Deck 8: Thinking, Intelligence, and Language

Question 1

When the field of cognitive psychology first became prominent, it was considered a revolutionary development because it was a radical departure from

A) behaviorism.
B) psychoanalysis.
C) the study of mental processes.
D) the study of artificial intelligence.

Answer 1

behaviorism.

Question 2

Your sorority sister argues that AI machines will become intent on domination of the human race as soon as they realize that they are intellectually superior to humans. As a psychology major, you scoff at this position and argue that AI machines will never come to the realization that they are smarter than humans because they

A) are not and never will be.
B) do not have the self awareness necessary to come to this conclusion.
C) cannot complete tasks that involve evaluation.
D) All of these.

Answer 2

do not have the self awareness necessary to come to this conclusion.

Question 3

Approaches that attempt to explain observable behavior by investigating mental processes fall under ________ psychology.

A) psychoanalytic
B) behavioral
C) cognitive
D) biological

Answer 3

cognitive

Question 4

You have to cook dinner for 30 people on Saturday of this coming weekend. Your apartment is a mess, and you have nothing to wear. You decide to do your laundry Thursday night, buy the groceries on Friday, clean the apartment Saturday morning, and cook the dinner Saturday evening. This process of defining intermediate problems is known as

A) creating subgoals.
B) using algorithms.
C) using heuristics.
D) fixation.

Question 5

In everyday situations, finding and framing problems can be difficult because most real-life problems

A) are vague and ill-defined.
B) suggest complex operations need to be employed.
C) cannot be solved by the average person.
D) All of these.

Question 6

Who would benefit the most from making subgoals?

A) Jake has to cook some pasta for supper.
B) Billie has to develop a landscape design for her front yard.
C) Suki has to read a chapter in her sociology textbook.
D) Chris has to clean the neighbor's pool.

Question 7

After reading the section of the textbook on concepts, Mary Jo comes to the conclusion that

A) concepts are a form of cognitive efficiency and economy.
B) concepts are the way people communicate with each other.
C) concepts are abstract and have few practical applications.
D) concepts are the reason that there are linguistic differences between ethnic groups.

Question 8

Dan is at an international food fest with his fraternity brother, Abayomi. When Dan is served a dish of Mopane worm stew, Abayomi tells him reassuringly, "That's good food!" Given that Dan understands the concept of food, Dan knows that

A) it would be very unwise to eat this cuisine.
B) the stew will taste awful.
C) it is okay to eat the worm stew.
D) his algorithm for food is different than Abayomi's algorithm.

Question 9

Your roommate argues that computers can perform several complex tasks better and more accurately than humans. You counter her argument with the mention of ________, a task that only humans can perform. ?

A) developing new learning goals
B) prescribing medical treatments
C) evaluating loan applications
D) diagnosing medical illnesses

Question 10

When using the computer as an analogy to explain the relationship between cognition and the brain, the brain is described as the computer's ________ and cognition as its ________.

A) hardware; software
B) monitor; keyboard
C) hard drive; monitor
D) software; hard drive

Question 11

Which of the following would NOT be a defining property of the prototype of an airplane?

A) It is used for transportation.
B) It has tires.
C) It is silver.
D) It has an engine.

Question 12

Cognitive psychologists are interested in examining all of the following except

A) problem solving.
B) idea formation.
C) classical conditioning.
D) decision making.

Question 13

Jim needs a backyard shed to house his motorcycle, and even though he has never built one, he decides to do it himself. He buys a book of professionally drawn detailed shed plans. In this situation, Jim is using a(n)

A) algorithm.
B) heuristic.
C) prototype.
D) shortcut strategy.

Question 14

Shantae is a sales representative and uses MapQuest to get driving directions to her clients' offices. Shantae is using a(n) ________ to get to her destinations.

A) shortcut strategy
B) heuristic
C) prototype
D) algorithm

Question 15

You have to study four chapters of information for your next test. If you decide to use the problem solving strategy of using subgoals, you must

A) cram the night before the test.
B) breakdown the topics to be studied and focus on each in an organized sequence.
C) decide who should be your study partner.
D) study the learning objectives for each chapter instead of reading the chapters.

