Question 1

Which class of problems are often solved with a burst of insight?

Accepted Answer

Arrangement problems often require a burst of insight to see the solution, as they involve reorganizing elements in a way that is not immediately obvious.

Question 2

Which of the following statements concerning functional fixedness is MOST accurate?

Accepted Answer

Research suggests that young children are less likely to demonstrate functional fixedness compared to older children and adults. This may be due to their less rigid and more flexible thinking patterns.

Question 3

Claudia wants to send a fragile vase to her parents for their anniversary, but she can't find any appropriate packing material in her house. She decides to pop some popcorn and use that to pack around the vase. In this case, Claudia has

Accepted Answer

Claudia has overcome functional fixedness in solving her problem by using popcorn, which is not typically thought of as a packing material. Rather than being limited by the traditional associations with popcorn as a snack, Claudia has thought creatively and come up with a new use for it.

Question 4

In which class of problems is it necessary to carry out a sequence of intermediate actions in order to solve the problem?

Accepted Answer

In transformation problems, intermediate steps or actions are required to reach the final solution. This is because the initial problem must be changed or transformed in some way in order to arrive at the answer.

Question 5

People often find it difficult to solve a problem by using a familiar object in a novel way because of

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness refers to our tendency to think of an object only in terms of its typical function or use, making it difficult to see alternative uses or solutions. Therefore, when facing a problem, people may struggle to think of new ways to use a familiar object due to their preconceived notions about the object's function.

Question 6

Marc loves to solve anagrams, and spends a great deal of time working through books of anagrams. It appears that Marc enjoys problems that require

Accepted Answer

Anagrams require rearranging letters to form new words, which is a type of arrangement problem.

Question 7

When solving problems containing numerical information,

Accepted Answer

Starting by identifying which information is relevant to the problem is crucial in solving numerical problems efficiently. It helps avoid distractions from extraneous information and allows you to focus on the key variables and relationships involved in the problem.

Question 8

Reorganizing the letters "OSHUE" to form an English word is an example of an anagram, which constitutes a problem of

Accepted Answer

Reorganizing letters to form a word is an example of an arrangement problem, where the task is to arrange or reorder elements (in this case, letters) into a correct or coherent structure (a meaningful word).

Question 9

Analogy problems such as "Mickey Mouse is to Minnie Mouse as Donald Duck is to ____" are problems of

Accepted Answer

Analogy problems involve recognizing a relationship between two elements and finding a parallel relationship between another set of elements, which is a process of inducing structure.

Question 10

Which class of problems involves discovering the relations among the parts of the problem?

Accepted Answer

Inducing structure problems require identifying the underlying pattern or relationships between different elements of the problem.

Question 11

Marie received a puzzle as a present for her birthday. The puzzle has three pegs, and to solve the puzzle a person is required to move nine disks from the center peg to one of the outside pegs. However, only one disk can be moved at a time, and a larger disk can never be placed on top of a smaller disk. Marie's puzzle is an example of

Accepted Answer

The answer of Marie received a puzzle as a present...

Question 12

Functional fixedness refers to

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness refers to the inability to see or consider new functions for familiar objects or concepts. Therefore, the best choice is D, as it directly addresses this phenomenon. A, B, and C are all incorrect as they refer to different aspects of problem solving, such as strategy use, insight, or distraction by irrelevant information.

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT one of the three basic classes of problems?

Accepted Answer

The three basic classes of problems are problems of transformation, problems of inducing structure, and problems of arrangement. Problems of probability are not considered one of the three basic classes.

Question 14

People often assume that it is necessary to use all the numerical information provided in a problem in order to solve the problem. In reality, numerical information sometimes makes it more difficult to solve a problem because the information

Accepted Answer

Sometimes, numerical information provided in a problem may not be relevant to solving the problem or may put unnecessary constraints on the problem-solver, leading them away from the correct solution. Therefore, it is important to carefully evaluate the relevance and usefulness of numerical information before using it to solve a problem.

Question 15

Since one of the main goals of playing Scrabble is to use your letters to form long words (the longer the word, the more points you score), Scrabble can best be described as a game that involves a problem of

Accepted Answer

Scrabble involves arranging letters to form longer words to score more points.

Question 16

When Quentin sprained his ankle in a backyard softball game, his girlfriend grabbed a bag of frozen corn from the freezer to wrap around his ankle until they got him to the local clinic. In this case, Quentin's girlfriend

Accepted Answer

Quentin's girlfriend was able to think outside the box and use a bag of frozen corn as a makeshift ice pack, showing that she was able to overcome functional fixedness (the tendency to be rigid in one's thinking about the functions of objects). The other answer choices do not accurately describe the situation.

Question 17

You have a pair of pliers and a bag of nuts in the shell. You are lamenting the fact that you can't shell the nuts because you do not have a nutcracker. Your inability to perceive the pliers as a makeshift nutcracker demonstrates ____ on your part.

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness refers to the tendency to see an object only in terms of its traditional use or function, and to overlook alternative uses that could be helpful in solving a problem. In this scenario, the person is unable to recognize that the pliers could be used as a makeshift nutcracker due to functional fixedness.

Question 18

Kareem is working on a practical problem with his 16-year-old son, Josh, and his 8-year-old daughter, Lisa. They don't have the right tools for the job, and they need to come up with a creative solution that uses the items they have available. Based on research findings into the prevalence of functional fixedness, you should predict that

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that young children tend to be less vulnerable to functional fixedness than older children and adults. This is because they have not yet developed as many preconceived notions about how objects should be used and are more willing to experiment and try new approaches. Therefore, Lisa is most likely to think creatively and come up with a solution using the items available.

Question 19

Problem solving

Accepted Answer

The answer of Problem solving
...

Question 20

Functional fixedness is the

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness refers to the cognitive bias where a person sees an object only in terms of its common use, and may be unable to use it in a different way that could be helpful in solving a problem. Choices A and B refer to other types of cognitive errors, and choice D describes the process of trial and error learning.

Quiz 15: Language and Thought Part 1