Question 1

Your brother appears to be self-assured when talking to others.You realize that your brother is more often confident about things rather than accurate about them.Your brother's behavior can be explained by the:

Accepted Answer

The overconfidence phenomenon refers to a tendency to be more confident about one's abilities and judgments than is justified by the evidence. This can lead to an inaccurate assessment of a situation, but individuals with overconfidence tend to express certainty and confidence in their beliefs and opinions.

Question 2

Evan has a job interview in a different city.The airport in his city is far from his place.Despite being aware of the heavy traffic in his city,he starts late for the airport as he is convinced he can reach on time.However,he misses his flight and is unable to attend the interview.In the context of social thinking,this scenario illustrates:

Accepted Answer

This scenario illustrates the overconfidence phenomenon, as Evan was convinced that he could reach the airport on time despite being aware of heavy traffic. This overconfidence in his ability to make it to the airport on time led him to miss his flight and the job interview.

Question 3

Assuming most crimes involve violence because the media generally reports stories on rapes,robberies,and beatings is an example of the _____ heuristic.

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to a person's mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method or decision. In this case, because violent crimes are more frequently reported in the media, people might overestimate their prevalence due to the ease with which examples of violent crimes can be recalled.

Question 4

The tendency to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs is called the:

Accepted Answer

The overconfidence phenomenon refers to the tendency for people to be more confident in their beliefs or judgments than is warranted based on the available evidence, leading them to overestimate the accuracy of their beliefs. The other options (A, B, and C) refer to different biases but do not specifically relate to overconfidence in one's beliefs.

Question 5

The tendency to presume,sometimes despite contrary odds,that someone or something belongs to a particular group if resembling a typical member is referred to as the _____ heuristic.

Accepted Answer

The representative heuristic involves judging the likelihood of an event based on how well it fits with our preconceived notions of similar events or individuals.

Question 6

Which of the following strategies will NOT be helpful in reducing the overconfidence bias?

Accepted Answer

Giving feedback to the person about others' performance may not necessarily address the underlying issue of overconfidence bias. It may only provide comparative feedback which may not be directly related to reducing overconfidence bias. The other options (A, B, C) are helpful in reducing the overconfidence bias by promoting self-reflection and considering different perspectives.

Question 7

Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman notes that human beings have two brain systems.In this context,which of the following is true of System 2?

Accepted Answer

System 2 requires conscious attention and is responsible for problem-solving, logical reasoning, and making conscious choices.

Question 8

You immediately recognize your friend's voice over the phone.This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Recognizing a familiar voice is an example of automatic processing, which is the ability to process information unconsciously and effortlessly.

Question 9

Every semester,you underestimate how long you will take to complete a research paper that is due at the end of the term.Your behavior is an example of the:

Accepted Answer

The overconfidence phenomenon refers to the tendency for people to be overly confident in their abilities and judgments, often underestimating the time or resources needed to complete a task. This is exactly what is happening in this scenario as the individual consistently underestimates the time needed to complete a research paper.

Question 10

Sharon typically follows those news channels that support her existing political beliefs.She is not inclined to watch news on other channels as they may disprove her preconceptions.Sharon's approach illustrates the:

Accepted Answer

Sharon's approach illustrates confirmation bias, which is the tendency to seek out and interpret information in a way that confirms one's existing beliefs while ignoring or dismissing information that contradicts those beliefs.

Question 11

When we are eager to seek information that verifies our beliefs but less inclined to seek evidence that might disprove our beliefs,the _____ occurs.

Accepted Answer

Confirmation bias refers to the tendency to seek and interpret information in a way that confirms pre-existing beliefs or hypotheses, while ignoring or discounting contradictory evidence. It can lead to a distorted or incomplete understanding of the world and can reinforce false beliefs.

Question 12

Although travelers in the United States are more likely to die in an automobile crash than on an airplane trip covering the same distance,people often assume that flying is more dangerous than driving.What type of heuristic are people using when they make this assumption?

Accepted Answer

People are using the availability heuristic because they are relying on examples of airplane crashes that are often highlighted in the media, which makes them more available in our minds, rather than the statistics that show driving is more dangerous.

Question 13

A cognitive rule that judges the likelihood of things in terms of their presence in memory is called the _____ heuristic.

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is a cognitive shortcut in which people make judgments about the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples of it come to mind. This can be influenced by the frequency of exposure to information, personal experience, or media coverage. Therefore, people may overestimate the probability of events that are more readily available in their memory, even if they are not representative of the actual frequency in the population. The other heuristics listed (representativeness, vividness, and matching) also play a role in judgment and decision making, but they are not specifically based on the availability of information in memory.

Question 14

During a hospital stay,you observed a man and a woman,both in health professional attire,talking to each other.You assumed that the man was a physician and that the woman was a nurse.Later,you found out the opposite to be true.What type of heuristic did you use during your initial reaction to the two individuals?

Accepted Answer

The individual used the representativeness heuristic by assuming that the man was a physician and the woman was a nurse based on their attire and gender, which represent the typical roles expected in the medical profession.

Question 15

The tendency to judge something by intuitively comparing it to our mental representation of a category is to use the _____ heuristic.

Accepted Answer

The representativeness heuristic involves using prototypes, or mental representations, to judge whether something belongs to a particular category. This can lead to stereotypes and errors in judgment. The other options (availability, vividness, matching) do not specifically pertain to this type of heuristic.

Question 16

One reason people are overconfident is that they are not inclined to seek out information:

Accepted Answer

People tend to seek out information that confirms their beliefs and values, rather than information that challenges them. This is known as confirmation bias. Seeking out information that might disprove what they believe goes against this bias and can be uncomfortable or challenging. Therefore, people may avoid seeking out such information and continue to be overconfident in their beliefs.

Question 17

Natalie's friend Jordan enjoys eating good food and visits new restaurants every week.He watches cooking shows regularly and does not shy away from trying new cuisines.Seeing his interest in food,Natalie assumes that Jordan is an expert cook.Which of the following concepts of psychology is illustrated in Natalie's assumption?

Accepted Answer

Natalie is making assumptions about Jordan's cooking ability based on his interest in food and visits to new restaurants. She is using the representativeness heuristic, where she is categorizing Jordan as an expert cook based on his characteristics that are representative of someone who may be skilled in cooking. However, Natalie does not have sufficient evidence to support her assumption, as enjoying good food and trying new cuisines does not necessarily make someone an expert cook.

Question 18

Which of the following is a thinking strategy that enables quick,efficient judgments?

Accepted Answer

A heuristic is a mental shortcut that enables quick and efficient judgments to be made without having to analyze all the available information. Heuristics can be helpful, but they can also lead to errors and biases if they are applied too rigidly or without sufficient attention to detail. Examples of heuristics include the representativeness heuristic (judging the likelihood of an event based on how closely it resembles other events), the availability heuristic (judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples of it come to mind), and the anchoring and adjustment heuristic (starting with an initial estimate and adjusting it to account for new information).

Question 19

On the first day of class,we see a middle-aged man in the front of the room talking to a younger man.If we assume the older man is a professor and the younger man is a student,we are relying on _____.

Accepted Answer

We are using the representativeness heuristic to assume that the older man is the professor and the younger man is the student based on their appearance and location in the classroom.

Question 20

Which of the following strategies might be helpful in reducing the overconfidence bias?

Accepted Answer

Encouraging people to consider reasons why their judgments might be wrong can help them recognize potential errors and reduce overconfidence.

Quiz 3: Social Beliefs and Judgments