Question 1

A number of PET-scan studies find that when people perform different cognitive tasks associated with spatial reasoning,verbal abilities,or perceptual-motor skills,the same brain area,the ____,is activated.

Accepted Answer

The lateral frontal cortex is involved in a wide range of cognitive functions, including spatial reasoning, verbal abilities, and perceptual-motor skills, which is why it is activated across different tasks in PET-scan studies.

Question 2

Who proposed that some members of stigmatized racial and ethnic groups respond to negative ethnic stereotypes and discrimination by developing an oppositional ethnic identity and cultural frame of reference that defensively opposes the rejecting dominant culture?

Accepted Answer

John Ogbu proposed the concept of an oppositional cultural identity, suggesting that members of stigmatized groups may adopt behaviors and attitudes that oppose the dominant culture as a response to discrimination and negative stereotyping.

Question 3

____ are people who have freely come to United States because they perceived it as "the land of opportunity."

Accepted Answer

Voluntary minorities are groups who have chosen to move to the United States, often in search of better opportunities, and perceive it as "the land of opportunity."

Question 4

Stereotype threat has ____ influence on minority students' confidence.

Accepted Answer

Stereotype threat can negatively affect the confidence and performance of minority students by making them anxious about confirming negative stereotypes about their group.

Question 5

Lillian sees a young,thin woman walking out of a performing arts center dressed in leotards and tights and carrying point-dance shoes.Lillian,relying upon the ____ heuristic,assumes that this woman is a ballerina.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Lillian sees a young,thin woman walking out...

Question 6

Scarr and Weinberg found that the IQs of lower class Black children adopted as infants and raised by middle-class families were ____ the average IQ in the general population.

Accepted Answer

Scarr and Weinberg's research found that lower-class Black children adopted by middle-class families had IQ scores that were higher than the average IQ in the general population, indicating the significant impact of environmental factors on intellectual development.

Question 7

People who grow up in enriched environments tend to score ____ of their reaction range.

Accepted Answer

People who grow up in enriched environments are more likely to reach the upper limit of their genetic potential, or reaction range, for traits such as intelligence. This is because enriched environments provide more stimuli and opportunities for learning and development.

Question 8

The field of ____ is the science of designing and making intelligent machines,especially intelligent computer programs.

Accepted Answer

Artificial intelligence is the field focused on creating intelligent machines and computer programs.

Question 9

Gender differences in math abilities appear to be ____.

Accepted Answer

Research indicates that gender differences in math abilities are diminishing, with many studies showing that when differences do exist, they are small and often influenced by social and cultural factors rather than inherent ability.

Question 10

You are an African-American student,fully aware of the negative cultural stereotypes about your race's intellectual abilities.You feel extra pressure while taking the SAT because you realize that if you fail to perform well,you might confirm these negative stereotypes.You are experiencing what psychologists call ____.

Accepted Answer

Stereotype threat refers to the experience of anxiety or concern in a situation where a person has the potential to confirm a negative stereotype about their social group. This can impair performance, such as on standardized tests, due to the pressure of not wanting to confirm these stereotypes.

Question 11

Psychologists have traditionally considered ____ thinking to be a more important ingredient in creativity than ____ thinking.

Accepted Answer

Divergent thinking is traditionally viewed as a key component of creativity, as it involves generating many unique solutions to a problem, whereas convergent thinking focuses on narrowing down those options to find the best solution.

Question 12

"Making a habit of questioning tradition" is one of the six steps recommended in the text for increasing your ____.

Accepted Answer

Questioning tradition is a method to stimulate thinking in new and unconventional ways, which is a practice aimed at enhancing creativity by encouraging individuals to challenge the status quo and think outside the box.

Question 13

The genetic defect caused by an extra chromosome coming from either the mother's egg or the father's sperm is associated with ____.

Accepted Answer

Down syndrome is caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21, which can come from either the mother's egg or the father's sperm.

Question 14

Peter likes to work on challenging mind puzzles and he enjoys critically analyzing various topics.Psychologists would describe Peter as being ____.

Accepted Answer

The need for cognition is a psychological term that describes the tendency of an individual to enjoy and engage in effortful cognitive activities. Since Peter likes to work on challenging puzzles and enjoys critically analyzing topics, he would be described as high in the need for cognition.

Question 15

Scarr and Weinberg concluded that their research suggests that Black-White IQ differences are substantially influenced by ____.

Accepted Answer

Scarr and Weinberg's research suggested that environmental factors play a substantial role in the observed IQ differences between Black and White populations, challenging the notion that these differences are primarily due to genetic factors.

Question 16

The bulk of artificial intelligence research has emphasized the study of ____,with considerably less time devoted to ____.

Accepted Answer

Artificial intelligence research has primarily focused on intellectual processes, such as learning, reasoning, and problem-solving, with less emphasis on understanding or simulating emotions.

Question 17

Which of the following best supports the position that gender socialization is responsible for the differences in verbal ability between females and males?

Accepted Answer

Girls receiving more encouragement to talk during infancy is an example of gender socialization, where societal norms and expectations influence behavior and abilities, including verbal skills. This supports the position that socialization, rather than biological factors, is responsible for differences in verbal ability between genders.

Question 18

Which of the following is a possible explanation for why Japanese children outscore American children academically?

Accepted Answer

Doing well in school is culturally more emphasized in Japan than in some other countries, including the United States. This cultural emphasis on education and academic success is a significant factor in why Japanese children might outscore American children academically.

Question 19

What has been the result of intelligence researchers attempts at constructing "culture-free" intelligence tests?

Accepted Answer

Despite efforts, current intelligence tests still contain cultural biases, as it's challenging to create a test that's entirely free of cultural influences.

Question 20

A normal distribution has a(n)____ appearance when the individual scores are placed in a graph.

Accepted Answer

A normal distribution is characterized by its bell-shaped curve when graphed, indicating that most of the data points are concentrated around the mean, with frequencies tapering off symmetrically towards both tails.

Quiz 8: Language, thinking, and Intelligence