Question 1

When people are asked which is more common, death by homicide or death by stroke, they often choose the former (homicide) because they simply hear more about it than they do the latter (stroke). This means they are being led astray in their judgment by __________.

Accepted Answer

This scenario describes the availability heuristic, which involves making judgments based on how easily information comes to mind. People are more likely to estimate the frequency or likelihood of an event based on how easily examples of it come to mind. In this case, people hear about homicide more often in the news and media, so they overestimate its frequency compared to stroke.

Question 2

Which type of strategies are most likely contained in a $29.95 video titled How to Get Rich Quick Selling Antiques?

Accepted Answer

The video titled "How to Get Rich Quick Selling Antiques" is most likely to contain heuristics, which are general problem-solving strategies that may not necessarily result in a guaranteed solution but may be effective in achieving a goal. This is because getting rich quick is often viewed as a shortcut or a quick fix, and heuristics are frequently used in such situations. Expert systems, System II strategies, and algorithms are more systematic and structured approaches that are less likely to be the focus of such a video.

Question 3

Mechanic Lucy believes that the best way to correct a faulty distributor is to think about the things most likely to be wrong and to check those first. What type of thinking strategy is she using?

Accepted Answer

Lucy is using a heuristic thinking strategy, which involves creating shortcuts and using prior knowledge to make decisions. She is relying on her experience and knowledge of commonly occurring issues with distributors to identify and address the problem.

Question 4

"When you have trouble in a class, try outlining the book in your own words." What is this general "rule of thumb" for solving a common academic problem called?

Accepted Answer

This is a heuristic, which is a general "rule of thumb" or problem-solving strategy that is not guaranteed to always work, but is often helpful.

Question 5

When you use the representativeness heuristic, you are __________.

Accepted Answer

When you use the representativeness heuristic, you assume that something is typical of its class based on how closely it resembles the prototype or stereotype of that class.

Question 6

"You always clam up when I ask you what's wrong," Iris tells her boyfriend. Iris is probably making this frequency judgment because she can remember a few times that her boyfriend wouldn't tell her what was bothering him. Iris is using the __________ heuristic.

Accepted Answer

Iris is using the availability heuristic, which involves making judgments about the frequency or likelihood of events based on how easily examples come to mind. In this case, she remembers specific instances when her boyfriend wouldn't open up, leading her to generalize about his behavior.

Question 7

Your text suggests that the success of "I know a woman who . . ." arguments reflect the representativeness heuristic in action. Why does your text make this claim?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Your text suggests that the success of...

Question 8

You want to decide whether you believe that pretty people are better singers. To answer this question, you recall all the people you've seen and heard sing lately, then judge how well they performed. This strategy is referred to as __________.

Accepted Answer

This strategy is referred to as the availability heuristic, which involves making a decision based on the information that is most readily available to you, rather than all possible information. In this case, you're relying on your memory of recent examples to make a judgment.

Question 9

A lawyer represents a client who is accused of robbery. The client has been found guilty of assault in three previous crimes. What is the lawyer's judgment most likely to be affected by if he were asked to estimate the man's chances of acquittal for this fourth crime?

Accepted Answer

The lawyer's judgment is most likely to be affected by the availability heuristic, which is a mental shortcut where people rely on easily available and recent examples or information to make judgments or decisions. In this case, the fact that the client has been found guilty of assault in three previous crimes may be more salient and memorable to the lawyer than other relevant factors that could affect the client's chances of acquittal for this fourth crime. Therefore, the lawyer may overestimate the likelihood of the client being found guilty again.

Question 10

Say you meet a woman who opposes the death penalty, then decide that, generally, women are more likely to oppose the death penalty than are men. That is, you assume that the individual case is representative of its category. Here you have fallen prey to __________.

Accepted Answer

The representativeness heuristic is the tendency to judge the probability of an event based on how closely it resembles a typical case or stereotype. In this scenario, the assumption that a woman who opposes the death penalty is representative of women in general is an example of the representativeness heuristic.

Question 11

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

Accepted Answer

Craig used the representativeness heuristic, where he made a judgment based on how similar New Zealand is to his one prior experience with a New Zealander, Carl.

Question 12

Last week, Mike heard about five separate airplane crashes on the news. Even though, overall, motorcycle accidents account for more accidents than plane crashes do, Mike decides to ride his motorcycle from Washington to Atlanta instead of flying. What is Mike's reasoning error based on?

Accepted Answer

Mike is making a reasoning error based on the availability heuristic, which is the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of an event based on how easily it comes to mind. In this case, the multiple news reports of plane crashes have made plane crashes more salient to Mike's mind, leading him to believe that they are more common than they actually are.

Question 13

Joanne will not go out at night because she hears from her local news station about the large number of muggings and robberies that occur in her city. However, crime in Joanne's city has actually gone down in the past few years. What error in reasoning is Joanne falling victim to?

Accepted Answer

Joanne is relying on the availability heuristic, which is a mental shortcut where we base our judgments on the ease with which we can recall specific examples or events. In this case, she is easily recalling news stories of muggings and robberies, which might be in the minority compared to the overall decrease in crime.

Question 14

Lenny picks up a pamphlet at a counseling center titled How to Succeed at College Course Work. Which type of strategies are most likely offered in this pamphlet?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Lenny picks up a pamphlet at a...

Question 15

In one study participants watched a video of a prison guard. Some participants were told in advance that the guard was atypical, that he was chosen because of his extreme views; others were not given this piece of information. What did the study show?

Accepted Answer

The study showed that the warning given to the participants did not have any significant effect on their judgments or conclusions about the prison guard.

Question 16

The availability heuristic is often used in making __________ judgments. The representativeness heuristic is often used in making __________.

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is the tendency to base judgments on examples and information that come to mind easily. This makes it more likely to generate frequency judgments because we are more likely to judge the frequency of events based on how easily examples come to mind. On the other hand, the representativeness heuristic is the tendency to judge the probability of an event by its superficial similarity to a prototype or stereotype. This makes it more likely to generate categorization judgments.

Question 17

Which of the following is TRUE of heuristics?

Accepted Answer

Heuristics are commonly used approaches to problem-solving, but they do not always guarantee correct solutions. They can often be faster than other problem-solving strategies because they rely on quick, intuitive judgments rather than a detailed analysis. Heuristics are used by both humans and computers as problem-solving tools.

Question 18

Which of the following most likely makes use of heuristics?

Accepted Answer

Heuristics are strategies or approaches that simplify decision making. An article titled "How to Succeed in Science" by a Nobel Prize winner is likely to offer generalized advice or rules of thumb, which are examples of heuristics, to guide readers towards success in the scientific field.

Question 19

A judgment strategy in which one uses the ease with which examples come to mind as the basis for judging how common events really are is called the __________ heuristic.

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is based on the ease with which examples come to mind, so it matches the description provided in the question. The representativeness heuristic is based on how similar something is to a prototype or stereotype, while confirmation bias refers to seeking out information that confirms one's preexisting beliefs. The frequency heuristic is not a commonly used term in psychology.

Question 20

Stereotypes spring to mind easily. Therefore, we sometimes use them to judge the frequency of certain events, such as crimes in a given neighborhood. This example BEST describes the use of the __________ heuristic.

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is used when people estimate the probability of an event based on how easily examples come to mind, which is exactly what is described in the scenario where stereotypes, which are easily recalled, influence judgments about the frequency of certain events.

Quiz 9: Thinking

When people are asked which is more common, death by homicide or death by stroke, they often choose the former (homicide) because they simply hear more about it than they do the latter (stroke) . This means they are being led astray in their judgment by __________.