Deck 9: Thinking

Question 1

Any time we try to solve a problem, judge the truth of an assertion, or weigh the costs and benefits of an important decision, we are engaging in __________.

A) directed thinking
B) analogical representation
C) automaticity
D) mental rotation

Answer 1

directed thinking

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT an example of directed thinking?

A) trying to identify a partially completed word in a crossword puzzle
B) trying to figure out how to make your paper airplane more aerodynamic
C) remembering and laughing about the previous night's escapades
D) planning how to break off a relationship without causing a scene

Answer 2

remembering and laughing about the previous night's escapades

Question 3

The Arabic number 3 is an example of a(n) __________ representation.

A) mental
B) hypothetical
C) analogical
D) symbolic

Answer 3

symbolic

Question 4

Which of the following best exemplifies the use of the word think as it is typically studied by psychologists?

A) "I think that the United States' policy toward Central America in the 1980s was immoral."
B) "I think she really is in love with me."
C) "I could not think of who John Locke was."
D) "I will try to think through the answer to that physics problem."

Question 5

Which of the following could be called both a symbolic and an analogical representation?

A) the Roman numeral III
B) the green light on a traffic signal
C) the words "Her Royal Highness," meaning Queen Elizabeth II
D) an aerial photograph of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens

Question 6

Research indicates that __________.

A) images are easier to reinterpret than are pictures
B) pictures are easier to reinterpret than are images
C) there is little overlap between visualizing and perceiving
D) visualizing activates the brain more than perceiving does

Question 7

Psychological research on thinking is focused mainly on which of the following?

A) reasoning
B) attending to
C) believing
D) remembering

Question 8

Content is to process as __________ is to __________.

A) thinking; mental representation
B) mental representation; thinking
C) proposition; image
D) image; proposition

Question 9

What does research on visual imagery indicate?

A) The same brain areas are involved in visual perception and visual imagery.
B) People who lose the ability to perceive colors often also lose the ability to imagine colors.
C) People who lose the ability to perceive fine detail often also lose the ability to see fine detail in visual imagery.
D) Different brain areas are involved in visual perception than in visual imagery.

Question 10

Subjects are given an unfamiliar map with several points highlighted and are asked to study it. Later, without looking at the map, they are asked to picture an object moving from one of the highlighted points to another. What will the results of this test most likely show?

A) "Travel" time is unrelated to how far apart the points are.
B) Response times vary, such that points that are farther apart take longer for the object to "travel" than points that are closer together.
C) This task does not involve analogical processes.
D) This task contradicts findings from other mental rotation studies.

Question 11

Which of the following statements best captures the relationship among mental representations, images, and propositions?

A) Propositions and images are symbolic, whereas representations are analog.
B) Propositions and representations are types of images.
C) Images and representations are types of propositions.
D) Images and propositions are types of representations.

Question 12

A road sign showing the silhouette of a jumping deer is an example of a(n) __________ representation.

A) symbolic
B) analogical
C) hypothetical
D) psychological

Question 13

The Roman numeral X is an example of a(n) __________ representation.

A) symbolic
B) analogical
C) hypothetical
D) psychological

Question 14

Which finding indicates that mental images are picturelike but not actually mental pictures?

A) Mental images cannot be rotated.
B) Mental images cannot be scanned.
C) Mental images are difficult to reinterpret.
D) Mental images are easily reinterpreted.

Question 15

A TV satellite weather map that shows cloud cover and the outlines of bodies of water could be called a(n) __________ representation.

A) mental
B) hypothetical
C) analogical
D) symbolic

Question 16

Which definition of the term to think is most interesting to psychologists who study directed thinking?

A) to believe
B) to reason
C) to remember
D) to exist

Question 17

Several students are studying the "Thinking" chapter in their psychology text for an upcoming test. Which of the following students is offering an INCORRECT definition of one of the concepts in the chapter?

A) Ari: "A mental representation is some content in the mind that stands for some object or state of affairs."
B) Brandon: "A proposition is an analogical mental representation."
C) Celeste: "A mental image is a symbolic type of mental representation."
D) Dana: "Thinking refers to contents in the mind that represent something in the world."

Question 18

Amy enjoys reading murder mysteries because she likes to try to figure out "whodunit" before she gets to the end of the novel. Psychologists who study thought and knowledge would call Amy's attempt to solve the mystery __________.

A) thinking, as it is used as a close synonym for a system of beliefs
B) directed thinking
C) chunking
D) using a mental set

Question 19

Several students are studying the "Thinking" chapter in their psychology text for an upcoming test. Which of the following students is offering a CORRECT example of one of the concepts in the chapter?