Question 16

Who would benefit the most from making subgoals?

A) Andy has to rake his yard.
B) Zach has to wash the dishes.
C) Todd has to complete a science fair project.
D) Pedro has a page of algebra to finish.

Question 17

An effective way to strategize your organization of subgoals is to

A) work forward in your planning.
B) limit your subgoals to three or less.
C) create a minimum of six subgoals.
D) work backward in your planning.

Question 18

Sam manages a fast-food restaurant. He is frustrated because employees often call in sick at the last minute before they are supposed to start their shift. Given that Sam recognizes this problem, what should he do next?

A) Sam should call a meeting with all his employees and explain the problem to them.
B) Sam should threaten to fire anyone who calls in sick just prior to the start of their shift.
C) Sam should evaluate his employee policies.
D) Sam should define the problem in detail.

Question 19

Levi Hutchins, a young clockmaker, resolved to rise at 4 A.M. every morning. This resolution motivated Hutchins to invent the alarm clock. The most likely first step in solving the problem of waking up early was for Hutchins to

A) rethink and redefine the problem.
B) find and frame the problem.
C) evaluate the solutions.
D) employ good problem-solving strategies.

Question 20

Although used often, the comparison between the computer and human information processing is oversimplified. Why?

A) Computers are currently unable to perform any tasks better than humans.
B) Computer information is far too complex for such a comparison to be accurate.
C) Computer information is too mathematically based for such a comparison to be accurate.
D) Computer information input is pre-coded and ambiguities are removed before processing.

Question 21

What is the main disadvantage of using algorithms?

A) They only work for large problems.
B) They are very similar to trial-and-error.
C) Correct solutions are not guaranteed.
D) Finding solutions may take a long time.

Question 22

???________ is a characteristic of good problem solvers.

A) Self doubt
B) Humility
C) Egocentrism
D) Rigidity

Question 23

After the outcome of an election is announced, you state that you knew all along what the outcome would be. This is a form of

A) confirmation bias.
B) hindsight bias.
C) availability bias.
D) representativeness.

Question 24

When comparing algorithms and heuristics, what is a potential advantage of using heuristics for solving real-life problems?

A) convenience
B) mental set
C) accuracy
D) precision

Question 25

Bonnie and Clyde have decided to purchase a new entertainment center. Because this will be a major financial investment, they spend a lot of time researching their options. You, a psychology student, advise them to distract themselves with an alternate activity before they come to any purchase decisions. Is this really good advice?

A) No, research has shown that people who approach complex decisions in a consciously deliberate fashion and then act immediately make better choices.
B) No, research has shown that people make better decisions when they study their options and act decisively before additional information causes them to change their minds.
C) Yes, research has shown that people who approach complex decisions after being distracted are more likely to make better decisions.
D) Yes, research has shown that a night of sleep is necessary before making a smart decision.

Question 26

If Professor Wagner were to build a robot that functions using only automatic processes, we would expect it to make decisions using

A) algorithms.
B) functional fixedness.
C) heuristics.
D) deductive reasoning.

Question 27

Which of the following would businesses need to avoid in order to be successful over a period of many years?

A) concepts
B) insight learning
C) functional fixedness
D) thinking outside the box

Question 28

Ivan has misplaced his keys. If he decides to use an algorithmic approach to find them, he will

A) look in the last place he remembers seeing them.
B) check his car first.
C) call his wife to get the spare.
D) start going through each drawer in his house.

Question 29

Monique routinely uses a shredder to shred her junk mail into confetti-sized pieces of paper. When packing her glassware to move into a new apartment, she runs out of protective styrofoam packing material. Suddenly, Monique gets the idea to use the shredded junk mail confetti for packing material. Monique has

A) overcome functional fixedness.
B) used a heuristic to solve her packing problem.
C) used an algorithm to solve her packing problem.
D) demonstrated object fixation.

