Jack had never met a professor before he went to college. However, from what he had heard, he developed a mental image of all professors being male, absent-minded, middle-aged, wearing glasses and tweed sports jackets, smoking a pipe, and speaking with a British accent. This mental image is best described as a(n) ________.
A) compensatory model
B) concept
C) algorithm
D) heuristic

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The mental image that Jack developed is best described as a "concept," which is a mental representation of a group or category based on shared characteristics or features. It is not an algorithm (a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem) or a heuristic (a mental shortcut or rule of thumb for problem-solving). While it may be a compensatory model (a decision-making strategy that considers all options and weighs pros and cons), that is not the best fit for this scenario.

Jack Had Never Met a Professor Before He Went to College