Deck 8: Cognition and Intelligence

Question 1

Which of the following is a formal guideline for deciding whether objects or events belong to a concept class?

A) prototype
B) conceptual rule
C) connotative meaning
D) lexigram

Answer 1

conceptual rule

Question 2

If you have good kinesthetic imagery, you most likely will be able to

A) use the left side of your brain.
B) learn the newest dance steps quickly.
C) think of an exciting plot for a novel.
D) argue successfully in a court of law.

Answer 2

learn the newest dance steps quickly.

Question 3

To communicate their experiences to others, wine connoisseurs must put taste sensations into words. Thus, wine tasting illustrates the

A) importance of denotative meanings.
B) importance of conjunctive concepts.
C) encoding function of language.
D) way prototypes are conceptualized.

Answer 3

encoding function of language.

Question 4

Regarding concepts and concept formation, which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) At its most basic level, concept formation is based on experience with positive and negative instances.
B) Adults often acquire concepts by learning conceptual rules.
C) An expert literally sees objects in their field of knowledge differently than less well-informed people do.
D) Children and adults use algorithms to make minute distinctions between closely related concepts.

Question 5

A speaker of Kuuk Thaayorre, the language of the Cape York Australian aboriginals, would say "Melbourne is south of Cape York" as well as saying "The dessert spoon is west of the coffee cup." Thus, for long and short distances speakers of Kuuk Thaayorre use which type of directional reference?

A) absolute
B) relative
C) conjunctive
D) disjunctive

Question 6

You are asked to circle the word that does not belong in the series: skyscraper , cathedral, temple, prayer. Another student is asked to circle the word that does not belong in the series: cathedral, prayer, temple, skyscraper . If you circled "prayer" and the other student circled "skyscraper," the difference in your answers would be due to

A) context.
B) grammar.
C) the childhood backgrounds of the two students.
D) the intelligence of the two students.

Question 7

Alice told her friend that she felt like she was in the "spotlight" when she made a comment in class.   In this example, the word "spotlight" is being used to reflect its

A) denotative meaning.
B) connotative meaning.
C) experiential meaning.
D) conjunctive meaning.

Question 8

When you choose what clothes to wear or figure out how to arrange furniture in a room, you are using mental images to

A) change your feelings.
B) make a decision or solve a problem.
C) improve a skill or prepare for some action.
D) aid memory.

Question 9

Intense problem-solving and planning require

A) reflective processing.
B) experiential processing.
C) intuitive thinking.
D) proxemics.

Question 10

The dictionary definition of a word is its __________ meaning.

A) relational
B) categorical
C) connotative
D) denotative

Question 11

It's hard to identify concepts when we can't come up with relevant

A) conjunctive concepts.
B) disjunctive concepts.
C) representativeness algorithms.
D) prototypes.

Question 12

Acceptance into the nursing program requires one to have successfully completed eight hours of anatomy and physiology and three hours of college algebra and have an overall 3.0 grade point average. Acceptance into the nursing program would be considered a __________ concept.

A) disjunctive
B) prototypical
C) conjunctive
D) relational

Question 13

If you are asked, "How many ways can you use an empty egg carton?" you might begin by picturing uses you have already seen, such as sorting buttons. To give more original answers, you must

A) use eidetic imagery.
B) talk about the egg carton.
C) assemble or invent new mental images.
D) use cognitive concepts.

Question 14

Which of the following often includes visual and auditory representations, but can also include representations of movement, touch, taste, smell, and pain?

A) pseudoperception
B) mental imagery
C) illusionary processing
D) automatic processing

Question 15

When a majority-speaking child is taught a second language, it usually results in

A) additive dyslexia.
B) subtractive bilingualism.
C) additive bilingualism.
D) the child becoming less than fluent in both languages.

Question 16

To answer the question, "Does a frog have lips and a stubby tail?" most people

A) use mental rotation.
B) utilize eidetic imagery.
C) utilize created images.
D) are unable to correctly answer the question.

Question 17

Regarding language, which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) The context of the word within a sentence rarely affects the word's actual meaning.
B) Language plays a major role in defining ethnic communities and other social groups.
C) Language can be a bridge or a barrier between cultures.
D) Translating from one language to another can result in semantic problems.

