Question 1

You enjoy talking to your two-year-old cousin like an adult, but his mother reminds you that the child can say only a few words. How might you explain reasons for speaking normally to the child?

Accepted Answer

The answer of You enjoy talking to your two-year-old cousin...

Question 2

Imagine you are volunteering for the first time in a residential hospital for brain injury rehabilitation. Your supervisor wants to test your knowledge and introduces you to a patient named Frank, who sounds as if he's talking nonsense, but uses real words and sounds fluent. What would you tell your supervisor about the probable location of Frank's brain damage?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Imagine you are volunteering for the first...

Question 3

You are interested in selling a vintage musical instrument. How would you use the anchoring effect to get the best possible price, even when you know that buyers will try to negotiate lower prices?

Accepted Answer

The answer of You are interested in selling a vintage...

Question 4

Imagine you have a sibling who is two-and-a-half years old. She uses about 40 words. Assume that she is developing normally. Using your knowledge of language development, describe what some hallmarks of her language would likely be.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Imagine you have a sibling who is...

Question 5

You are a volunteer at a neurological rehabilitation clinic. You have one patient who has damage to Broca's area and another who has damage to Wernicke's area. How would you expect their symptoms to differ?

Accepted Answer

The answer of You are a volunteer at a neurological...

Question 6

Describe an event in which you fall victim to the anchoring effect as a consumer. Then describe how you can use your knowledge of the anchoring effect to avoid falling victim to it the next time you are in a similar situation.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe an event in which you fall...

Question 7

The sentence "Martha hit the man with the umbrella" could be understood to mean that Martha used the umbrella to hit the man or that Martha hit the man who was holding an umbrella. Therefore, the sentence has
A) one surface structure but no deep structure.
B) one surface structure and multiple deep structures.
C) one deep structure but no surface structure.
D) multiple surface structures and deep structures.

Accepted Answer

The sentence has two possible interpretations, which means it has multiple deep structures (the different ways the sentence can be understood) and one surface structure (the actual words that make up the sentence itself).

Question 8

The ability of a language to produce an infinite number of sentences is called _______ capacity.
A) linguistic
B) specialized
C) infinite
D) generative

Accepted Answer

The term that best describes the ability of a language to produce an infinite number of sentences is generative capacity. This refers to the fact that languages can create new sentences that have never been uttered before, using a finite set of linguistic rules and elements. Option A, linguistic, is too broad and does not specify the particular aspect of language being referred to. Option B, specialized, is not an accurate term for this concept. Option C, infinite, could be a possible choice, but it does not capture the idea that the creation of sentences is a specific property of language.

Question 9

Two adults, Albert and Herman, each speak English and German. Brain scans reveal that Albert activates the same brain region when he uses either language but Herman activates different brain regions for each language. Based on this information and on the work of Kim et al. (1997) described in your text, which description of their backgrounds is most plausible?
A) Albert learned both languages from birth. Herman learned German from birth but did not learn English until his teenage years.
B) Albert and Herman learned both languages from birth, but Herman now speaks one of the languages infrequently.
C) Herman learned English from birth, and he learned German as a teenager. Albert learned German from birth but did not learn English until his adult years.
D) Herman learned both languages from birth. Albert learned German from birth but did not learn English until his adult years.

Accepted Answer

Kim et al. (1997) found that individuals who learn a second language early in life tend to use the same brain regions for both languages, while those who learn a second language later in life use different brain regions for each language. Thus, Albert, who activates the same brain region for both languages, likely learned them from birth, while Herman, who activates different regions, learned his second language later.

Question 10

An individual who has developed difficulty comprehending the speech of others most likely has suffered damage to _______ area in the _______ hemisphere of the brain.
A) Broca's; left
B) Broca's; right
C) Wernicke's; left
D) Wernicke's; right

Accepted Answer

Difficulty comprehending speech is a symptom of Wernicke's aphasia, which is caused by damage to the Wernicke's area in the left hemisphere of the brain. Broca's aphasia, on the other hand, is characterized by difficulty producing speech, and is caused by damage to Broca's area in the left hemisphere of the brain. Damage to the right hemisphere of the brain is not typically associated with language comprehension or production difficulties.

