Question 1

When people try to solve problems, which feature of the problem should they emphasize the most?

Accepted Answer

A)  Structural features 
B)  Surface features 
C)  Schematic features 
D)  Algorithms

Question 2

According to the discussion of visual imagery during problem solving,

Accepted Answer

A)  visual images can be nontraditional, so they are sometimes more helpful than symbols and other methods of representing a problem. 
B)  surprisingly, people who are high in visual-imagery abilities are no more likely than other people to use imagery effectively during problem solving. 
C)  visual imagery is helpful only if problem solvers are initially instructed to visualize a familiar object. 
D)  a disadvantage to visual imagery is that it can only be used if you have a clear idea about the solution to the problem.

Question 3

Chapter 11 discusses the effects of ethnic and gender stereotypes on a test that measures math problem-solving ability. This research shows that

Accepted Answer

A)  Asian women perform relatively well if their ethnicity is emphasized before they begin the math test. 
B)  Asian women perform relatively well if their gender is emphasized before they begin the math test. 
C)  European American women are not aware of stereotypes, and so they perform better than Asian women. 
D)  There were no ethnic or gender differences in this study, showing that stereotypes in these two areas are no longer relevant in math problem solving.

Question 4

In computer simulation, the computer is programmed

Accepted Answer

A)  to perform a task the same way that a human would. 
B)  to perform a task that matches the minimum performance of a human problem solver. 
C)  to use algorithms, but not heuristics. 
D)  to solve a problem as efficiently as possible.

Question 5

Chapter 11 compared how-on some tasks-experts and novices use parallel processing. According to this discussion,

Accepted Answer

A)  novices use parallel processing more than experts do. 
B)  experts use parallel processing more than novices do. 
C)  when researchers have controlled for the kind of problem that is being solved, experts and novices make similar use of parallel processing. 
D)  both experts and novices make too much use of parallel processing.

Question 6

Imagine that you are currently trying to solve a problem. Which of the following statements about attention would be relevant to your situation?

Accepted Answer

A)  You may experience divided attention because of distracting ideas. 
B)  If it is a real-world problem, divided attention is not likely to present a problem. 
C)  If it is a real-world problem, the appropriate part of the problem-the part that requires attention-should be obvious. 
D)  Although attention is important in problem solving, good problem solvers and poor problem solvers do not differ in their ability to pay attention to specific inconsistencies.

Question 7

Heather and Tom want to bake some blueberry muffins, but they do not have a muffin tin. So Heather takes some soda cans out of the recycling bin, Tom cuts the top 2 inches off of each can, and they use the bottoms of the cans to bake their muffins. Tom and Heather have demonstrated

Accepted Answer

A)  a fixed mindset. 
B)  use of an algorithm. 
C)  overcoming functional fixedness. 
D)  the means-end analysis heuristic.

Question 8

People are especially likely to use analogies effectively in problem solving

Accepted Answer

A)  when they are well trained in means-ends analysis. 
B)  when they have been trained to pay attention to structural similarities. 
C)  when they are working on an ill-defined problem. 
D)  when they are trying to solve a problem that is unrelated to other problems they have recently solved.

Question 9

Which of the following students' summaries about metacognition and problem solving is the most accurate?

Accepted Answer

A)  Delmer: "Our metacognitions are typically more accurate for insight problems than for noninsight problems." 
B)  Midori: "Students are not able to predict how well they are doing on a wide variety of problem-solving tasks." 
C)  Saundra: "On insight problems, our confidence increases suddenly; on noninsight problems, our confidence builds up gradually." 
D)  Steve: "Students typically have a feeling that they know the solution when they are several steps away from solving a problem-whether the problem is an insight problem or a noninsight problem."

Question 10

According to the research on expertise and problem solving,

Accepted Answer

A)  expert chess-players are much better than novices at remembering random arrangements of chess pieces. 
B)  expert problem-solvers are more likely than novices to emphasize structural features in the representation of a problem. 
C)  experts and novices are similar in their usage of means-ends heuristics. 
D)  experts are skilled at judging whether a problem will be difficult for novices to solve.