Question 30

Bertha met two students from another school at a convention. She enjoyed their company a great deal and was very impressed with how nice they were. Bertha now believes that all of the students from that school must also be nice and is considering transferring there. Bertha is using ________ reasoning.

A) inductive
B) functional
C) critical
D) deductive

Question 31

What is the main difference between an algorithm and a heuristic?

A) Only algorithms enhance learning.
B) Heuristics take much more time than algorithms.
C) An algorithm always leads to a correct solution, while a heuristic does not.
D) Heuristics are effective for small problems, while algorithms are only used for complex ones.

Question 32

Whenever scientists use theories and intuitions to make specific predictions and then evaluate their predictions by making further observations, ________ is at work.

A) inductive reasoning
B) fixation
C) deductive reasoning
D) functional fixedness

Question 33

Who is demonstrating functional fixedness?

A) Melissa uses her iPod headphones to listen to a CD on her computer.
B) Cindy puts her jacket on a coat hanger.
C) Roberto uses his baseball glove to play catch.
D) Albert cannot find another use for his leftover shingles.

Question 34

Carlos believes that all of the people from another part of his town are snobs. He believes that the students from this area are rich and spoiled. He is scheduled to perform with some of these students in an all-county musical presentation. If he assumes that these students are also rich and snobby, he is using ________ reasoning.

A) inductive
B) functional
C) critical
D) deductive

Question 35

Top down processing is to ________ reasoning as bottom up processing is to ________ reasoning.

A) inductive; deductive
B) inductive; critical
C) deductive; critical
D) deductive; inductive

Question 36

Maria is extremely active in politics. She has strong conservative beliefs about what is correct and what is not. Each day when she reads the newspaper, she pays close attention to the editorial section in particular. According to confirmation bias, what will she do when she reads them?

A) She will read all of the editorials to get a balanced view of issues.
B) She will only read the editorials that she agrees with.
C) She will read the editorials that she disagrees with to get another perspective on issues.
D) She will only read the editorials that are devoid of political issues.

Question 37

Every week during football season, Fred and his friends have fun following the local high school teams. Before the games, Fred never really talks too much about how the games will turn out. On Monday, however, it is a different scenario altogether. Fred is more than happy to share with his friends that the games came out exactly as he thought they would and why. Fred is demonstrating

A) overconfidence bias.
B) hindsight bias.
C) inductive reasoning.
D) deductive reasoning.

Question 38

Many smokers like to point to the late George Burns, a famous actor who smoked cigars continuously for many years and lived to be nearly a hundred, as evidence that smoking is relatively harmless. These individuals tend to ignore the thousands of people who die every year from lung cancer. They are utilizing

A) the availability heuristic.
B) confirmation bias.
C) the representativeness heuristic.
D) hindsight bias.

Question 39

Human beings will often reason from the specific to the general. That is, people often form general rules and concepts based on specific experiences and examples. This type of reasoning is termed

A) deductive.
B) retrospective.
C) inductive.
D) descriptive.

Question 40

Cathy just got transferred to a new department. She has long believed that her new supervisor is a cranky, disagreeable person. According to confirmation bias, what will Cathy most likely do on her first day in the new supervisor's department?

A) She will forget about the things she has thought about her new supervisor.
B) She will look for positive behaviors on the part of her supervisor.
C) She will share her feelings with the new supervisor.
D) She will look for negative behaviors on the part of the supervisor.

Question 41

A high school football coach decides to use the time taken to run up 100 stairs as a test for running endurance. He tests every team member on three consecutive days and finds that the times for each person are very much the same on all three trials. His test for endurance appears to have good

A) validity.
B) generalizability.
C) reliability.
D) All of these.

Question 42

You would be most likely to seek out information that refutes your hypothesis when you engage in

A) confirmation bias.
B) critical thinking.
C) convergent thinking.
D) hindsight bias.

