Question 1

Of all the decisions we make in our lives,we are most likely to express the greatest regret regarding our education and career choices because there are few alternatives from which to choose.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False  False

Question 2

A child is practicing scales on his piano.His mother can't wait until he learns some chords so that she can hear several notes together,rather than one note at a time.In psychological terms,to what are the scales comparable?

Accepted Answer

A)  serial processes
B)  parallel processes
C)  stimulus categorization
D)  response selection A

Question 3

In a study described in the textbook,people read passages that put them in the middle of scenes with objects spread around them.They read,for example,"Directly behind you at eye level is an ornate lamp attached to the balcony wall." When asked to recall the details of the scenes,how did the participants respond?

Accepted Answer

A)  They took more time to say what objects were in front of them.
B)  They took more time to say what objects were behind them.
C)  They showed no differences in responses based on spatial position.
D)  They took more time to say what objects were the farthest distance away. B

Question 4

In a study that is described in the textbook,participants carried out two types of reasoning tasks while their brains were undergoing PET scans.What were the results of this study?

Accepted Answer

A)  reasoning tasks produced an equal amount of activity in right and left hemispheres.
B)  inductive and deductive reasoning produced greater activation in the right hemisphere.
C)  inductive and deductive reasoning produced greater activation in the left hemisphere.
D)  deductive reasoning produced greater activation in the right hemisphere,and inductive reasoning produced greater activation in the left hemisphere.

Question 5

What is a spoonerism?

Accepted Answer

A)  a brief verbal exchange indicating love or affection.
B)  the belief that one has had an experience previously,though the exact context cannot be recalled.
C)  the feeling that a word is on the "tip of one's tongue."
D)  an exchange of the initial sounds of two or more words in a phrase or sentence.

Question 6

Which form of deductive reasoning was introduced by the Greek philosopher Aristotle over 2,000 years ago?

Accepted Answer

A)  the algorithm.
B)  the heuristic.
C)  the syllogism.
D)  inductive reasoning.

Question 7

Jerry's chair has begun to wobble because a screw has gotten a little loose.Jerry puts in a work order to the maintenance department as a means to resolve the problem.Which term refers to Jerry's inability to realize that a dime from his own pocket could also have been used as a means to resolve the problem?

Accepted Answer

A)  the availability heuristic.
B)  functional fixedness.
C)  inductive reasoning.
D)  the belief-bias effect.

Question 8

Terri is driving on the 1st of July to a city that she has never visited.There is no place to park and the traffic seems very heavy.As she looks for a parking place,she see streams of people heading toward the main street which has been blocked off to traffic.Not certain of what to make of all this,Terri thinks a few seconds and determines that a parade is imminent.What process has Terri used to arrive at this conclusion?

Accepted Answer

A)  analogical problem solving.
B)  the availability heuristic.
C)  deductive reasoning.
D)  inductive reasoning.

Question 9

Debi is learning a complex dance routine but finds all of the details overwhelming.According to the research on problem solving,what should Debi do to improve her performance?

Accepted Answer

A)  adopt an availability heuristic.
B)  focus on the components that are easiest to perform.
C)  practice each behaviour separately until each component of the routine requires less effort.
D)  use think-aloud protocols to gain insight into the task demands.

Question 10

Which of the following is an example of decision making?

Accepted Answer

A)  She chose the job that paid less but offered more opportunities for advancement.
B)  He felt the teacher was pompous,arrogant,and self-centered,just like himself.
C)  She loves the taste of fresh fruit on her morning cereal.
D)  Though it wasn't true,he told people that the reason he didn't go to graduate school was because he couldn't afford it.

Question 11

Research on the way decisions are framed suggests that framing in terms of gains leads to better decision making than framing in terms of losses.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

Bill has just read the sentence,"The man in the back row has green hair." Based on research on propositional representation in memory,will the words "man" and "hair" be represented in memory together?

Accepted Answer

A)  Yes,because these words belong to the same proposition.
B)  Yes,because these words have strong meaningful associations.
C)  No,because they are separated by many other words in the actual sentence.
D)  No,because the link between the two words is somewhat unusual.

