Question 1

Suppose Henry meets a woman who opposes the death penalty. From this, Henry decides that women are more likely than men to oppose the death penalty. Henry assumes that the individual case is typical of its category. Henry has fallen prey to:

Accepted Answer

Henry has made the mistake of relying on the representativeness heuristic, which refers to the tendency to judge the likelihood of an event based on how closely the event matches our preconceived stereotype or prototype. He assumes that the woman's stance on the death penalty is representative of women as a whole, without considering other factors that may have influenced her opinion.

Question 2

In the framing effect:

Accepted Answer

The framing effect refers to the way in which people's decision-making can be influenced by the wording of a question or the context of a problem. For example, people may respond differently to a question phrased in terms of potential gains compared to one phrased in terms of potential losses.

Question 3

"Sound it out," Mrs. Sands encourages her first-grade students when they struggle to read a word aloud. Mrs. Sands is introducing her students to:

Accepted Answer

Mrs. Sands is encouraging her students to break down the word into its individual sounds, or phonemes, in order to read it aloud.

Question 4

Sound is to meaning as ______ is to _____.

Accepted Answer

Sound refers to the individual units of speech sounds, or phonemes, which are the basic building blocks of language. Similarly, meaning refers to the individual units of meaning, or morphemes. Phonemes and morphemes are closely related and both play a fundamental role in language processing and comprehension.

Question 5

Nigel often cites newspaper editorials favoring the presidential candidate he supports and ignores editorials critical of the candidate. Nigel appears prone to:

Accepted Answer

The confirmation bias refers to the tendency to seek out and favor information that confirms our existing beliefs while ignoring or dismissing information that contradicts them. Nigel is exhibiting this bias by only citing editorials that support his preferred candidate and ignoring those that do not.

Question 6

In round figures, the likelihood of getting into a fatal auto accident is about 1 in _____. The likelihood of a fatal airplane crash is about 1 in _____.

Accepted Answer

According to statistics from the National Safety Council, the likelihood of a fatal auto accident is about 1 in 114, while the likelihood of a fatal airplane crash is about 1 in 11,000, making option B the correct choice. Option A and C are both incorrect because the likelihood of a fatal accident is higher than 100 for both modes of transportation. Option D is incorrect because the likelihood of a fatal auto accident is much higher than the given number.

Question 7

According to the textbook, the average English speaker is familiar with _____ words.

Accepted Answer

The textbook states that the average English speaker is familiar with 30,000 to 60,000 words, which is a common estimate for vocabulary size in native speakers.

Question 8

An event's availability in memory is NOT based on its:

Accepted Answer

The availability in memory of an event is not based on its primacy effect or its position at the beginning of a list, but rather on factors such as its frequency, vividness, and familiarity.

Question 9

Sometimes one is prone to judge an individual based on one's notion of the category of people he or she most closely resembles. When this happens, one falls prey to the:

Accepted Answer

The representativeness heuristic involves making judgments based on how closely an individual or situation resembles a particular prototype or stereotype. In this case, the individual is being judged based on their resemblance to a category of people, which suggests the use of the representativeness heuristic. The means-end effect involves setting subgoals to achieve a larger goal, and is not relevant to the scenario described. The confirmation bias involves seeking out information that confirms one's beliefs, which is not necessarily occurring in this scenario. The availability heuristic involves making judgments based on the ease with which examples come to mind, which is not directly relevant to the scenario described.

Question 10

At a faculty-student mixer, Mildred's psychology professor introduces her to a faculty member from the linguistics department. Mildred's professor remarks that the linguist is "one of North America's foremost phonologists." Based on her study of the psychology of language, Mildred surmises that the faculty member studies:

Accepted Answer

Phonology is the study of sounds in language, including how they are produced, perceived, and represented. Therefore, the linguist introduced to Mildred is likely an expert in the study of phonology.

Question 11

When one uses the representativeness heuristic, one is:

Accepted Answer

The representativeness heuristic involves making judgments or assumptions about the probability of an event or object belonging to a certain category based on how similar it is to a typical example of that category.