Question 18

Emotional judgments are part of which meaning of a word or concept?

A) connotative
B) grammatical
C) syntactical
D) denotative

Question 19

Dr. Hart is investigating how humans mentally process information, such as images, concepts, words, rules, and symbols. He would best be described as studying

A) operant conditioning.
B) learning.
C) cognition.
D) proxemics.

Question 20

An advertisement states that job applicants must have an A.A. degree or two years of experience. This illustrates a __________ concept.

A) prototypical
B) relational
C) conjunctive
D) disjunctive

Question 21

Majority group children and children with limited English skills are taught part of the day in English and part in a second language, in an approach known as __________ education.

Question 22

The study of meaning in words and language is known as __________.

Question 23

The three basic units of thought are creativity, intelligence, and problem solving.

Question 24

Thought that is active, effortful, and controlled is called __________ processing.

Question 25

Mental images can be used to aid memory, change one's feelings, make a decision, or improve a skill.

Question 26

Rules by which a simple declarative sentence may be changed to other voices or forms, such as past tense or a passive voice, are called __________ rules.

A) functional
B) generative
C) disjunctive
D) transformation

Question 27

Children first learn concepts through positive and negative instances, while adults often acquire concepts by learning or forming conceptual rules.

Question 28

American Sign Language

A) has a spatial grammar and syntax.
B) is a pantomimed code.
C) is the only true gestural language in the world.
D) has been successfully taught to numerous chimpanzees.

Question 29

If you are asked, "Which direction do you turn the hot-water handle in your kitchen to shut off the water?" you would most likely use kinesthetic images to answer this question.

Question 30

Santos is learning the rules for ordering words in the formation of sentences. Santos is studying

A) structural semantics.
B) pragmatics.
C) syntax.
D) phonology.

Question 31

To be a "motorcycle," a vehicle must have two wheels, handlebars, and a motor, which illustrates that this criteria for a motorcycle is a disjunctive concept.

Question 32

If a robin is an ideal model of a bird, then a robin would be considered a prototype of this concept.

Question 33

Larger, above, left, north, upside down, brother, and aunt are examples of __________ concepts.

Question 34

If your images cross normal sense barriers, such as spiced chicken tasting "pointy" to you or pain being sensed as the color orange, then you have a rare form of imagery known as __________.

Question 35

The idea that the words we use not only reflect our thoughts but can shape them as well is known as the linguistic relativity hypothesis.

Question 36

Regarding a pygmy chimpanzee (or bonobo) named Kanzi's language and grammar skills, which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) Kanzi's grammar is comparable to that of a two-year-old child.
B) Some of the lexigrams Kanzi know are quite abstract, like symbols for "bad" and "good."
C) Kanzi usually places action symbols in the order he wants to carry them out, such as "chase tickle" or "chase hide."
D) Kanzi cannot understand spoken sentences unless visually prompted by the trainers.

Question 37

Regarding gestures and American Sign Language (ASL), which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) Gestures help us string words together.
B) Gestures are believed by some psychologists to be the forerunner of speech, that is, speech evolved from gestures.
C) Different brain areas become active when a person speaks than when they sign.
D) ASL has a spatial grammar, syntax, and semantics.

Question 38

One example of the Stroop Interference task requires one to name the color of the ink in which a word is printed, but not state the name of the color word that is printed.

Question 39

When you form a mental image of "a tree," the brain area where memories are stored sends signals back to the visual cortex to create that image through a process known as __________.

Question 40

The basic speech sounds of a language are called

A) morphemes.
B) syllables.
C) phonemes.
D) syntax.

Question 41

According to Psychologist Janet Davidson, the three abilities involved in insight are

A) selective attention, convergent thinking, and divergent thinking.
B) cognitive assimilation, selective attention, and selective encoding.
C) selective attention, selective comparison, and convergent thinking.
D) selective encoding, selective combination, and selective comparison.

