Question 1

Walter mistakenly estimates that the probability of two separate events occurring at the same time is higher than the probability of either event occurring on its own.Walter's mistake is an example of
A) the framing effect.
B) mental set.
C) belief perseverance.
D) the conjunction fallacy.

Accepted Answer

Walter's mistake is an example of the conjunction fallacy, which refers to the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of a joint event occurring, even when it is less likely than the individual events occurring separately. This is a common cognitive bias that can lead to faulty reasoning and decision-making. The framing effect refers to how a choice is presented, mental set refers to a tendency to approach a problem in a certain way due to past experience, and belief perseverance refers to the tendency to maintain a belief even in the face of contradictory evidence. These concepts are not directly relevant to Walter's mistake.

Question 2

According to dual-process theories of decision-making,when complicated or important decisions need to be made people use
A) dumb and dumber strategies.
B) fast and frugal strategies.
C) intuitive strategies.
D) rule-governed strategies.

Accepted Answer

According to dual-process theories of decision-making, people use two different modes of thought when making decisions - intuitive (or automatic) and deliberate (or reflective). Deliberative thought involves rule-governed strategies, where individuals consciously consider their options and weigh the pros and cons before making a decision. Choice (C) is too narrow, as intuitive strategies are only one aspect of decision-making. Choice (A) is incorrect as it implies that people use only ineffective strategies. Choice (B) is too simplistic, as not all fast and frugal strategies are necessarily effective in complicated or important decisions.

Question 3

Even though he knows only a small percentage of high school athletes go on to professional careers,Charlie believes that he will receive a scholarship to play football in college and then will have a career in the NFL.Charlie is
A) not applying base rates to himself.
B) applying base rates to himself.
C) not applying the conjunction fallacy.
D) applying the conjunction fallacy.

Accepted Answer

Charlie is not applying base rates to himself because he is ignoring the statistical likelihood of becoming a professional athlete and overestimating his personal chances.

Question 4

When people must choose between two alternatives,and they recognize one alternative but not the other,they often infer that the alternative they recognize has the higher value.This decision-making heuristic is called the
A) representativeness heuristic.
B) recognition heuristic.
C) framing heuristic.
D) conjunction heuristic.

Accepted Answer

The recognition heuristic is used when people must decide between two alternatives and they only recognize one of them. They tend to assume that the recognized alternative has the higher value, without considering other factors. This heuristic is often used in decision-making because it is quick and requires less effort than considering all available information.

Question 5

Evolutionary psychologists suggest that when people have to make quick decisions they tend to
A) gather information, calculate probabilities, and make statistically optimal decisions.
B) use relatively simple heuristics.
C) use relatively complicated heuristics.
D) make irrational decisions.

Accepted Answer

When people have to make quick decisions, they tend to rely on heuristics or mental shortcuts rather than gathering and analyzing extensive information. These heuristics may be relatively simple but help in making decisions quickly in situations where time is limited.

Question 6

Arguing from an evolutionary perspective,Gigerenzer suggests that humans' reasoning largely depends on
A) inferential heuristics.
B) complex heuristics.
C) dumb and dumber heuristics.
D) fast and frugal heuristics.

Accepted Answer

Gigerenzer argues that humans have developed fast and frugal heuristics through the process of natural selection, which allow us to make quick and efficient decisions with limited information. These heuristics are not complex or inferential, but rather simple rules of thumb that have been shaped by evolution to help us survive and succeed in our environments.

Question 7

Which of the following heuristics has been shown by evolutionary psychologists to be both simple and surprisingly effective?
A) recognition heuristic
B) representativeness heuristic
C) trial and error heuristic
D) availability heuristic

Accepted Answer

The recognition heuristic has been shown by evolutionary psychologists to be both simple and surprisingly effective. It operates on the principle that if one of two objects is recognized and the other is not, people are more likely to believe that the recognized object has the higher value or is more important. This heuristic has been shown to be effective in predicting the outcomes of sports matches, political elections, and stock market investments.

Question 8

The linguistic relativity hypothesis is most consistent with the unifying theme in psychology that
A) heredity and environment jointly influence behavior.
B) behavior is shaped by cultural heritage.
C) people's experience of the world is highly subjective.
D) psychology is empirical.

