Final answer:
The statement is true as people often ignore base rates in favor of specific diagnostic information, which is known as the base rate fallacy. This phenomenon is exemplified in the quizmaster study and can also be observed in ecological research involving population estimates.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that people tend to ignore base rates when given both base rates and diagnostic information is generally true. This tendency is related to a broader psychological phenomenon called the base rate fallacy, where individuals give disproportionate weight to specific information (the diagnostic info) and overlook the general statistical information (the base rates).
In the quizmaster study, participants failed to account for the situational constraints that influenced the questioner's ability to ask questions and consequently overestimated the questioner's knowledge due to this disregard for the role of the situation, which in a broader sense reflects the tendency to ignore base rates.