Question 42

Nikki is in the second grade and is given the following problem to solve: John has 15 apples, Amy has 10 apples, and Chris has 5 apples. How many apples do John and Chris have altogether? Nikki adds the apples for all three people, using the irrelevant information about Amy's number of apples. Thus, according to Davidson, Nikki is displaying a lack of

A) selective attention.
B) selective comparison.
C) selective encoding.
D) selective combination.

Question 43

One of the most important barriers to problem-solving that involves the tendency to get "hung up" on wrong solutions or becoming blind to alternatives is called

A) inhibition.
B) fixation.
C) conditional thinking.
D) incubation.

Question 44

Solutions by understanding depend on

A) algorithms.
B) trial and error methods.
C) mechanical approaches to problem solving.
D) a deeper comprehension of the nature of the problem.

Question 45

Insight tends to be based on

A) algorithms.
B) heuristics.
C) a random search strategy.
D) reorganizing the problem.

Question 46

Claudia's failure to see that a trash bag would make an excellent makeshift raincoat is an example of

A) mental consolidation.
B) retroactive interference.
C) functional fixedness.
D) cognitive dissonance.

Question 47

Jan asks her friend Whitney to run to her new apartment near campus and get her report that she left on the table by the door so she will not be late for class. She hands Whitney her key ring that has eight keys on it. Whitney runs to the apartment and then realizes that she does not know which key will open the door, so she just starts trying one key and then another, hoping by chance to find the right one. Finally, the fifth key she tries opens the door. To solve the "key" problem, Whitney was using

A) insight.
B) pragmatics.
C) a general solution.
D) a random search strategy.

Question 48

You are trying to determine which of two terms is related to identical twins. You see "monozygotic" and "dizygotic." You remember that a zygote is formed from one egg and one sperm and that "mono" means one and "di" means two. Identical twins would have to result from the same egg and the same sperm, thus one zygote. Using old information to derive the meaning of "monozygotic" and "dizygotic" illustrates the use of selective

A) comparison.
B) attention.
C) combination.
D) encoding.

Question 49

Discuss concept formation, differentiate the three types of concepts and give an example of each, and describe the use of prototypes in concept identification.

Question 50

Becoming a problem-solving expert in any particular field involves, at a minimum, becoming

A) familiar with the algorithms available in that field.
B) skilled at using random search strategies within that field.
C) skilled at using the semantic differential for that field.
D) familiar with the connotative definitions in that field.

Question 51

Define cognition; differentiate between experiential processing and reflective processing; explain which type of processing planning requires; and identify and briefly describe the three basic units of thought.

Question 52

You want to boil an egg for 15 minutes, and all you have is a 7-minute hourglass and an 11-minute hourglass. Using these two hourglasses in your solution requires you to use selective

A) combination.
B) attention.
C) encoding.
D) comparison.

Question 53

You are asked to plant four small trees so that each is an equal distance from all the others. If you believe that the trees all have to be planted on level ground, you will be unable to correctly answer this problem because you are exhibiting

A) disjunctive thinking.
B) fixation.
C) consolidation.
D) functional incubation.

Question 54

A solution that correctly states the requirements for success in solving a problem, but not in sufficient detail for further action, is called a __________ solution.

A) heuristic
B) general
C) functional
D) specific

Question 55

"Try to identify how the current state of affairs differs from the desired goal, and then find steps that will reduce the difference." This advice describes a(n)

A) syllogism.
B) heuristic.
C) prototype.
D) algorithm.

Question 56

Since the 1980s, Duane Rumbaugh and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh have been teaching a pygmy chimpanzee named Kanzi to communicate by pushing 250 buttons on a computer keyboard, each marked with a geometric word-symbol called a(n) __________.

Question 57

A child who says, "I drinked the milk" has created this sentence by using __________ rules.

Question 58

An algorithmic solution to a problem is one in which

A) the answer is arrived at by using the availability heuristic.
B) the answer is arrived at by intuition.
C) a solution is achieved by following a series of step-by-step rules.
D) general and functional strategies are used in answering the problem.

