A study divides healthy women into two groups (A and B). Both groups are compose
ID: 30295 • Letter: A
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A study divides healthy women into two groups (A and B). Both groups are composed of women who have been sexually active for at least 2 years and are not pregnant at the beginning of the experiment. The subjects weigh about the same amount and none of the women smoke cigarettes, although some drink alcohol occasionally. Group A women receive a placebo in the form of a sugar pill each morning during their menstrual cycles. Group B women receive a pill containing estrogen and progesterone each morning of their menstrual cycles. Following this, LH levels are measured before, during, and after ovulation. The results are as follows: Group 4 Days Before The Day of 4 Days After Ovulation Ovulation Ovulation A 18 mg/100 ml 300 mg/100 ml 17 mg/100 ml B 21 mg/100 ml 157 mg/100 ml 15 mg/100 ml The number of pregnancies in Group A is 37/100 women/year. The number of pregnancies in group B is 1.5/100 women/year. What conclusion can you reach on the basis of these data? Explain the mechanism involved.Explanation / Answer
Motivated reasoning is an emotion-biased decision-making phenomenon studied in cognitive science and social psychology. This term describes the role of motivation in cognitive processes such as decision-making and attitude change in a number of paradigms, including:
Early research on the evaluation and integration of information supported a cognitive approach consistent with Bayesian theory, in which individuals’ weighted new information using rational calculations.[4] More recent theories endorse cognitive processes as partial explanations of motivated reasoning but have also introduced motivational[5] or affective processes[6] to further illuminate the mechanisms of the bias inherent in cases of motivated reasoning. To further complicate the issue, the first neuro-imaging study designed to test the neural circuitry of individuals engaged in motivated reasoning found that motivated reasoning ‘was not associated with neural activity in regions previously linked with cold reasoning tasks [Bayesian reasoning] and conscious (explicit) emotion regulation.”[3] This section focuses on two theories that elucidate the mechanisms involved in motivated reasoning. Both theories distinguish between mechanisms present when the individual is trying to reach an accurate conclusion, and those present when the individual has a directional goal.
The problem is far greater than this one asinine human being. The problem is misogyny. It is the devaluation of women. It is the fear of women’s sexuality. It is the objectification of women’s bodies. There’s still this archaic attitude, rather reminiscent of the Victorian era, that women should be sexually conservative. A sexually active woman–a responsible one, at that, who wishes to have access to affordable birth control so as not to have to deal with an accidental or unwanted pregnancy, or for non-contraceptive health purposes–is too much in control of her own sexuality, and ‘slut’ is the easiest way for men, and other women, to silence such a woman. It’s pretty easy to dismiss someone once they’ve been called a slut; who’s going to want to listen to a slut, someone with such lowly morals that they believe in being permitted to express their sexuality as they see fit outside of the scope of the male gaze, or the perspective of male desire? We need to see the word for what it is: a rhetorical device meant to silence and shame. And it usually does its job well, although with the ubiquity of social media and the instantaneous transfer of information, it has become easier to resist and critique these misogynist ideals that are so deeply embedded in our culture, it appears, because it backfired in this case. I don’t know how effectual this backlash is or has been, but I’m glad that there has been vociferous protest to this grossly misogynist statement aimed at a politically engaged and outspoken woman.
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