Question 1

The availability heuristic refers to our tendency to

Accepted Answer

A)  overestimate the accuracy of our judgments. 
B)  estimate the likelihood of an event based on how easily we remember instances of its occurrence. 
C)  search for information that is consistent with our preconceptions. 
D)  cling to our initial conceptions,even though they have been discredited.

Question 2

Kevin succeeds in getting his children to do chores by using threats.He fails to recognize that kindness would be even more effective in gaining their cooperation.Kevin's shortsightedness best illustrates a consequence of

Accepted Answer

A)  intuition. 
B)  the availability heuristic. 
C)  an algorithm. 
D)  a mental set.

Question 3

Max is so used to thinking that a tough competitive style of behavior is the best way to impress others that he fails to recognize that the most effective way to impress his girlfriend is with cooperative tenderness.Max's oversight best illustrates

Accepted Answer

A)  a fixation. 
B)  the framing effect. 
C)  an algorithm. 
D)  divergent thinking.

Question 4

Professor Pegler's research efforts focus on how the use of heuristics influences the way people assess financial risks.Which specialty area does his research best represent?

Accepted Answer

A)  developmental psychology 
B)  biological psychology 
C)  cognitive psychology 
D)  personality psychology

Question 5

Recently experienced local weather conditions often have a greater impact on people's perceived threat of global climate warming than less memorable scientific data regarding long-term planetary weather trends.This best illustrates the impact of

Accepted Answer

A)  confirmation bias. 
B)  the framing effect. 
C)  the availability heuristic. 
D)  belief perseverance.

Question 6

A televised image of a starving child had a greater impact on Mr.White's perception of how widespread hunger is than did a statistical chart summarizing the worldwide scope of the problem.This suggests that his understanding of the world hunger problem was influenced by

Accepted Answer

A)  belief perseverance. 
B)  an algorithm. 
C)  confirmation bias. 
D)  the availability heuristic.

Question 7

Forest-dwelling chimpanzees use a light,flexible stick for fishing for termites.This illustrates their naturally developed use of

Accepted Answer

A)  prototypes. 
B)  tools. 
C)  heuristics. 
D)  algorithms.

Question 8

People with a superficial understanding of proposals for political change often express excessively strong pro or con views.This best illustrates the impact of

Accepted Answer

A)  overconfidence. 
B)  divergent thinking. 
C)  the framing effect. 
D)  an algorithm.

Question 9

By encouraging people to imagine their homes being destroyed by winds from a hurricane,insurance salespeople are especially successful at selling expensive homeowners' policies.They are most clearly exploiting the influence of

Accepted Answer

A)  belief perseverance. 
B)  an algorithm. 
C)  overconfidence. 
D)  the availability heuristic.

Question 10

Dr.Schmidt is convinced that playing violent video games is not associated with aggressive behavior in children.When presented with research showing a link between the two,Dr.Schmidt ignores the evidence by claiming the research is flawed.He has engaged in

Accepted Answer

A)  the framing effect. 
B)  motivated reasoning. 
C)  belief perseverance. 
D)  the availability heuristic.

Question 11

People are likely to take less time to recognize a woman as a nurse than a man as a nurse because a woman more closely resembles their nurse

Accepted Answer

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

Question 12

Estimating the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent,or match,particular prototypes is referred to as

Accepted Answer

A)  overconfidence. 
B)  the representativeness heuristic. 
C)  belief perseverance. 
D)  the availability heuristic.

Question 13

People told that a chemical in the air is projected to kill 10 of every 10,000 people feel more frightened than if told the fatality risk is one-tenth of 1 percent.This best illustrates the importance of

Accepted Answer

A)  a fixation. 
B)  overconfidence. 
C)  confirmation bias. 
D)  framing.

Question 14

Insight refers to

Accepted Answer

A)  a simple thinking strategy for solving problems quickly. 
B)  a sudden realization of the solution to a problem. 
C)  expanding the number of possible solutions to a problem. 
D)  solving problems by means of trial and error.

Question 15

Ojinska sold many more raffle tickets when she told people they had a 10 percent chance of winning a prize than when she told them they had a 90 percent chance of not winning.This best illustrates the importance of

Accepted Answer

A)  the availability heuristic. 
B)  belief perseverance. 
C)  confirmation bias. 
D)  framing.

Question 16

Despite overwhelming and highly publicized evidence that Senator McEwan was guilty of serious political corruption and misconduct,many who had supported her in past elections remained convinced of her political integrity.Their reaction best illustrates

Accepted Answer

A)  the framing effect. 
B)  the planning fallacy. 
C)  belief perseverance. 
D)  the availability heuristic.

Question 17

Professor Chadwick evaluated a graduate student's research proposal negatively simply because he had heard a rumor about the student's incompetence.When later informed that the rumor had been patently false,the professor's assessment of the student's research proposal remained almost as negative as it had been originally.This best illustrates

Accepted Answer

A)  the representativeness heuristic. 
B)  the availability heuristic. 
C)  belief perseverance. 
D)  framing.

Question 18

________ may lead us to ignore other relevant information as we intuitively compare something to a particular prototype.

Accepted Answer

A)  Overconfidence 
B)  The representativeness heuristic 
C)  Belief perseverance 
D)  The availability heuristic

Question 19

The inability to solve the matchstick problem may be associated with

Accepted Answer

A)  algorithms. 
B)  fixation. 
C)  prototypes. 
D)  cognition.

Question 20

Expanding the number of possible solutions to a problem illustrates

Accepted Answer

A)  the availability heuristic. 
B)  a mental set. 
C)  belief perseverance. 
D)  divergent thinking.

Exam 26: Storage: Retaining Information