Question 1

According to the discussion of representativeness,

Accepted Answer

A)  we believe that random-looking outcomes are more likely than orderly-looking outcomes. 
B)  we take sample size into account when we make decisions. 
C)  we take base rates into account when we make decisions. 
D)  we are underconfident when we make decisions in a laboratory setting.

Question 2

Which of the following students provides the most accurate information about the representativeness heuristic?

Accepted Answer

A)  Ko-Eun: "We use the representativeness heuristic when we judge frequency in terms of how easily we can think of examples of a category." 
B)  Tianna: "The representativeness heuristic demonstrates that we initially make a guess, and then we make modest adjustments to that initial guess." 
C)  Brandon: "When using the representativeness heuristic, we overemphasize the base rate and don't pay enough attention to the availability heuristic." 
D)  Celia: "The representativeness heuristic typically works well, although we tend to ignore other relevant information that we should consider."

Question 3

Suppose that a quiz show host asks a contestant which city in France has the greater population, Paris or Nantes. The contestant immediately responds, "Paris." According to the discussion of decision making,

Accepted Answer

A)  this is an example of an illusory correlation. 
B)  people usually have difficulty in answering questions that use the anchoring and adjustment heuristic. 
C)  this is a variant of the representativeness heuristic. 
D)  this is an example of the recognition heuristic.

Question 4

Which of the following students provides the most accurate information about the belief-bias effect?

Accepted Answer

A)  Tabitha: "The belief-bias effect means that novices are not as accurate as experts when solving reasoning problems." 
B)  Pilar: "The belief-bias effect demonstrates that top-down processes are active when we use deductive reasoning." 
C)  Joell: "Flexible thinkers are especially likely to make mistakes due to the belief-bias effect." 
D)  Abilash: "The belief-bias effect operates for syllogisms, but not for conditional reasoning problems."

Question 5

Suppose that you are trying to decide whether to buy tomatoes or cucumbers in a grocery store. You think about the wide variety of recipes that use tomatoes, compared with only a few recipes that use cucumbers. You are using

Accepted Answer

A)  the representativeness heuristic. 
B)  the anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic. 
C)  the availability heuristic. 
D)  the confirmation bias.

Question 6

According to the discussion of logical reasoning,

Accepted Answer

A)  conditional reasoning does not seem to require the use of working memory. 
B)  conditional reasoning is the one area in which negative information and positive information are equally easy to process. 
C)  people usually perform better on conditional reasoning problems if the statements are concrete, rather than abstract. 
D)  surprisingly, people actually have more trouble solving a concrete problem than an abstract problem.

Question 7

Here is a reasoning problem: If Mary is a psychology major at your college then she must take statistics. Mary graduates from your college without taking statistics. Therefore, Mary is not a psychology major. What kind of problem is this?

Accepted Answer

A)  Analogy 
B)  Conditional reasoning problem 
C)  The crystal-ball technique 
D)  Syllogism

Question 8

According to the discussion of the confirmation bias in deductive reasoning,

Accepted Answer

A)  the confirmation bias slightly increases the accuracy of answers for novices. 
B)  the confirmation bias typically occurs when people rely too strongly on the crystal-ball technique. 
C)  the confirmation bias means that people prefer to demonstrate that a hypothesis is true, rather than to demonstrate that it is false. 
D)  typically only about 10% of college students tend to show the confirmation bias.

Question 9

The discussion about conditional reasoning pointed out that

Accepted Answer

A)  the easiest kind of conditional reasoning task is denying the consequent. 
B)  conditional reasoning tasks are much more difficult to solve than syllogisms. 
C)  negative terms (e.g., never) do not affect the difficulty of a conditional reasoning problem. 
D)  the central executive is especially active on conditional reasoning tasks.

Question 10

Consider the following problem: "Some college students are bright. All bright people are hard working. Therefore, all college students are hard working." What kind of thinking task does this problem represent?

