William is trying to calculate the price of his groceries in his head.He has four apples for 35¢ each, five potatoes for 15¢ each, and three cake mixes for $2.25 each.He begins by thinking to himself, "Let's see, 4 times 35¢ is what? Two times 35¢ is 70¢, and then 2 times 70¢ is $1.40.And then what do I do next? Oh, yes, I need to know what 5 times 15 equals.I can't remember, but let's see if I can figure it out...." From the perspective of cognitive psychology, William may have trouble solving the problem because:
A)He is using an inappropriate heuristic.
B)He is encoding the problem incorrectly.
C)He is demonstrating a counterproductive mental set with regard to his use of multiplication facts.
D)His working memory capacity may be insufficient to hold and process all the information.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

William may be struggling with mental calculation because he has to keep a lot of information in his working memory at once, specifically the individual prices and quantities of each item. This can be difficult for individuals with limited working memory capacity, leading to difficulty with mental calculation overall.

William Is Trying to Calculate the Price of His Groceries