Question 11

Cognitive psychologists regard concepts as abstract ideas or _______ of events.
A) linguistic labels
B) ideal forms
C) specific prototypes
D) mental representations

Accepted Answer

Cognitive psychologists view concepts as mental representations of events, which may not necessarily match up with specific prototypes or ideal forms. While linguistic labels may be associated with certain concepts, they are not the defining characteristic of a concept.

Question 12

A cognitive scientist is investigating how people conceptualize certain activities and is collecting interview data regarding prototypes related to sports. Which of the following would the scientist would find most relevant to the investigation?
A) A subject reporting that football comes to mind first when asked to think about sports.
B) A subject defining a sport as a competitive athletic practice, but noting that there are exceptions.
C) A subject arguing that games like chess and poker should be recognized as sports.
D) A subject saying that she considers soccer and hockey to be closely related sports.

Accepted Answer

The scientist is investigating people's prototypes or mental images related to sports. The subject reporting that football comes to mind first provides information about the most salient or typical sport prototype for that individual.

Question 13

According to the work of Fitts and Posner (1967), the associative phase of an individual's progress in learning to drive is best represented when she is
A) able to drive long distances but rarely recalls the exact route of travel.
B) able to operate the various controls in the car only by examining them carefully.
C) comfortable with driving but makes errors if she plays the radio or talks to a passenger.
D) able to drive with no significant mistakes, even while carrying on a discussion about school.

Accepted Answer

In the associative phase, individuals become more comfortable with the skill (in this case, driving) but can still make errors when multitasking (like talking to a passenger or playing the radio), as their attention is divided. This phase is characterized by refining the skill, making fewer errors, and becoming more efficient, but not yet achieving automaticity that would allow for perfect multitasking.

Question 14

Which of the following factors is not widely regarded as essential to the development of the kind of outstanding performance seen in professional athletes and musicians?
A) A low rate of failure
B) An explicit concern for trying to find the most efficient way to accomplish each step of the process
C) Significant, high-quality practice time
D) Rapid, high-quality feedback

Accepted Answer

A low rate of failure is not widely regarded as essential for outstanding performance; in fact, experiencing and learning from failure is often considered a key part of the development process in both athletes and musicians. High-quality practice, efficient methods, and rapid feedback are all recognized as crucial factors.

Question 15

The peak experience of flow seems to occur when individuals are applying _______ levels of skill to _______ tasks.
A) low; challenging
B) high; challenging
C) low; unchallenging
D) high; unchallenging

Accepted Answer

The peak experience of flow occurs when individuals are applying high levels of skill to challenging tasks. This is because if the task is too easy, they will not be fully engaged, and if the task is too difficult and their skill is not high enough, they will become anxious and frustrated. Therefore, the optimal level is when the task is challenging enough to require focus and effort, but not so difficult that it leads to negative emotions.

Question 16

All of the following are examples of the cocktail party effect except:
A) You are sitting across from a friend in a coffee shop, looking her in the eye and nodding as she speaks, but you are really listening to the man at the next table describing a car accident.
B) You are in the soccer stadium watching a game as everyone around you cheers, but you manage to hear the announcer explain a penalty on the field.
C) All of your friends are singing "Happy Birthday" to you, but you pay particular attention to the loud soprano voice in the back of the room.
D) As you wait in a theater for a movie to begin, you tune out all of the chatter around you while you focus on a text message that has just arrived from your cousin.

Accepted Answer

The cocktail party effect refers to the ability to focus one's auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli, as if to hear one voice among many in a party. Option D involves focusing on a visual stimulus (a text message) rather than distinguishing among multiple auditory stimuli, making it the exception.

Question 17

Roger is at a party talking and laughing with a group of friends. He sets his plastic soda cup down and seconds later picks up the glass mug that someone put in its place. He fails to notice that the drink was replaced. This is an example of
A) the cocktail party effect.
B) attentional blink.
C) change blindness.
D) inattentional blindness.

Accepted Answer

This scenario is an example of change blindness, which occurs when a person fails to notice a visual change in the environment because their attention is directed elsewhere. Roger didn't notice his soda cup was replaced with a glass mug because he was focused on his conversation.

