Question 1

My exposure to the typical use of objects in my culture may render me less able to find novel solutions to problems.This is referred to as

Accepted Answer

functional fixedness.

Question 2

Eduardo is from Brazil.He is fluent in both Portuguese and English.When he speaks to you of his home in Brazil,he seems to have trouble remembering details.Yet when he is speaking Portuguese to another Brazilian,he has no trouble remembering.This phenomenon can be best explained by

Accepted Answer

linguistic relativity.

Question 3

If you wanted to teach a nonhuman animal to communicate using language,which of the following animals does research suggest would be the best choice?

Accepted Answer

Bonobos

Question 4

If I am given 10 math problems,and I can and do solve the first 9 in the same way,I may struggle with the last problem if it requires a different method to solve it.This best illustrates the concept of

Accepted Answer

mental sets.

Question 5

The last time that Tom made banana bread,it didn't taste very good.He hypothesizes that the bread had too much salt in it and decides to remove the salt the next time he bakes it.This best illustrates the concept of

Accepted Answer

disconfirming strategy use.

Question 6

Who is engaged in abstract thinking?

Accepted Answer

Benito,who says the sun might explode one day.

Question 7

With all the controversy that surrounds intelligence testing,what is the most likely explanation as to why it is still a good predictor of classroom performance?

Accepted Answer

The original intelligence tests were focused on predicting academic achievement.

Question 8

You just discovered a nomadic people who have lived in the desert their whole lives.Their language contains over 20 words to describe the various types and textures of sand contained in their environment.According to research on linguistic determinism,what is the likely origin for all of these terms?

Accepted Answer

It is impossible to know if the language caused them to think differently about their environment,or the way they perceive their environment caused them to create their language.

Question 9

One explanation for schizophrenia holds that schizophrenics have difficulty in filtering their attention.This is most closely related to the concept of

Accepted Answer

cognitive economy.

Question 10

Greg was just given a task that tests his level of functional fixedness.Which of the following will be most useful to him?

Accepted Answer

Fluid intelligence

Question 11

Alex and Nicole just got married.They move into their new apartment and realize they need a coffee table.Alex takes four stacks of old textbooks and forms the legs of the table.He then takes an old piece of cardboard and lays it across the four "legs." Which cognitive tendency did Alex NOT fall victim to?

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness

Question 12

Research on the relation between cognition and language suggests that

Accepted Answer

some aspects of thinking are more vulnerable to language influence than others.

Question 13

Anastasia is building a sand castle at the beach.She is frustrated by the fact that the water keeps washing it away.She has rebuilt the castle five times already,each one a little further from the waves.Her brother Christopher walks up,sees the problem,and proceeds to dig a channel for the water that bypasses her latest sand castle completely.Which cognitive block was Anastasia demonstrating?

Accepted Answer

Mental set

Question 14

What famous quote from the movie Forrest Gump best exemplifies Boring's dictum?

Accepted Answer

"Stupid is as stupid does."

Question 15

Behaviorists attempted to explain thinking in the narrow terms of

Accepted Answer

stimulus and response.

Question 16

Many people drew faulty conclusions about the relative safety of air travel compared to automobile travel in the wake of the September 11,2001,terrorist attacks.Such poor reasoning was the result of

Accepted Answer

the availability heuristic.

Question 17

Nigel is out on a blind date.He decides after only 5 minutes with this new woman that he likes her.Is this snap decision a wise one?

Accepted Answer

No; although mental shortcuts are beneficial,snap decisions concerning people are often inaccurate.

Question 18

According to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis,a person's native language influences

Accepted Answer

thinking processes.

Question 19

Because our snap judgments are often "good bets," the tendency to use heuristics and intuition might be considered

Accepted Answer

adaptive.

Question 20

MacGyver,a fictional TV hero,was able to solve nearly any problem with duct tape,chewing gum,and some luck.Which of the following cognitive tendencies was NOT a problem for MacGyver?

Accepted Answer