Question 59

Whitney tells her friend Jan that she can wear the extra jacket that she keeps in her car. Whitney hands Jan her keys and heads off to class. Jan heads to Whitney's car with the set of eight keys. She looks at the keys, noting that two are too small to be car keys, and then she looks for any key that might have a symbol associated with a particular car. She finds two keys that have a shape on them like the hood ornament on Whitney's car. So, these will be the only two keys of the eight that she will try. To solve this "key" problem, Jan used

A) functional fixedness
B) an algorithm
C) a heuristic
D) a random search strategy

Question 60

When Ian was attempting to assemble a piece of furniture, he knew that a part of it needed to be attached, but it was in an area that was difficult to reach. He considered several ways to attach the part and decided that using a glue gun would produce a workable solution to the problem. In this instance, Ian was using

A) an algorithmic strategy.
B) functional fixedness to solve the problem.
C) insightful problem solving.
D) a functional solution to solve the problem.

Question 61

Common mental blocks that can hinder problem-solving include all of the following types EXCEPT for __________ barriers.

A) cultural
B) emotional
C) implicit
D) perceptual

Question 62

Trial-and-error thinking in which all possibilities are tried, more or less randomly is called a(n) __________ strategy.

Question 63

You are working on a group project with three other students, who appear to already be friends. You have some suggestions you would like to make, but decide to just follow the other members' ideas, because you do not believe your ideas would be accepted. This illustrates which type of barrier to problem solving?

A) emotional
B) cultural
C) learned
D) perceptual

Question 64

Often when children are first introduced to mathematical word problems, they begin adding the two numbers listed within the problem rather than paying attention to the most important part of the problem, which might ask something like, "How many will you have LEFT?" This illustrates which barrier to problem solving?

A) perceptual
B) cultural
C) learned
D) emotional

Question 65

When people are presented with the problem of getting the five dollar bill without moving the stack of objects placed on top of it, they are usually unable to solve the problem because of the taboo that one should not destroy money, which would be considered a learned barrier to problem solving.

Question 66

One barrier to the use of group learning in the American classrooms is the view by some parents and teachers that students should strive for independence and self-sufficiency in their learning. Thus, the barrier to the use of group learning would be classified as a(n) __________ barrier.

A) emotional
B) learned
C) cultural
D) perceptual

Question 67

If you are asked to multiply a four-digit number and a three-digit number and you follow the steps you were taught in the fifth grade, then you are utilizing a heuristic.

Question 68

Because psychology students tend to define "negative" as "bad," students often incorrectly define "negative reinforcement" as a punishment. This illustrates which barrier to problem-solving?

A) emotional
B) cultural
C) learned
D) perceptual

Question 69

A detailed, practical, and workable solution to a problem is called a(n) __________ solution.

Question 70

Expert chess players can automatically recognize 50,000 to 100,000 patterns, a level of skill that takes about 10 years build up.

Question 71

Selective encoding is the ability to compare new problems with old information or with problems already solved.

Question 72

At the highest skill levels, expert performers

A) automatically recognize patterns.
B) use algorithms rather than heuristics.
C) exhibit continuous reflective processing.
D) think about problems using mental imagery.

Question 73

Insight tends to be based on reorganizing the problem.

Question 74

Problem-solving strategies that reduce the number of steps necessary to solve a problem are called algorithmic solutions.

Question 75

As compared to novices, experts tend to

A) see the true nature of problems and relate them to general principles.
B) have developed a general strengthening of their minds.
C) use algorithms rather than heuristics.
D) always be in a reflective processing mode.

Question 76

Expert chess players can automatically recognize 50,000 to 100,000 patterns, a level of skill that takes about how long to build up?

A) one year
B) two years
C) five years
D) 10 years

Question 77

If you have ever been without a screwdriver and took out a dime and used it to loosen the screw, then you did not let functional fixedness be a barrier to your problem-solving.

Question 78

In his study of thinking, Duncker found that the first step in problem-solving that is based on understanding is to discover a set of rules that lead to the solution.

Question 79

A corporate manager who wants to solve a business problem but becomes stern and angry when members of his marketing team joke playfully about possible solutions is exhibiting a perceptual barrier to problem solving.

Question 80

When a problem is solved in a step-by-step manner, thinking is guided by a learned set of rules that always leads to a correct solution. This learned set of rules is known as a(n) __________.