Question 11

A major problem with the hill-climbing heuristic is that

Accepted Answer

A)  people choose the most direct route at every choice point, even though an indirect route may be better in the long run. 
B)  people are inefficient in dividing the problem into the appropriate subproblems. 
C)  people typically show functional fixedness. 
D)  people are too likely to move backwards, rather than forwards.

Question 12

An important potential problem with using symbols to represent a problem is that

Accepted Answer

A)  people typically use at least twice as many symbols as they need. 
B)  people usually construct a hierarchical tree diagram, even though they intended to use symbols. 
C)  people insert the symbols into the wrong matrix. 
D)  people have trouble translating words into the appropriate symbols.

Question 13

Suppose that you learned to make peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches by spreading peanut butter on one piece of bread, jelly on the other, and then placing the two pieces together. You are now making sandwiches for a crowd, and you use this same strategy. However, it would be more efficient to first spread peanut butter on half the pieces, and then spread jelly on the other half. Your inefficient problem solving illustrates the concept called

Accepted Answer

A)  parallel processing. 
B)  insight. 
C)  mental set. 
D)  problem isomorphs.

Question 14

Which of the following students provides the best summary of the relationship between expertise and top-down/bottom-up processing?

Accepted Answer

A)  Carrie: "Expert problem solvers tend to emphasize top-down processing because this framework provides the best overview of the problem." 
B)  María Elena: "Expert problem solvers use their knowledge (top-down processing), but they also attend to the unique features of the problem (bottom-up processing)." 
C)  Raoul: "The basic problem is that experts consistently overuse bottom-up processing, and they ignore top-down processing." 
D)  Herbie: "Experts make too much use of bottom-up processing; novices make too much use of top-down processing."

Question 15

Working memory is important when people are trying to solve an algebra "word problem" because

Accepted Answer

A)  you need to keep the important parts of the problem in your mind while working on the problem. 
B)  these problems usually involve objects that have different shapes and sizes, so it's naturally a difficult task. 
C)  these problems do not use the phonological loop, so it's especially difficult to discover the solution. 
D)  people often miss the obvious solution, and they therefore have to try again.

Question 16

According to the research on mental sets,

Accepted Answer

A)  mental set is an overreliance on bottom-up processing. 
B)  mental set is especially helpful when you are trying to solve a problem creatively. 
C)  people may produce inferior problem solutions if they are shown examples of possible solutions before they try to solve the problem. 
D)  mental sets neither help nor hinder problem solving.

Question 17

Chapter 11 describes the relationship between several personality characteristics and creativity. According to the research by Veena Pradhu and her colleagues, students are likely to be more creative if

Accepted Answer

A)  they are low in self-efficacy. 
B)  they are low in intrinsic motivation. 
C)  they are high in intrinsic motivation 
D)  they are high in extrinsic motivation.

Question 18

According to the discussion of problem-solving approaches, the hill-climbing heuristic

Accepted Answer

A)  can only be used when you represent the problem in terms of visual imagery. 
B)  is one of the most sophisticated problem-solving heuristics. 
C)  is often used if you do not have information on how to reach your goal, so you select the best option at each choice point. 
D)  is especially helpful when a problem requires you to move backwards in order to eventually move forwards.

Question 19

Suppose that Ramón is a Latino college student who is taking a course in engineering. He is about to take the first exam in this course. He looks around the room and notices that he appears to be the only Latino student in the class. Ramón is likely to experience

Accepted Answer

A)  functional fixedness. 
B)  bottom-up processing. 
C)  stereotype threat. 
D)  intrinsic motivation.

Question 20

A major problem with using the analogy approach to problem solving is that

Accepted Answer

A)  people pay too little attention to structural features. 
B)  people pay too little attention to surface features. 
C)  people select an inappropriate matrix to represent their understanding of the problem. 
D)  people perform an exhaustive search, which is a time-consuming approach to problem solving.

Exam 11: Problem Solving and Creativity