhn challenges the notion that
~ Kuhn challenges the notion that scientific activity results in progress and knowledge of "the truth." Kuhn wrote, "But nothing has been or will be said that makes it a process of evolution towards anything."
@ Kuhn challenges the notion that scientific activity results in progress and knowledge of "the truth." Kuhn wrote, "But nothing has been or will be said that makes it a process of evolution towards anything."
a. the dominance of Copernican astronomy came about as a result of paradigm shift.
b. modernization theory is useful as a paradigm.
*c. scientific activity results in progress and knowledge of "the truth."
d. arts have any relationship with science.

10. Which of the following would describe a paradigm shift in a historical discipline?
~ A shift in historians' general consensus about the U.S. Constitution is a paradigm shift. Inability to reach consensus on the Kent State Massacre, and conspiracy theorists' objections to historians' conclusions, represent differences of opinion but not a paradigm shift. "New Left" and "Conservative" opinions about whether the Vietnam War was necessary are political differences that might constitute paradigms but are not a paradigm "shift."
@ A shift in historians' general consensus about the U.S. Constitution is a paradigm shift. Inability to reach consensus on the Kent State Massacre, and conspiracy theorists' objections to historians' conclusions, represent differences of opinion but not a paradigm shift. "New Left" and "Conservative" opinions about whether the Vietnam War was necessary are political differences that might constitute paradigms but are not a paradigm "shift."
*a. Historians of the U.S. Constitution, who had previously understood the Constitution to represent the crowning achievement of liberty-seeking revolutionaries, become convinced that the Constitution actually protected the interests of colonial businessmen and plantation owners.
b. Historians of the Vietnam War debate whether the war was necessary, "New Left" historians arguing that it was not and "Conservative Revisionists" arguing that it was not only necessary but also winnable.
c. Historians of the "Kent State Massacre" are unable to reach consensus on whether the student protestors or the National Guard initiated the violence that led to four student deaths.
d. Historians writing about the 9/11 attacks present it as an attack by al-Qaeda terrorists, whereas conspiracy theorists depict it as a U.S. government action intended to fire up public support for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 