Question 43

A mindful person is characterized by all of the following EXCEPT that he/she

A) has an active awareness.
B) engages in automatic behavior.
C) is mentally alert.
D) is aware of more than one perspective.

Question 44

Which of the following does NOT describe a critical thinker?

A) grasps the deeper meaning of ideas
B) has a sense of humility
C) relies on the opinion of more experienced others
D) questions assumptions

Question 45

Creative thinkers are NOT usually

A) flexible.
B) willing to take risks.
C) able to evaluate their work objectively.
D) motivated by the feedback of others.

Question 46

What type of thinking is required when trying to determine who you should hire from a stack of fifty resumes?

A) convergent
B) conceptual
C) automatic
D) divergent

Question 47

Who is LEAST likely to exhibit mindfulness as part of their regular job responsibilities?

A) an administrative assistant
B) a detective at a crime scene
C) the pilot of a plane
D) the usher at the movie theater

Question 48

Dr. Feelgood and Dr. Nogood both work at the local emergency room. Dr. Feelgood is almost always in a good mood whereas Dr. Nogood is seldom happy about anything. According to research, which physician would you want on duty if you have a medical emergency and why?

A) Dr. Feelgood - he is likely to come to the correct diagnosis more quickly than Dr. Nogood.
B) Dr. Feelgood - his positive attitude will help you recover faster.
C) Dr. Nogood - he is less likely to be distracted by the unimportant details of your situation.
D) Dr. Nogood - he is likely to think more seriously about the cause of your symptoms.

Question 49

If Sammy scores nearly the same every time he takes a test, we know for sure that the test is

A) valid.
B) reliable.
C) standardized.
D) All of these.

Question 50

You spend the day imagining the outcome of the upcoming football game. In the evening, a friend asks you what your favorite sport is and you say "football" even though basketball is actually your favorite. You have used and/or experienced

A) confirmation bias.
B) the availability heuristic.
C) hindsight bias.
D) divergency.

Question 51

Which of the following is NOT a descriptor of creative thinkers?

A) flexible
B) humorous
C) externally motivated
D) risk taker

Question 52

Which activity probably requires mindfulness?

A) riding a bike
B) combing your hair
C) brushing your teeth
D) studying psychology

Question 53

When scores on an intelligence test relate to important outcomes such as job performance, then the intelligence test has high

A) reliability.
B) criterion validity.
C) norms.
D) All of these.

Question 54

Being receptive to other ways of looking at things is best described as

A) prejudice.
B) hindsight bias.
C) automaticity.
D) open-mindedness.

Question 55

The fact that we hear about airplane crashes on the news more often than we hear about automobile crashes may lead us to believe that we are more likely to die in a plane than a car. This is an example of a(n)

A) subgoal strategy.
B) simulation heuristic.
C) availability heuristic.
D) representativeness heuristic.

Question 56

The concept of ________ is best defined as the ability to do well on cognitive tasks, to solve problems, and to learn from experience.

A) mindfulness
B) intelligence
C) reliability
D) reasoning

Question 57

Creative people are ________ thinkers.

A) divergent
B) convergent
C) rigid
D) Both A and B are correct.

Question 58

________ thinking occurs during brainstorming.

A) Convergent
B) Conceptual
C) Automatic
D) Divergent

Question 59

Samantha's belief that Gabe, who is muscular and wearing gym shorts, is a member of the football team is an example of

A) the availability heuristic.
B) confirmation bias.
C) the representativeness heuristic.
D) hindsight bias.

Question 60

________ thinking is best when a problem has only one right answer.

A) Convergent
B) Conceptual
C) Automatic
D) Divergent

Question 61

The "Termites" in Terman's study were a group of

A) creative thinkers.
B) below average students.
C) above average students.
D) musicians.

Question 62

Although participants routinely scored about the same every time, the new fire fighters aptitude test showed almost no correlation to their actual performance. This new test is

A) reliable and valid.
B) reliable but not valid.
C) not reliable but valid.
D) not reliable and not valid.

Question 63

According to the American Psychological Association, by late adolescence the heritability of intelligence is about ________ percent.

