Exam 7: Thinking, Language, and Intelligence

After media coverage of two spectacular train crashes, people overestimated the probability of being killed or injured in a train crash and exaggerated the dangers of train travel. This example illustrates:

Heritability refers to the percentage of variation, within a given population, that is due to heredity.

Philip, who displays the hallmark characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, is likely to have a high level of mathematical skills and a low score on the Raven's Progressive Matrices test.

Charles Spearman believed that _____ was/were responsible for overall performance on mental ability tests.

Louis Thurstone believed that people have three primary mental abilities, which he referred to as multiple intelligences.

In 1921, Lewis Terman identified 1,500 California children between the ages of 8 and 12 who had IQ scores above 140. Terman tracked these children by conducting periodic interviews and surveys to see how genius-level intelligence would affect the course of their lives.

Whenever Rachel is faced with choosing from among a wide range of brand-name products, she always buys the cheapest brand. Rachel is using the _____ of decision making.

People diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder are likely to have communication problems, be unresponsive to social interactions, engage in repetitive or odd motor behaviors, and have restricted routines and interests.

Two of your friends are having a heated argument about whether a particular basketball player is one of the super-greats or just one of the greats of basketball. Because you have read this chapter, you point out to your friends that their argument may never be resolved because:

When Dr. Cera, an expert on intelligence testing, is asked if it is possible to design an intelligence test that is culture-free, she is most likely to suggest that it is:

One suggestion to enhance creative thinking is to engage in problem finding in order to recognize that a problem exists.

Nonhuman animals communicate with members of their own species, but there is no valid research to support the idea that nonhuman animals demonstrate comprehension of syntax or concepts.

Psychologist Margaret Shih and her colleagues conducted a study in which mathematically gifted Asian American female college students were randomly assigned to three groups. Group 1 filled out a questionnaire about their Asian background, designed to remind them of their Asian identity. Group 2 filled out a questionnaire designed to remind them of their female identity. Group 3 was the control group and filled out a neutral questionnaire. The students who were reminded of their racial identity as Asians scored significantly higher on the exam than the students who were reminded of their gender identity as women. The effect of gender identity in this study is an example of:

Cross-cultural research on group differences in IQ scores has shown that:

The additive model of decision making involves first generating a list of factors that are most important, next using an arbitrary rating scale to rate each alternative on each factor, and finally adding these together for comparison purposes.

In one study, psychologist Margaret Shih and her colleagues assessed the performance of Asian American women on a test of verbal ability, an area in which women are stereotypically expected to excel, but Asians are not. In this study, the women scored higher on the verbal test when reminded of their gender identity, but scored lower on the test when reminded of their racial identity. The effect of gender identity in this study is an example of:

In one study, psychologist Margaret Shih and her colleagues assessed the performance of Asian American women on a test of verbal ability, an area in which women are stereotypically expected to excel, but Asians are not. In this study, the women scored higher on the verbal test when reminded of their gender identity, but scored lower on the test when reminded of their racial identity. The effect of racial identity in this study is an example of:

Research has shown that the underlying cause of stereotype threat is that people experience social functional fixedness, which interferes with effective communication in diverse social situations.

Forming a mental image of a face or a place activates a brain area called the fusiform facial area, whereas actually perceiving a face or a place activates a brain area called the parahippocampal place area.

To increase the likelihood of discovering a creative solution to a problem, you should avoid learning too much about the problem and wait for a flash of insight.