Question 18

Which of the following situations best demonstrates the anchoring effect?
A) Stacy is trying to sell the house she purchased several years ago, but she refuses any offer that is less than 120 percent of the price she originally paid.
B) Johann spends more on a new computer than he planned to because he selected his desired model online and then decided to add a number of features.
C) Marcia declines to purchase auto insurance beyond the legally required minimum because she has never been involved in a car accident.
D) Ronald feels that he got a terrific bargain on his new car by paying 20 percent less than the listed manufacturer's suggested retail price.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following situations best demonstrates...

Question 19

Which of the following situations represents an effect of hindsight bias?
A) Jerry rode his bike instead of taking his car to work, then told a co-worker that he had biked in because he knew there would be a car accident holding up traffic along his route.
B) Becky regretted going camping last weekend after she got caught in the rain and said that she would not have gone if she had heard the weather forecast.
C) Gregory took his car to a shop for repairs, then refused to use that shop again when the repair failed to last.
D) Danielle bought shares of stock that lost a great deal of value, but she refuses to sell them, hoping that they will recover and restore her investment.

Accepted Answer

Hindsight bias occurs when someone believes, after an event has occurred, that they had foreseen or predicted the outcome. In choice A, Jerry claims he knew there would be a car accident and that's why he biked to work, which is a classic example of hindsight bias.

Question 20

_______ most commonly contributes to loss-averse behavior.
A) The availability heuristic
B) The framing effect
C) Confirmation bias
D) The gambler's fallacy

Accepted Answer

The framing effect refers to the idea that people react differently to the same information depending on how it is framed or presented to them. In the context of loss aversion, people tend to be more risk-averse when potential losses are presented as gains that can be lost, rather than as losses that can be avoided. This framing effect contributes to loss-averse behavior because people are more motivated to avoid losses than to seek out gains, and they are more likely to take risks when they feel there is something to be gained rather than something to be lost.

Quiz 10: Language and Cognition

You enjoy talking to your two-year-old cousin like an adult, but his mother reminds you that the child can say only a few words. How might you explain reasons for speaking normally to the child?

You are interested in selling a vintage musical instrument. How would you use the anchoring effect to get the best possible price, even when you know that buyers will try to negotiate lower prices?

Imagine you have a sibling who is two-and-a-half years old. She uses about 40 words. Assume that she is developing normally. Using your knowledge of language development, describe what some hallmarks of her language would likely be.

You are a volunteer at a neurological rehabilitation clinic. You have one patient who has damage to Broca's area and another who has damage to Wernicke's area. How would you expect their symptoms to differ?

Describe an event in which you fall victim to the anchoring effect as a consumer. Then describe how you can use your knowledge of the anchoring effect to avoid falling victim to it the next time you are in a similar situation.

The sentence "Martha hit the man with the umbrella" could be understood to mean that Martha used the umbrella to hit the man or that Martha hit the man who was holding an umbrella. Therefore, the sentence has

The ability of a language to produce an infinite number of sentences is called _______ capacity.

An individual who has developed difficulty comprehending the speech of others most likely has suffered damage to _ area in the _ hemisphere of the brain.

Cognitive psychologists regard concepts as abstract ideas or _______ of events.

A cognitive scientist is investigating how people conceptualize certain activities and is collecting interview data regarding prototypes related to sports. Which of the following would the scientist would find most relevant to the investigation?

According to the work of Fitts and Posner (1967) , the associative phase of an individual's progress in learning to drive is best represented when she is

Which of the following factors is not widely regarded as essential to the development of the kind of outstanding performance seen in professional athletes and musicians?

The peak experience of flow seems to occur when individuals are applying _ levels of skill to _ tasks.

All of the following are examples of the cocktail party effect except:

Roger is at a party talking and laughing with a group of friends. He sets his plastic soda cup down and seconds later picks up the glass mug that someone put in its place. He fails to notice that the drink was replaced. This is an example of

Which of the following situations best demonstrates the anchoring effect?

Which of the following situations represents an effect of hindsight bias?

_______ most commonly contributes to loss-averse behavior.