A) 25
B) 40
C) 55
D) 75

Question 64

You have been asked to review a set of test items that are being considered for a standardized intelligence test. The test constructors want to eliminate all items that contain any possible cultural bias. With this task in mind, which of the following questions would you eliminate first?

A) In what ways are boats and trains the same?
B) What would you wear if it were very cold outside?
C) What is the name of the main character in the Wizard of Oz?
D) What do flowers and trees have in common?

Question 65

By definition, people who are gifted have

A) an IQ of 130 or higher.
B) superior talent in a particular area.
C) superior creative thinking skills.
D) Either A or B.

Question 66

Dr. Ambrose feels that a particular intelligence test is probably culturally biased. Which of the following test questions would concern Dr. Ambrose the most?

A) Why do we need rain?
B) In which month of the year is the Super Bowl played?
C) What do we see in the sky at night?
D) In what way are balloons and airplanes the same?

Question 67

If a child's mental age is higher than her chronological age, this means that

A) her IQ is higher than normal.
B) her IQ is about average.
C) her IQ is lower than average.
D) a mistake has occurred since this result is not possible.

Question 68

Which of the following is NOT an aspect of adaptive behavior?

A) conceptual skills
B) practical skills
C) social skills
D) motor skills

Question 69

If an intelligence test produces the same score over multiple administrations but it does not accurately measure intelligence, then the test is ________ but not ________.

A) standardized; normed
B) normed; standardized
C) reliable; valid
D) valid; reliable

Question 70

A 6-year-old child with a mental age of 6 would have a ratio IQ of

A) 90.
B) 100.
C) 110.
D) 120.

Question 71

Professor Torgesen reports that more than eighty percent of the variation in memory capabilities can be explained by heritability. This means that environmental factors

A) can still play a critical role in the shaping of one's memory.
B) will play no role in the shaping of one's memory.
C) will contribute as much as heritability in the shaping of one's memory.
D) will play a minor role in shaping one's memory.

Question 72

The batting averages of major league baseball players have shown a steady increase over the last thirty years. This parallels which observation made from the world of intelligence testing?

A) recency effect
B) primacy effect
C) Flynn effect
D) Whorf effect

Question 73

Gifted children are

A) highly intelligent.
B) socially maladjusted.
C) superior or talented.
D) Both A and C are correct.

Question 74

If an outcome measure is normally distributed, this means that

A) all scores are around the average score.
B) some scores are well below average, but the other scores are above average.
C) most scores are around the average with some scores being lower or higher.
D) all scores are at the average range or higher.

Question 75

Which item would most likely appear on a culturally-fair test?

A) asking subjects to name the planets
B) asking subjects to put together a puzzle
C) asking subjects to add together two plus two
D) asking subjects to tell a story in their own language

Question 76

Most subjects in Terman's study were

A) maladjusted.
B) doctors, lawyers, and business people.
C) highly innovative.
D) below average intelligence.

Question 77

Jorge's parents talked and communicated with him a great deal from the time he was born. Based on the research in the text, which of the following statements is TRUE in regards to Jorge's IQ?

A) The stimulation provided by Jorge's parents will positively affect his IQ.
B) The stimulation provided by Jorge's parents will have little affect on his IQ.
C) There is no relationship between how much Jorge's parents talked with him and his IQ score.
D) There is no relationship between any parental influences and Jorge's IQ.

Question 78

Challenges to writing culturally-fair test questions include ________ factors.

A) time
B) language
C) experience
D) All of these.

Question 79

A psychologist has developed a new test to measure the verbal ability of third graders. To determine the range of scores (and what is a good and bad score), he gives the test to 10,000 third graders. In the future, he will compare the performance of others to this reference group. This process of determining meaningful scores establishes testing

A) criteria.
B) validity.
C) reliability.
D) norms.

Question 80

The new term for "mental retardation" is

A) intellectual disability.
B) intellectual difference.
C) intellectual exceptionality.
D) intellectual digression.