A) Ellen: "Diagrams are a good example of propositions."
B) Francesca: "A picture of a car is a symbolic representation."
C) Giovanni: "A blueprint of a house is an analogical representation."
D) Hailey: "A written sentence is a form of analogical representation."

Question 20

Unlike images, words are typically __________.

A) analogical
B) tangible
C) nonrepresentational
D) symbolic

Question 21

Propositions __________.

A) can't be said to be either true or false
B) relate a subject and a predicate
C) are analogical representations
D) are combinations of concepts by association

Question 22

Research participants were shown an ambiguous picture they had never seen before. Depending on its orientation, the picture can look like either a duck or a rabbit. The picture was removed, and the participants were then asked to imagine the image and to describe what it looked like: all "saw" either a duck or rabbit. An additional finding was that __________.

A) not one of the participants was able to reverse the mental image
B) over time, participants "saw" morphed duck/rabbits-part duck, part rabbit imagery
C) the ducks were judged to be scarier than the rabbits
D) the rabbits were judged to be scarier than the ducks

Question 23

In the sentence "The zebra is suspicious of the zookeeper," the phrase "is suspicious of the zookeeper" serves as __________.

A) the proposition
B) the subject
C) the predicate
D) a relational concept

Question 24

A participant in an image-scanning task is asked to mentally "travel" on four different journeys from a single given location. Which journey would take the most time to make?

A) a journey of 1 mile
B) a journey of 5 miles
C) a journey of a half-mile
D) a journey of 3 miles

Question 25

Research on spreading activation would suggest that, if you first see the word nurse, you will more quickly identify the word

A) butter
B) doctor
C) stop
D) airplane

Question 26

Nodes get activated whenever a person thinks about any idea. The activation then spreads to neighboring nodes, like a current spreads through a network of wires. There are, however, limits on this spread of activation, such as __________.

A) activation will dissipate as it spreads outward
B) certain nodes are insulated and never get activated at all
C) all spreading activation must converge on what is called the "mother" node
D) activation can only spread to one or two related nodes

Question 27

Participants are asked to judge whether a string of letters forms a word in English. The first string they receive is the word violin. On a subsequent list of words, results show that the participants are substantially faster at answering "Yes" to the word piano than to the word toilet or basket. What does this result exemplify?

A) episodic memory
B) mental set
C) automatization
D) semantic priming

Question 28

In a lexical decision task in which subjects must judge whether or not a string of letters forms a word in English, subjects are first shown the string BANANA. According to research on spreading activation, which of the subsequent strings will take the least time to be judged to be a real word?

A) APPLE
B) ANANAB
C) MAVEN
D) BANDANA

Question 29

Research participants are asked to judge whether or not a string of letters forms a word in English. They are first given the string CABBAGE. According to research on spreading activation, which of the subsequent strings will take the least time to be judged to be a real word?

A) CRIBBAGE
B) CARROT
C) TOILET
D) CABOOSE

Question 30

A statement relating a subject and a predicate is called a(n) __________.

A) attitude
B) category
C) concept
D) proposition

Question 31

Research participants examined and memorized a map of a fictitious island, then imagined a black speck zipping from one location on that map to another. Results suggested that __________.

A) the speck rarely "traveled" in a straight line
B) the speck simply "jumped" from one location to another; it did not "travel"
C) the time it took the speck to "travel" was proportional to the distance covered
D) some people who were poor visualizers could not make the speck "travel" at all

Question 32

Research on semantic priming __________.

A) contradicts the spreading activation model
B) indicates that the string saddle will be recognized more quickly as a word if it is preceded by the word horse than by the word house
C) indicates that the string guitar will be recognized equally quickly whether it is preceded by the word drum or by the word sofa
D) indicates that the word saddle will be recognized most quickly if it is preceded by a word with similar letters

Question 33

Which of the following is the term for "shortcut" judgment strategies?

A) syllogisms
B) heuristics
C) System II thinking
D) insights

Question 34

Propositions are __________.

A) statements that relate a subject and a predicate
B) another word for concepts
C) categories
D) statements that are always true

Question 35

Research participants are separated into two groups. Participants in group 1 are asked to think of an animal beginning with the letter "p." Participants in group 2 are asked to think of a vegetable beginning with the letter "p." Immediately after, both groups are asked to think of an animal that begins with the letter "d." The responses on this final "d" task are timed. What will the results show?

A) Consistent with the spreading activation model, people in group 1 respond more quickly than those in group 2.
B) Consistent with the spreading activation model, people in groups 1 and 2 respond equally quickly.
C) Contrary to the spreading activation model, people in group 1 respond more quickly than those in group 2.
D) Contrary to the spreading activation model, people in groups 1 and 2 respond equally quickly.