Question 12

People seek and remember evidence that supports their existing hypotheses; they ignore or discount contradictory evidence. In other words, people are prone to the:

Accepted Answer

The confirmation bias is the tendency to seek and remember information that confirms pre-existing beliefs and ignore information that contradicts them. This bias results in individuals processing information in a way that strengthens their pre-existing beliefs or assumptions.

Question 13

Karl is the one person Craig has ever met from New Zealand. Karl strikes Craig as being quite friendly and funny.When asked what he would expect he went to New Zealand, Craig says that the people would be friendly and funny. What might he have used to make this judgment?

Accepted Answer

Craig likely used the representativeness heuristic, meaning he generalized his impression of Karl to the entire population of New Zealand. This is a common cognitive shortcut where people make judgments based on how similar something is to their prototype or previous experiences.

Question 14

Based on the textbook's discussion, phonology is the study of:

Accepted Answer

Phonology is the study of speech sounds, including how they are produced, perceived, and used in language. It is concerned with the patterns and rules governing the organization of sounds in languages, and how those patterns contribute to meaning.

Question 15

Roger views himself lucky, while his friend Larry views himself unlucky. They each take $100 to a casino and play blackjack for 3 hours. When they leave, they have each lost $20. What does research on the confirmation bias suggest will happen?

Accepted Answer

The confirmation bias suggests that individuals tend to interpret information in a way that confirms their preexisting beliefs or expectations. In this case, both Roger and Larry had the expectation to lose $100 and they both lost $20, which could be interpreted as a "win" of $80. However, since Larry views himself as unlucky, he is likely to focus on the fact that he lost money and maintain his belief. Roger, on the other hand, views himself as lucky and may interpret the situation as a "win" and maintain his belief. Thus, both men are likely to maintain their preexisting beliefs rather than change them based on this experience.

Question 16

How many morphemes does the word "firefighters" contain?

Accepted Answer

The word "firefighters" contains 3 morphemes: "fire," "fight," and "ers." Each morpheme contributes to the overall meaning of the word, with "fire" and "fight" being the root words and "ers" indicating a plural form or more than one person involved in the activity.

Question 17

In written language, letters most closely represent _____, whereas sentences may be said to reflect _____.

Accepted Answer

Letters are symbols used to represent phonemes, which are the smallest units of sound in language. Sentences, on the other hand, reflect syntax, which is the set of rules governing the structure of language at the word, phrase, and sentence levels. Morphemes are units of meaning, but they do not necessarily correspond to a specific level of written or spoken language. Therefore, phonemes and syntax are the best choice to represent letters and sentences, respectively.

Question 18

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, many Americans elected to drive rather than fly. The media coverage of the hijackings caused Americans to overestimate the danger of flying. This example illustrates:

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut whereby people make judgments about the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples of that event come to mind. In this case, the vivid media coverage of the 9/11 attacks made people more likely to recall them when considering the risks of air travel, leading to an overestimation of the danger of flying.

Question 19

Mandy, a True believer in astrology, reads in her horoscope that today is her lucky day. She gets so excited that she spills coffee all over herself, necessitating a change of clothes. As a result, she is late for work and for a very important meeting, which in turn gets her into serious trouble with her boss. That evening, her brother is taken to the emergency room. On her way to visit him, Mandy finds a dime in the hospital parking lot. What does research on the confirmation bias suggest that Mandy will do?

Accepted Answer

Research on confirmation bias suggests that individuals tend to seek out and interpret information in a way that confirms their prior beliefs. In this case, Mandy is a true believer in astrology and her horoscope told her that it was her lucky day. Despite the negative events that occurred, she may still hold onto her belief in astrology and view the dime as confirmation of its accuracy.

Question 20

The public might think the economic situation is not as bad as it really is if the government reported employment at 88 percent, rather than saying that the unemployment rate is 12 percent.Which phenomenon is influencing the public's judgment in this situation?

Accepted Answer

The framing effect is the phenomenon where the way information is presented (framed) can influence how it is perceived or interpreted. In this situation, reporting employment at 88 percent (a positive frame) would make the economic situation seem better than reporting unemployment at 12 percent (a negative frame). The framing effect influences the public's judgment in this situation.

Quiz 7: Memory