Question 1

The study of insight is associated with the German psychologist ____; he studied problem solving among _____.

Accepted Answer

The study of insight is associated with Wolfgang Kohler, who studied problem solving among chimpanzees.

Question 2

A decision-making 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.

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is based on the ease with which examples come to mind, which can be influenced by factors such as personal experience, emotional impact, and media coverage. It can lead to biases in judgment and decision-making if the most readily available examples are not truly representative of the overall frequency of events.

Question 3

When one tries to solve a problem,one brings to the situation all sorts of assumptions,habits of mind,and pre-existing knowledge and expectations.All these elements together make up one's usual problem-solving strategy,which is called a(n):

Accepted Answer

The term "mental set" refers to the collection of habits, assumptions, preconceptions, and established problem-solving strategies that a person brings to a new problem-solving situation. It can be a useful tool in certain situations, but it can also hinder problem-solving by making it harder to think outside the box and consider new approaches.

Question 4

The text's discussion of insight suggests that its key characteristic is its:

Accepted Answer

The text emphasizes that the key characteristic of insight is its suddenness or "aha" moment, which suggests that it occurs quickly and unexpectedly. The text does not emphasize uniqueness, brevity, or complexity as defining features of insight.

Question 5

An event's availability in memory is NOT based on its:

Accepted Answer

An event's availability in memory is not based on its complexity. The other factors - frequency, vividness, and familiarity - can all affect how easily a memory is retrieved and how persistent it is in memory.

Question 6

Following the September 11,2001,attacks in New York City,many Americans elected to drive rather than fly.The media coverage of the hijackings caused Americans to overestimate the danger of flying.This example illustrates:

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic refers to the tendency to judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind. In this case, the media coverage of the attacks made them very salient in people's minds, leading them to overestimate the danger of flying and choose to drive instead.

Question 7

Making several minor household repairs,Alyssa uses a shoe as a hammer and a butter knife as a screwdriver.Which of the following statements BEST characterizes Alyssa's problem solving?

Accepted Answer

Alyssa is using items in a non-standard way, showing that she is not constrained by functional fixedness, the inability to see an object's potential uses beyond its typical use.

Question 8

A jeweler is unable to fix a particular mounting in a ring because she can imagine only the conventional uses for her tools.This situation demonstrates:

Accepted Answer

This situation demonstrates functional fixedness, which is the inability to see an object or problem beyond its typical use or function. The jeweler is unable to fix the mounting in a ring because she is stuck thinking about her tools in their traditional uses, rather than considering alternative ways to use them.

Question 9

Henry's dog,Sparky,has been rolling in the mud.Henry must bathe Sparky before the dog gets mud all over the carpet.However,Henry is unable to find the plug for the tub.Sitting on the counter right beside the tub is a fifty-cent piece.In his frustration,Henry fails to see that the coin could be used as an emergency plug for the tub.What happened to Henry?

Accepted Answer

Henry suffered from functional fixedness, which is the tendency to think of objects only in terms of their typical use or function, and thereby overlooking alternative uses. In this case, Henry only saw the coin as a means of exchange and failed to perceive it as a possible emergency plug for the tub.

Question 10

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.To which bias is Joanne falling victim?

Accepted Answer

Joanne is falling victim to the availability heuristic, which is the tendency to judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily an example, instance, or case comes to mind. In this case, Joanne is basing her decisions on the information that is most readily available to her (i.e. the news station's reports of crime) rather than looking at statistical data about crime rates in her city.

Question 11

_____ is defined as a sudden understanding of a problem's solution.

Accepted Answer

Insight is the sudden realization or solution to a problem or situation. Convergent thinking refers to narrowing down ideas to find the best solution, while divergent thinking refers to generating multiple solutions or ideas. Creativity encompasses the ability to generate new and unique ideas.

Question 12

"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.

Accepted Answer

Iris is basing her judgment on the availability heuristic, which involves making judgments based on how easily we can bring examples to mind. In this case, she can remember a few times when her boyfriend didn't open up, which leads her to believe that he always does this.

Question 13

Which problem-solving approach is correctly matched with its definition?

Accepted Answer

Trial and error involves making a series of attempts and eliminating those that do not succeed, which matches the provided definition.

Question 14

Zelma is asked to think of all the words she can,beginning with the letters "squ," as in "squeak." Later she is given a fill-in-the-blank task on which one of the items is "s _ _ o n g." Zelma keeps trying to make "squong" a word,and has trouble thinking of the common word "strong." Zelma's ability to solve this problem has been hampered by:

Accepted Answer

Zelma's difficulty in thinking of a word other than "squong" suggests that she was stuck in a mental set, or a way of thinking about the problem that was no longer helpful in generating new solutions. This is a common hindrance to problem solving.

Question 15

Stereotypes spring to mind easily.Therefore,people 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.

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is used when people estimate the probability of an event based on how easily examples come to mind. In this case, stereotypes about crimes in a neighborhood are easily recalled, influencing judgments about the frequency of such events.

Question 16

"Eureka! I've got it!" That sudden awareness of the path toward a problem's solution is called:

Accepted Answer

The sudden awareness of the solution to a problem that was previously elusive is known as insight. Option A, creativity, refers to the ability to come up with unique and useful ideas. Option B, cognition, refers to the mental processes involved in thinking, learning, and understanding. Option D, fluency, refers to the ability to produce a large number of ideas or solutions quickly. None of these options accurately capture the specific experience of suddenly discovering a solution to a previously unsolvable problem.

Question 17

Katie is weighing several job offers.She gives each job a score on several criteria then sums the scores.Katie is using the _____ approach to make her decision.

Accepted Answer

Katie is using the additive model approach, where she is adding up the scores of different criteria, to make her decision.

Question 18

When people are asked which is more common,death by homicide or death by stroke,they often choose homicide because they hear about more murders than they do about strokes.In this instance,people are led astray in their judgments by:

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is a cognitive shortcut where people base their judgments on the information that is most easily available in their minds, which can often be influenced by what they've recently heard or experienced. In this case, people may be more likely to remember news stories about homicides, leading them to overestimate the frequency of this cause of death, and underestimate the frequency of strokes.

Question 19

Which impediment to effective problem solving is correctly matched with its definition?

Accepted Answer

Mental set is the tendency for old patterns of problem solving to persist, while functional fixedness is the tendency to think of an object only in terms of its customary use. Option A and D are swapped in their definitions.

Question 20

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 Philadelphia to Atlanta instead of flying.Which bias is reflected in Mike's decision?

Accepted Answer

Mike is using the availability heuristic, which is when people make decisions based on the most easily available and accessible information, in this case, the recent news of airplane crashes.

Quiz 7: Cognition,language,and Intelligence

The study of insight is associated with the German psychologist ; he studied problem solving among _.