Question 36

A participant views an ambiguous drawing that can look like either a man or a rat for a few seconds. After the drawing is removed, the subject is asked to describe the visual image from memory. What will the subject most likely describe?

A) either a man or the rat, whichever was perceived originally
B) a reversal of what was perceived originally (i.e., from man to rat and vice versa)
C) a figure that looks in part like a man, in part like a rat
D) The subject is equally likely to describe any of the above.

Question 37

In the spreading activation network model of memory, ideas are represented __________.

A) as generic memories
B) as a pattern of activation
C) by visual images
D) by nodes

Question 38

When you solve a crossword puzzle using certain mental shortcuts, you are using cognitive strategies called __________.

A) algorithms
B) System II processes
C) heuristics
D) associative linking methods

Question 39

Research participants are asked to estimate the distance between a city on the East Coast of the United States and one on the West Coast of the United States, and next a city on the East Coast of the United States and one in the Midwest. What will the results show?

A) Participants take about the same amount of time to make each judgment and are more accurate for the first judgment.
B) Participants take about the same amount of time to make each judgment and are more accurate for the second judgment.
C) Participants take slightly longer for the second judgment than the first.
D) Participants take slightly longer for the first judgment than the second.

Question 40

Which of the following is an advantage of the use of heuristics?

A) A heuristic will present a clearly defined solution to a problem.
B) A heuristic is often efficient.
C) A heuristic is guaranteed to result in a correct response.
D) A heuristic results in only one possible solution to a problem.

Question 41

When people are asked which is more common, death by homicide or death by stroke, they often choose the former (homicide) because they simply hear more about it than they do the latter (stroke). This means they are being led astray in their judgment by __________.

A) the representativeness heuristic
B) a mental set
C) the confirmation bias
D) the availability heuristic

Question 42

Which type of strategies are most likely contained in a $29.95 video titled How to Get Rich Quick Selling Antiques?

A) expert systems
B) heuristics
C) System II strategies
D) algorithms

Question 43

Mechanic Lucy believes that the best way to correct a faulty distributor is to think about the things most likely to be wrong and to check those first. What type of thinking strategy is she using?

A) System II
B) representative
C) hierarchical
D) heuristic

Question 44

"When you have trouble in a class, try outlining the book in your own words." What is this general "rule of thumb" for solving a common academic problem called?

A) a syllogism
B) a hierarchy
C) a heuristic
D) an algorithm

Question 45

When you use the representativeness heuristic, you are __________.

A) making frequency estimates based on the ease with which things come to mind
B) assuming that something is typical of its class
C) mistaking visual images and other forms of mental representations for reality
D) converting analogical representations into symbolic representations

Question 46

"You always clam up when I ask you what's wrong," Iris tells her boyfriend. Iris is probably making this frequency judgment because she can remember a few times that her boyfriend wouldn't tell her what was bothering him. Iris is using the __________ heuristic.

A) representativeness
B) availability
C) confirmation
D) frequency

Question 47

Your text suggests that the success of "I know a woman who . . ." arguments reflect the representativeness heuristic in action. Why does your text make this claim?

A) These arguments capitalize on the listener's inability to reason deductively.
B) These arguments rely on the listener assuming that the "woman who" is typical of women in general.
C) These arguments depend on the listener bringing to mind a similar "woman who."
D) These arguments generally support the listener's preexisting beliefs.

Question 48

You want to decide whether you believe that pretty people are better singers. To answer this question, you recall all the people you've seen and heard sing lately, then judge how well they performed. This strategy is referred to as __________.

A) incubation
B) restructuring
C) the availability heuristic
D) the representativeness heuristic

Question 49

A lawyer represents a client who is accused of robbery. The client has been found guilty of assault in three previous crimes. What is the lawyer's judgment most likely to be affected by if he were asked to estimate the man's chances of acquittal for this fourth crime?

A) inductive reasoning
B) the availability heuristic
C) irrationality
D) deductive reasoning

Question 50

Say you meet a woman who opposes the death penalty, then decide that, generally, women are more likely to oppose the death penalty than are men. That is, you assume that the individual case is representative of its category. Here you have fallen prey to __________.

A) affective forecasting
B) the representativeness heuristic
C) the availability heuristic
D) the confirmation bias

Question 51

Carl is the one person Craig has ever met from New Zealand. Carl strikes Craig as being quite friendly and funny. When asked what he would expect to find if he went to New Zealand, Craig says that he would expect the people to be quite friendly and funny. What might he have used to make this judgment?

