Question 1

Which of the following situations is likely to displease the typical undergraduate more? (Assume all four situations apply to the person and that the person would have to pay for each with his or her own money.)

Accepted Answer

A new fee for a previously free service is likely to be more displeasing because it feels like an additional, unexpected cost rather than a slight increase in an existing expense.

Question 2

Larry has written a computer program that monitors and makes decisions about the relative amounts of chemicals to use in the process of creating a high-quality plastic material. His program simulates the decisions experts would make if they could monitor the production of the material during every second of the process. These sorts of technological advances are part of

Accepted Answer

The program Larry has written simulates expert decision-making, which is a characteristic of artificial intelligence, as it involves creating systems that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence.

Question 3

Donna is an expert in mechanical engineering. Most likely,

Accepted Answer

Experts like Donna use their past knowledge and experience to approach problems differently than novices, often recognizing patterns and solutions more efficiently.

Question 4

Yassir is a researcher in the field of artificial intelligence. When building computers that are able to form natural concepts and think more like humans, Yassir is likely to use the __________ approach.

Accepted Answer

Neural network is an approach in artificial intelligence that involves designing models for computers that can learn from data, recognize patterns, and make decisions in a way that mimics the human brain. This approach is particularly useful for developing computers that can form natural concepts and think more like humans. Therefore, Yassir is likely to use the neural network approach. The other options (A, C, and D) are not specific to this task and do not necessarily involve building machines that can think like humans.

Question 5

The field of study that seeks to program computers to think, and to imitate and understand the products of human perception, is known as

Accepted Answer

Artificial intelligence is the field of study focused on programming computers to mimic human thought processes and perception.

Question 6

Robin and Roberta are working on a math problem. Robin keeps trying to use the formula that worked for previous problems but that is no longer helpful. Roberta is exasperated with Robin and says, "Robin, you are

Accepted Answer

Robin is a victim of a mental set because he is stuck using a previously successful formula that is not applicable to the current problem.

Question 7

Ashley learned that if her car did not start on the first try, pressing the gas pedal before trying to start it again got the car to work. The next time Ashley's car did not start, she tried pressing the gas pedal, but this did not work. She concluded that her car needed repairs and did not notice that she was simply out of gas. Ashley was experiencing

Accepted Answer

Ashley was experiencing a mental set, which is the tendency to approach situations in a certain way because that method worked in the past, even if it is not effective in the current situation.

Question 8

"Whenever I have to solve a problem, I make a list of the pros and cons of each option," Mr. O'Rourke tells his coworkers. From a cognitive psychology perspective, Mr. O'Rourke is evaluating the _________ of each choice.

Accepted Answer

Mr. O'Rourke is evaluating the utility of each choice, as he is weighing the pros and cons to determine the overall value or benefit of each option.

Question 9

Lola loves to gamble at the casino boats. She tells you that even though the odds of winning big are low, she is certain that she can win back at least the same amount of money she pays into the slot machines. By determining the odds of winning on the machines, you use a simple equation to show Lola that her __________ is actually negative, and therefore, she should not play the machines if she wants to come out ahead.

Accepted Answer

The equation that Lola needs to understand is the concept of expected value, which is calculated by subtracting the probability of losing from the probability of winning and multiplying the difference by the amount won or lost. If the expected value is negative, as it often is with slot machines, then Lola's expected outcome is to lose money in the long run, even if she has the occasional big win. Therefore, she should avoid playing the machines if she wants to come out ahead.

Question 10

Dr. Bond would like to create facial recognition software for use in banks, airports, and other security-sensitive work environments. This software will be based on a neural network model, which has shown promise, but may still fall short of human perception. Such limitations may include

Accepted Answer

The slow learning of how to classify visual patterns is a known limitation of neural network models. While they have shown promise in facial recognition, they may still fall short of human perception in this specific aspect.

Question 11

Even though she got all three extra credit questions right on the exam and, as such, earned three bonus points, Shatrice is still very irritated that she lost three points for making a silly mistake on an essay question. The fact that the loss and gain did not create an emotional "balance" for Shatrice is explained by the concept of

Accepted Answer

Loss aversion explains why people feel losses more intensely than gains of the same size, leading to Shatrice's irritation despite the net zero effect on her score.

Question 12

Paxton owns a swimming pool, and last summer he got some yellowish algae in the water. He bought a specific type of algaecide to deal with the problem and in three days, the water was clear again. This summer Paxton notices a green algae beginning to form, and he uses the same algaecide as he did the previous summer. In three days, the pool is completely green and he cannot determine why the algae didn't die. Paxton failed to realize that it was a different type of algae, and his use of a past solution attempt demonstrates

Accepted Answer

A mental set is a tendency to approach a problem in the same way that has been successful in the past, even when a different approach would be more effective. In this case, Paxton used the same algaecide that he had used successfully in the past, even though the algae was a different type. This demonstrates a mental set.

Question 13

James spent months developing a theory of decision making. But in an experimental test, only half of the participants responded as his theory predicted. James concludes that the rest of the subjects did not understand the directions and proclaims that the experiment is evidence in favor of his theory. This is an example of the

Accepted Answer

James is exhibiting confirmation bias by focusing on the results that support his theory and dismissing the results that do not.

Question 14

The Professor is an expert at solving physics questions. Gilligan is not an expert at anything. When they try to solve a physics question, __________ is more likely to cause a problem for the Professor than for Gilligan.

Accepted Answer

A mental set is more likely to affect an expert like the Professor, as it involves relying on familiar strategies that may not be effective for new problems.

Question 15

Leslie visits her garden to discover her tomatoes and beans have been eaten by an animal. Certain it's a deer, she constructs a fence around the garden. A week later, the vegetables have been eaten again, so she installs an even taller fence. Leslie has not considered she may have actually fenced in the offending creature likely because

Accepted Answer

The answer of Leslie visits her garden to discover her...

Question 16

Dora is trying to decide whether to buy the regular laundry detergent or one that is environmentally safe. When evaluating these options, Dora hopes to make the best choice in order to maximize the __________ of her decision.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Dora is trying to decide whether to...

Question 17

When asked why she decided to attend the University of Illinois over all the other Big Ten schools, Dornita said that the school's proximity to home was a major reason. The importance Dornita places on proximity is called

Accepted Answer

Utility refers to the satisfaction or benefit derived from a choice, such as the convenience of being close to home.

Question 18

Witnesses to the sniper attacks in Maryland and Virginia described seeing a white work van in the vicinity of the incidents. As a result of this, dozens of reports of suspicious white vans were received, even though the vans were behaving in perfectly normal way. Because the snipers actually drove a dark sedan, they were able to continue their terrible deeds longer. The people trying to solve the crime were operating under

Accepted Answer

The investigators were influenced by a mental set, focusing on the white van due to witness reports, which led them to overlook other possibilities, such as the dark sedan actually used by the snipers.

Question 19

Jerry is deciding which of two women to ask out on a date. He lists the positive and negative attributes of each woman: how attractive she is and whether she has good table manners. Kramer tells Jerry that he should also rate how much he values each of these attributes before making his decision. This rating of the subjective value of attributes is called

Accepted Answer

The rating of the subjective value of attributes is referred to as utility. Jerry needs to determine how much he values each attribute before making a decision.

Question 20

Connie believes that she has Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)because she has been coughing and sneezing for the past few days. However, Connie fails to realize that if she truly had SARS, she would be exhibiting several other symptoms as well. Connie seems to be

Accepted Answer

Connie is ignoring negative evidence because she is focusing only on the symptoms she has and not considering the absence of other symptoms that would be present if she truly had SARS.

Quiz 7: Thought, Language, and Intelligence