David is trying to calculate the total cost of the groceries in his grocery cart. 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, four times 35¢ is what? Two times 35¢ is 70¢, and then two times 70¢ is $1.40. And then what do I do next? Oh, yes, I need to know out what 5 times 15 equals. I can't remember, but let's see if I can figure it out...." From an information processing perspective, David may have difficulty solving the problem because:
A) He is using an inappropriate heuristic.
B) His working memory capacity may be insufficient to hold and process all the information.
C) He is encoding the problem incorrectly.
D) He is demonstrating functional fixedness with regard to his knowledge of multiplication facts.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

David is struggling with the task because he needs to keep track of multiple pieces of information simultaneously, which may exceed the capacity of his working memory. This can lead to difficulty in solving the problem, as he may struggle to hold and manipulate all the necessary information at once. There is no evidence to suggest that David is using an inappropriate heuristic, encoding the problem incorrectly, or demonstrating functional fixedness.

David Is Trying to Calculate the Total Cost of the Groceries