Question 13

Participants in an experiment were asked to estimate the duration of Mars' orbit around the sun.What was the average estimation?

Accepted Answer

A)  shorter than it actually is.
B)  much longer than it actually is.
C)  almost exactly what it really is.
D)  the same duration as the Earth's orbit.

Question 14

Under which condition does belief bias exist?

Accepted Answer

A)  when there is a conflict between two types of mental processes used in deductive reasoning.
B)  when a real-world model cannot be used to validate conclusions.
C)  if a person has had no personal experience with the logical elements in the syllogism.
D)  if the individual making the judgment has committed logical errors in the past.

Question 15

A(n)__________ is similar to a textbook problem in which initial state,goal state,and operations are all clearly specified,whereas a(n)__________ may not have a clear intial state,goal state,or clearly defined operations.

Accepted Answer

The answer of A(n)__________ is similar to a textbook problem...

Question 16

Josh is so excited to try surfing tomorrow.He has never tried it before,but he is certain that he will be able to master it because he is a talented skateboarder.Which cognitive strategy is Josh using?

Accepted Answer

A)  Availability heuristic
B)  Serial processing
C)  Representativeness heuristic
D)  Inductive reasoning

Question 17

Clay is asked to list in order four countries with respect to their literacy rates,something about which he has no specific knowledge.If Clay's responses are typical,what is the accuracy of his judgment most likely to depend upon?

Accepted Answer

A)  his use of the representativeness heuristic.
B)  his general knowledge about each country.
C)  the mood he is in when he makes the ratings.
D)  the anchoring heuristic.

Question 18

The task of balancing a checkbook is a good example of a well-defined problem.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 19

Misha is attempting to solve a problem through analogical reasoning.How should Misha increase her chances of being successful?

Accepted Answer

A)  focus on making creative links among ideas.
B)  use past experiences with similar problems.
C)  make use of abstract analogies.
D)  avoid a dependence upon common underlying structures.

Question 20

According to Herbert Simon,what underlies the "bounded rationality" of human thought processes?

Accepted Answer

A)  the tendency of humans to be too constrained by past experiences.
B)  utilizing deductive reasoning rather than inductive problem-solving techniques.
C)  applying limited resources to situations that require a quick response.
D)  the overwhelming evolutionary significance of language development.

Exam 9: A: Cognitive Processes

Of all the decisions we make in our lives,we are most likely to express the greatest regret regarding our education and career choices because there are few alternatives from which to choose.

A child is practicing scales on his piano.His mother can't wait until he learns some chords so that she can hear several notes together,rather than one note at a time.In psychological terms,to what are the scales comparable?

In a study that is described in the textbook,participants carried out two types of reasoning tasks while their brains were undergoing PET scans.What were the results of this study?

What is a spoonerism?

Which form of deductive reasoning was introduced by the Greek philosopher Aristotle over 2,000 years ago?

Debi is learning a complex dance routine but finds all of the details overwhelming.According to the research on problem solving,what should Debi do to improve her performance?

Which of the following is an example of decision making?

Research on the way decisions are framed suggests that framing in terms of gains leads to better decision making than framing in terms of losses.

Bill has just read the sentence,"The man in the back row has green hair." Based on research on propositional representation in memory,will the words "man" and "hair" be represented in memory together?

Participants in an experiment were asked to estimate the duration of Mars' orbit around the sun.What was the average estimation?

Under which condition does belief bias exist?

A(n) is similar to a textbook problem in which initial state,goal state,and operations are all clearly specified,whereas a(n) may not have a clear intial state,goal state,or clearly defined operations.

Josh is so excited to try surfing tomorrow.He has never tried it before,but he is certain that he will be able to master it because he is a talented skateboarder.Which cognitive strategy is Josh using?

Clay is asked to list in order four countries with respect to their literacy rates,something about which he has no specific knowledge.If Clay's responses are typical,what is the accuracy of his judgment most likely to depend upon?

The task of balancing a checkbook is a good example of a well-defined problem.

Misha is attempting to solve a problem through analogical reasoning.How should Misha increase her chances of being successful?

According to Herbert Simon,what underlies the "bounded rationality" of human thought processes?