A) the representativeness heuristic
B) the confirmation bias
C) framing effects
D) the availability heuristic

Question 52

Last week, Mike heard about five separate airplane crashes on the news. Even though, overall, motorcycle accidents account for more accidents than plane crashes do, Mike decides to ride his motorcycle from Washington to Atlanta instead of flying. What is Mike's reasoning error based on?

A) the availability heuristic
B) a mental set
C) a syllogistic error
D) a problem of framing

Question 53

Joanne will not go out at night because she hears from her local news station about the large number of muggings and robberies that occur in her city. However, crime in Joanne's city has actually gone down in the past few years. What error in reasoning is Joanne falling victim to?

A) inductive reasoning error
B) irrationality
C) the availability heuristic
D) deductive reasoning error

Question 54

Lenny picks up a pamphlet at a counseling center titled How to Succeed at College Course Work. Which type of strategies are most likely offered in this pamphlet?

A) System II strategies
B) mental sets
C) heuristics
D) syllogisms

Question 55

In one study participants watched a video of a prison guard. Some participants were told in advance that the guard was atypical, that he was chosen because of his extreme views; others were not given this piece of information. What did the study show?

A) That in drawing conclusions, the warning was irrelevant-it had no effect.
B) That women were influenced by the warning, but men were not.
C) That the warning made no difference if the guard was attractive; if he was unattractive, it altered judgments made by the participants.
D) That participants who had actually been to prison were more affected by the warning than were those who had not.

Question 56

The availability heuristic is often used in making __________ judgments. The representativeness heuristic is often used in making __________.

A) frequency; categorization judgments
B) categorization; frequency judgments
C) frequency; frequency judgments as well
D) categorization; categorization judgments as well

Question 57

Which of the following is TRUE of heuristics?

A) Heuristics always lead to correct solutions of a problem.
B) Heuristics are a slower way to solve problems than are other strategies.
C) Heuristics represent commonly used approaches to the solution of a problem.
D) Heuristics are used by computers but not by humans as problem-solving tools.

Question 58

Which of the following most likely makes use of heuristics?

A) a chemical equation for the synthesis of sulfuric acid
B) a recipe for making cookies on the back of a box of cornflakes
C) an article by a Nobel Prize winner titled "How to Succeed in Science"
D) a computer program for keeping track of inventory at a department store

Question 59

A judgment strategy in which one uses the ease with which examples come to mind as the basis for judging how common events really are is called the __________ heuristic.

A) availability
B) representativeness
C) confirmation
D) frequency

Question 60

Stereotypes spring to mind easily. Therefore, we sometimes use them to judge the frequency of certain events, such as crimes in a given neighborhood. This example BEST describes the use of the __________ heuristic.

A) frequency
B) representativeness
C) confirmation
D) availability

Question 61

As compared to System I thinking, System II thinking is __________.

A) faster but less accurate
B) faster and more accurate
C) slower and less accurate
D) slower but more accurate

Question 62

You check the time on your phone. Your friend should be out of class by now. You call her. She should answer if she's out of class. In this example, your thought processes are best seen as exemplifying __________.

A) problem solving
B) judgment
C) reasoning
D) creativity

Question 63

Which of the following individuals is CORRECTLY matched with the type of thinking he or she is demonstrating?

A) Clay is determining which of several used cars is least likely to present a maintenance headache, based on his friend's testimonials. He is problem solving.
B) Darla is concluding that a particular model of used car is a poor investment over the longer term, based on her ideas regarding the resale values of different types of cars. She is making a decision.
C) Emilio is "thinking outside the box," trying to come up with a novel way to earn the cash for a new used car. He is demonstrating creativity.
D) Frankie is planning to pick up some extra shifts so he can buy a used car he has his eye on. He is reasoning.

Question 64

It has been a long day and Lana is tired. At this point, she will probably rely on __________ thinking in making judgments.

A) System I
B) System II
C) rule-driven
D) central

Question 65

We take evidence that is consistent with our beliefs more seriously than evidence inconsistent with our beliefs. This is known as the __________.

A) confirmation bias
B) availability heuristic
C) representativeness heuristic
D) selection bias

Question 66

The idea of confirmation bias would suggest that __________.

A) if one were a Republican, one would not seek out negative information about a Republican president
B) much of our thinking is consciously driven
C) we think in ways that are stereotypical
D) we focus on the evidence that comes to mind most readily

Question 67

Which of the following statements best reflects your text's overall conclusion regarding the accuracy of human judgment?

