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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What example from nature does Schelling contrapose to human decisions?
(a) Evolution.
(b) Gravity.
(c) Instinct.
(d) Photosynthesis.

2. What does Schelling say social scientists hope to describe by characterizing a system?
(a) Information about the difficulties of modeling social behavior.
(b) Heuristics with which to judge behavior in nature.
(c) A mathematical model that accounts for all microbehavior within the phenomenon.
(d) An explanation for other phenomena that fit the same pattern.

3. How does Schelling say the success of society is evaluated?
(a) In the welfare of the least successful individuals.
(b) On the aggregate, not the individual level.
(c) In the health and success of individuals.
(d) In the success of the leaders and superior individuals.

4. What is the second thing Schelling says a social behavior model can be?
(a) A theory that explains a preponderance of evidence.
(b) A piece of evidence from which an entire system can be deduced.
(c) An actual biological or mechanical system that embodies a certain relationship.
(d) A dialogue about the nature of the evidence in a certain system.

5. What tool does Schelling say social scientists use to describe behaviors such as human principles and household activities?
(a) Math.
(b) Graphic designs.
(c) Metaphors.
(d) Computer architecture.

6. What does Schelling say discrimination is?
(a) Refusal to consider reason in a decision.
(b) Conscious awareness of a choice.
(c) Preference for one race over another.
(d) Willingness to be biased.

7. What does Schelling say you must know in order to understand what segregation might result from choice?
(a) The personalities of each group's leaders.
(b) The influence of the media.
(c) The local political environment.
(d) Incentives behind the behavior.

8. How many calls does the individual receive, in the aggregate, in Schelling's analysis?
(a) As many as others make.
(b) It depends on his personality.
(c) As many as he makes.
(d) It depends on how many people he knows.

9. What does Schelling say about the frequency of pairs?
(a) Pairs are common if your criteria are simple.
(b) Many phenomena occur in pairs.
(c) Pairs are rare in nature but common in society.
(d) Pairs are a human construct.

10. What does Schelling say constrains the social scientist's model for race segregation?
(a) Quantitative analysis.
(b) Political analysis.
(c) Historical analysis.
(d) Qualitative analysis.

11. What does Schelling say the number of bikes stolen is almost identical to?
(a) One third of the number of bikes bought new.
(b) The number of bikes that cannot be fixed each year.
(c) The number of bikes not reported stolen.
(d) The number of bikes reported stolen.

12. How does Schelling describe the system of skiers going up a lift and coming down the trails?
(a) As an open system.
(b) As a closed system.
(c) As a static system.
(d) As a transformative system.

13. How does the heating system parallel human behavior in Schelling's example?
(a) A voice distributes its energy into the environment around it.
(b) A rising variable alternatively over and under performs.
(c) A vessel carries whatever hot or cold air or water runs through it.
(d) A trait becomes more and more intense until it expresses itself in heat.

14. What does Schelling say is the result if aggregate behavior results from a small number of variables?
(a) Doubt.
(b) Conflict.
(c) Certainty.
(d) Faith.

15. What does Schelling say about a bike owner buying a bike for $90 and selling it for $150?
(a) He says that the owner gains a profit of $60.
(b) He says that the owner still has to pay overhead, so the exchange is equal.
(c) He says that the exchange is consistent with laws of capitalism.
(d) He says that the exchange replaces a real bicycle with abstract money.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Schelling explain blacks and whites being excluded from each other's churches?

2. What does Schelling say the "tipping" critical-mass model first described?

3. How does Schelling say people are segregated?

4. Schelling says that it is hard to draw the line between "individually motivated" segregation and what?

5. What does Schelling say has to be closely attended to, in economic analysis?

(see the answer keys)

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