Question 1

You estimate the number of soft drinks you'll need for the 4th of July picnic, based on the Christmas party consumption, but taking into account the fact that the weather will be warmer. Which heuristic does this example illustrate?

Accepted Answer

The answer of You estimate the number of soft drinks...

Question 2

How could the illusory correlation effect produce a stereotype?

Accepted Answer

Illusory correlation occurs when people overestimate the relationship between two variables that are only slightly or not at all related. In the context of stereotypes, this can happen when individuals pay too much attention to instances that confirm their stereotypes (a particular combination of characteristics within a group) and ignore or undervalue instances that do not fit the stereotype (the other possible combinations of characteristics). This selective attention reinforces the stereotype, even if it's not representative of the entire group.

Question 3

When people estimate confidence intervals, they typically

Accepted Answer

People often provide confidence intervals that are too narrow because they tend to underestimate the amount of variability or uncertainty in their estimates, leading to overconfidence in their precision.

Question 4

Suppose that a quiz show host asks a contestant which city in France has the greater population, Paris or Nantes. The contestant immediately responds, "Paris." According to the discussion of decision making,

Accepted Answer

The recognition heuristic is used when people make judgments based on whether they recognize something or not, without needing further information. In this case, the contestant likely recognizes Paris more than Nantes and uses that recognition to infer that Paris has a greater population.

Question 5

People who often watch soap operas are likely to believe that amnesia, extramarital affairs, and mysterious disappearances occur more often than they actually occur in real life. A likely explanation for this finding is that

Accepted Answer

The concept of availability heuristic explains this phenomenon, where people estimate the likelihood of events based on how easily examples come to mind. Watching soap operas frequently makes amnesia, affairs, and disappearances more familiar and thus seemingly more common.

Question 6

Chapter 12, on reasoning and decision making, emphasizes that we frequently endorse our current hypotheses and thoughts, rather than questioning them. Which of the following topics is least likely to show an overemphasis on our current hypotheses?

Accepted Answer

The recognition heuristic is less about endorsing current hypotheses and more about making judgments based on recognition, not necessarily overemphasizing current beliefs or hypotheses.

Question 7

Which of the following heuristics is most likely to produce a correct decision?

Accepted Answer

The recognition heuristic can often lead to correct decisions, especially in situations where one has to choose between known and unknown options. It operates under the assumption that if one recognizes one option but not the other, the recognized option has a higher value. This heuristic is particularly effective in simple decision-making scenarios where limited information is available, making it a reliable shortcut to a correct decision in many cases.

Question 8

Suppose that you are trying to decide whether to take a course from Professor Jones or Professor Smith. Your friends have made many positive comments about both professors. You decide to take a course with Professor Jones, because today you heard more praise about Professor Jones. You are using

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is at play here because you made your decision based on the information that was most readily available or memorable to you at the time, which was the recent praise for Professor Jones.

Question 9

Research on the availability heuristic shows that

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. The frequency with which a country is mentioned in the news can lead people to overestimate its population because those instances are more readily available in memory, which is consistent with how the availability heuristic operates.

Question 10

Anchoring and adjustment is relevant when we estimate confidence intervals because

Accepted Answer

Anchoring and adjustment is relevant because individuals tend to rely too heavily on the initial piece of information (the anchor) when making decisions, including estimating confidence intervals, and often do not adjust sufficiently away from that anchor.

Question 11

A likely explanation for the illusory correlation effect is that

Accepted Answer

People tend to focus on the most noticeable or memorable pairings, often overestimating the frequency of these pairings and neglecting the other combinations, leading to an illusory correlation.

Question 12

We often tend to see psychological patterns in the pictures that people draw. For example, we might think that suspicious people would tend to draw exaggerated eyes. What error in judgment does this represent?

Accepted Answer

This represents the illusory correlation, which is the perception of a relationship between two variables when no such relationship exists. In this case, the assumption that suspicious people draw exaggerated eyes is an example of perceiving a connection without evidence to support it.

Question 13

Which of the following students provides the most accurate perspective on the availability heuristic?

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic can lead to accurate judgments but is subject to biases such as recency and familiarity, which can distort decision-making. Harley's statement acknowledges this nuance, making it the most accurate perspective.

Question 14

What is one of the difficulties with the availability heuristic?

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic can lead to errors in frequency estimation because examples that come to mind more easily (often because they are more familiar) are mistakenly thought to be more common than they actually are. This can distort judgment and decision-making.

Question 15

A physician is trying to convince a man that he must give up smoking. The man initially believes that the probability of lung cancer is increased by only 10% if he smokes. Why are decision-making heuristics relevant to this situation?

Accepted Answer

The man's initial belief that smoking only increases the risk of lung cancer by 10% sets a low anchor. This low estimate may influence his perception of the risk, making it difficult for him to adjust his beliefs even when presented with accurate information. Anchoring is a common heuristic where individuals rely too heavily on an initial piece of information (the "anchor") when making decisions.

Question 16

A friend tells you that drama majors tend to be extremely disorganized. However, when you actually make a tally of 10 friends who are drama majors and 20 friends who are not, you find no relationship. Your friend's error was most likely to be an example of

Accepted Answer

Your friend's error is an example of an illusory correlation, which occurs when someone perceives a relationship between two variables even when no such relationship exists. In this case, the belief that drama majors are disorganized, despite evidence to the contrary, is an illusory correlation.

Question 17

Suppose that a student named John is asked to judge how many students are enrolled in his introductory biology class. He replies, "about 100….well, maybe between about 90 and 110." Based on the discussion of confidence intervals, you predict that

Accepted Answer

John's statement indicates he started with an initial estimate (anchor) of 100 students and then adjusted from that point to create a range. This behavior is consistent with anchoring, where an initial piece of information is used as a starting point for making judgments or estimates, and subsequent adjustments are made around this anchor.

Question 18

Which of the following students has the best explanation for illusory correlations?

Accepted Answer

Tim's explanation is correct because illusory correlations do arise when people focus their attention on only one set of characteristics and do not consider the other sets of characteristics.

Question 19

According to the social cognition approach to stereotypes, we form stereotypes primarily

Accepted Answer

Stereotypes form as a result of normal cognitive processes, such as categorization, which helps us simplify and navigate the social world by grouping people into categories based on shared characteristics. This approach suggests that stereotyping is an inherent part of human cognition, not necessarily rooted in negative emotions or evolutionary factors.

Question 20

A professor asks students to guess what percent of people in homeless shelters are parents and children. Before you can consider your answer, another student shouts out "about 10%." Your answer may be either higher or lower than it would be otherwise because of

Accepted Answer

The anchoring and adjustment heuristic is a cognitive bias that describes the common human tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered (the "anchor") when making decisions. In this scenario, the student's shout of "about 10%" serves as an anchor, potentially influencing others to adjust their guesses around this initial figure rather than considering the question independently.

Quiz 12: Deductive Reasoning and Decision Making