A) Our reliance on heuristics leads to accurate judgments in the vast majority of cases.
B) Our use of cognitive shortcuts invariably and inevitably leads to inaccurate judgments.
C) We rarely make accurate judgments, but we could probably learn to improve our thinking if we tried.
D) Our judgments are often accurate, but there is room for improvement.

Question 68

Jonah is relying on what he calls his "gut instinct" to make an easy, immediate judgment. In terms of the dual-process theory, Jonah appears to be using __________ thinking.

A) Type A
B) Type B
C) System I
D) System II

Question 69

Which of the following conditions increases the likelihood of System II thinking?

A) The elements of the problem are readily quantifiable.
B) There is considerable time pressure.
C) The judgment or problem in question is highly important.
D) The judgment or problem involves probabilities.

Question 70

Dr. Martinez received a grant to fund an enriched statistics education program for first-generation college freshmen. Which of the following is MOST LIKELY one of Dr. Martinez's goals?

A) She aims to increase intuitive thinking skills among the freshmen.
B) She aims to increase the prevalence of System I thinking.
C) She aims to increase the prevalence of System II thinking.
D) She aims to decrease the prevalence of System II thinking.

Question 71

Which of the following individuals is engaged in reasoning, as your text defines the term?

A) Clay, who is determining which of several of used cars is least likely to present a maintenance headache.
B) Darla, who is concluding that a particular model of used car is a poor investment over the longer term, based on her ideas regarding the resale values of different types of cars.
C) Emilio, who is "thinking outside the box," trying to come up with a novel way to earn the cash for a new used car.
D) Frankie, who is planning to pick up some extra shifts so he can buy a used car he has his eye on.

Question 72

Research shows that we use two different systems of reasoning when trying to reach conclusions: System I is faster and more automatic, and System II is slower and more effortful. Which of the following statements CORRECTLY identifies another difference between the two systems?

A) People are more likely to use System I when tired or pressured.
B) People rely on System I when asked to think about frequencies, and System II when asked to think about probabilities.
C) System II relies more on unconscious processing than does System I.
D) System II, on average, leads to more errors than does System I.

Question 73

Sandy, a true believer in astrology, reads in her horoscope that today is her lucky day. She gets so excited that she spills coffee all over herself, which necessitates a change of clothes, which makes her late for work and for a very important meeting, which in turn gets her into serious trouble with her boss. Later that evening, in the hospital parking lot, on her way to the emergency room where her brother has just been taken, Sandy finds a dime on the ground. What does research on the confirmation bias suggest that Sandy will do?

A) She will renounce astrology as completely wrong because of all the horrible things that happened on her "lucky day."
B) She will begin to question her belief in astrology because of all the horrible things that happened on her "lucky day."
C) She will seize on the dime she found as evidence of astrology's accuracy.
D) Confirmation bias has little or no relevance to how this person will think about astrology in the future.

Question 74

System I is to System II as __________ is to __________.

A) reasoning; intuition
B) intuition; reasoning
C) effortful; automatic
D) central; peripheral

Question 75

Dr. Kendall presents participants with problems phrased in terms either of frequencies or probabilities. He records the speed and accuracy of their solutions. Dr. Kendall is most likely contrasting __________.

A) availability and representativeness heuristics
B) System I and System II thinking
C) analogical and symbolic representations
D) inductive and deductive reasoning

Question 76

By the dual-process theory of judgment, the availability and representativeness heuristics both reflect __________ thinking.

A) Type A
B) Type B
C) System I
D) System II

Question 77

According to your text, training in elementary statistics __________.

A) increases the likelihood of System I thinking
B) increases the likelihood of System II thinking
C) increases the likelihood of both System I and System II thinking
D) has little effect on the likelihood of either System I or System II thinking

Question 78

According to your text, judgment involves drawing conclusions from our experiences, whereas reasoning entails deriving specific implications from our beliefs. By these definitions, judgment is similar to __________; reasoning resembles __________.

A) induction; induction as well
B) induction; deduction
C) deduction; deduction as well
D) deduction; induction

Question 79

According to your text, determining the implications of our beliefs is the essence of __________.

A) reasoning
B) thinking
C) judgment
D) problem solving

Question 80

Research participants are shown a videotape of a police officer from City X talking with relish about harassing people he dislikes and describing how he beats confessions out of his suspects. Half the participants (group 1) are told that this officer is a typical member of the department, and the other half (group 2) are told only that he is an officer in City X's police force. The participants are then asked to judge the brutality of City X's police force. What does research on the representativeness heuristic suggest?

A) Group 1 will judge the force to be much more brutal than will group 2.
B) Group 2 will judge the force to be much more brutal than will group 1.
C) Both groups will judge the force to be quite brutal.
D) Neither group will judge the force to be very brutal.