William Is Trying to Calculate the Price of His Groceries

Multiple Choice

William is trying to calculate the price of his groceries in his head.He has four apples for 35¢ each, five potatoes for 15¢ each, and three cake mixes for $2.25 each.He begins by thinking to himself, "Let's see, 4 times 35¢ is what? Two times 35¢ is 70¢, and then 2 times 70¢ is $1.40.And then what do I do next? Oh, yes, I need to know what 5 times 15 equals.I can't remember, but let's see if I can figure it out...." From the perspective of cognitive psychology, William may have trouble solving the problem because:

A) He is using an inappropriate heuristic.
B) He is encoding the problem incorrectly.
C) He is demonstrating a counterproductive mental set with regard to his use of multiplication facts.
D) His working memory capacity may be insufficient to hold and process all the information.