Accepted Answer

A)  Propositional reasoning 
B)  Problem solving 
C)  A syllogism 
D)  Decision making

Question 11

Suppose you have a friend who is just beginning college, and she plans to go to school half-time. She estimates that she will earn her bachelor's degree in about 7 years, rather than 8 years. It is most likely that she

Accepted Answer

A)  is avoiding the use of the recognition heuristic. 
B)  is using a syllogism inappropriately. 
C)  is falling victim to the planning fallacy. 
D)  should make better use of conditional reasoning.

Question 12

Studies on the belief-bias effect conclude that

Accepted Answer

A)  in general, people select answers that are correct from a logical standpoint. 
B)  the anchoring and adjustment heuristic often operates inappropriately. 
C)  people typically have the biased belief that they ought to affirm the consequent. 
D)  people often select answers that are "common sense" rather than logically correct.

Question 13

Suppose that you see a male student on your campus who is wearing a suit and a tie. You conclude, "He must be a business major; he couldn't be a psychology major." However, your college has twice as many psychology majors as business majors. Your decision is apparently guided by

Accepted Answer

A)  confirmation bias. 
B)  the representativeness heuristic. 
C)  my-side bias. 
D)  the anchoring and adjustment heuristic.

Question 14

The research on logical reasoning shows that the confirmation bias is especially likely to operate when the participants

Accepted Answer

A)  are working on an ecologically valid task, rather than a task in the psychology laboratory. 
B)  use a diagram to solve the problem, rather than solving it "in their heads." 
C)  are working on a task that focuses on arbitrary stimuli, rather than on human interactions. 
D)  rely too heavily on bottom-up processes.

Question 15

Jeff is concerned that the framing effect may be influencing his decision to study abroad next semester. According to Chapter 12, an effective way to correct for the framing effect is to

Accepted Answer

A)  see whether he can come up with some representative counter-examples. 
B)  apply the anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic to see whether the decision can be appropriately adjusted. 
C)  consider how many positive and how many negative examples come readily to mind. 
D)  consider how he would feel about not studying abroad next semester.

Question 16

Research on the belief-bias effect shows that

Accepted Answer

A)  it is especially likely to operate for experts. 
B)  people who earn high scores on a test of flexible thinking are especially likely to demonstrate the belief-bias effect. 
C)  familiar statements often lead people to use "common sense" rather than logical reasoning. 
D)  it emphasizes how people exaggerate their bottom-up processing.

Question 17

Anchoring and adjustment is relevant when we estimate confidence intervals because

Accepted Answer

A)  we are overconfident about the adjustment process. 
B)  we rely too heavily on the anchor. 
C)  we make adjustments in our estimates that are larger than they should be. 
D)  we should apply the adjustment prior to the anchor.

Question 18

According to the research on the classic "selection task" (involving the cards that contain a letter and a number),

Accepted Answer

A)  accuracy often depends on factors such as the concreteness and familiarity of the problem. 
B)  performance is better when people use top-down processing. 
C)  surprisingly, people perform better when the task is abstract than when it is concrete. 
D)  people prefer to use syllogisms, rather than conditional reasoning.

Question 19

Yesterday, Dr. Ling announced to his biopsychology class, "If we are going to have a review session on Tuesday, everyone in the class will receive an e-mail message on Friday." Elspeth is enrolled in the class, and she did not receive a message on Friday. Based on these premises, she concludes that the class will not have a review session on Tuesday. She is using the kind of reasoning known as

Accepted Answer

A)  affirming the antecedent. 
B)  affirming the consequent. 
C)  denying the antecedent. 
D)  denying the consequent.

Question 20

Researchers such as Gerd Gigerenzer argue that people create a wide variety of heuristics that generally help them make adaptive decisions in the real world-a point of view referred to as

Accepted Answer

A)  anchoring and adjustment. 
B)  irrational decision making. 
C)  framing. 
D)  ecological rationality.

Exam 12: Deductive Reasoning and Decision Making