Accepted Answer

The linguistic relativity hypothesis suggests that the language one speaks influences their perception and cognition, which aligns with the idea that behavior and thought processes are shaped by cultural heritage.

Question 9

Hiram is not really a sports fan,but he signs up for a fantasy baseball tournament that is being sponsored by the company he works for.In selecting his team,he picks the ten players that he recognizes from 200 that are listed.He is pleasantly surprised when his fantasy team finishes near the top.In this instance,Hiram made his selections using
A) belief perseverance.
B) the representativeness heuristic.
C) mental set.
D) the recognition heuristic.

Accepted Answer

Hiram made his selections using the recognition heuristic, which is a cognitive shortcut that involves making judgments based on whether something is familiar or not. In this case, Hiram recognized the names of the ten players he selected, and used that familiarity as a basis for his choices. The fact that his team finished near the top suggests that the recognition heuristic was a useful strategy for him in this context.

Question 10

Basing the estimated probability of an event on how similar it is to the prototype of that event is termed the
A) conjunction heuristic.
B) availability heuristic.
C) representativeness heuristic.
D) gambler's heuristic.

Accepted Answer

The representativeness heuristic involves assessing the likelihood of an event based on how closely it fits the prototype or stereotype of that event. The other options are not relevant to this type of heuristic.

Question 11

The fact that choices which are objectively identical can seem very different when reframed in different terms helps to illustrate which of your text's unifying themes?
A) Heredity and environment jointly influence behavior.
B) Psychology is theoretically diverse.
C) Our behavior is shaped by our cultural heritage.
D) Our experience of the world is highly subjective.

Accepted Answer

The fact that identical choices can seem different when framed in different terms shows how our experience of the world is highly subjective. This subjectivity contributes to the theme of subjective experience and the limits of introspection, emphasizing that individuals can have different perspectives and interpretations of the same thing.

Question 12

During the 1950s and 1960s,creative new ways of measuring mental processes paved the way for the cognitive revolution.The development of new research methods helps to illustrate which of your text's unifying themes?
A) Our experience of the world is highly subjective.
B) Psychology is theoretically diverse.
C) Psychology is empirical.
D) Behavior is determined by multiple causes.

Accepted Answer

The development of new research methods highlights the empirical nature of psychology, which is one of the text's unifying themes. The use of scientific methods to measure mental processes reflects the emphasis on empiricism in psychology.

Question 13

Claude and Marie are excited because they have just bought a restaurant from the previous owners.The two partners know that the last seven restaurants that have been operated at that location have gone bankrupt within a year of their openings,but Claude and Marie are certain their restaurant will be successful because they plan on working hard.In this case,the two new business partners are
A) showing belief perseverance.
B) showing evidence of the gambler's fallacy.
C) showing the confirmation bias.
D) apparently ignoring base rates.

Accepted Answer

Claude and Marie are ignoring the base rates, which is the probability of their restaurant failing based on the history of similar businesses at that location. They believe that their hard work will make a difference, but they are not acknowledging the past failures of businesses at that location.

Question 14

Autumn has been figure skating since she was five years old.She has never placed higher than third in any of the competitions she has been in,but she is still convinced that she will be able to become a professional figure skater in a few years.Her coach and her parents have tried to tell her that not many people make it as professional skaters,but Autumn is convinced that she can beat the odds.In this case,Autumn is
A) displaying evidence of mental set.
B) showing belief perseverance.
C) apparently ignoring base rates.
D) showing the confirmation bias.

Accepted Answer

Autumn is apparently ignoring base rates, as she is not considering the statistical likelihood of becoming a professional skater despite the low probability and her past performance.

Question 15

Evolutionary theorists argue that if decision problems were stated in terms of raw frequencies,then
A) base rate neglect and the conjunction fallacy would both disappear.
B) base rate neglect and the conjunction fallacy would both become more pronounced.
C) base rate neglect would disappear, but the conjunction fallacy would become more pronounced.
D) base rate neglect would become more pronounced, but the conjunction fallacy would disappear.

Accepted Answer

Evolutionary theorists argue that our minds have evolved to process information in terms of raw frequencies, rather than complex probabilities. Therefore, if decision problems were stated in terms of raw frequencies, there would be less room for confusion and mistakes due to base rate neglect and the conjunction fallacy.

Question 16

Evolutionary theorists argue all of the following EXCEPT that
A) traditional research on decision making has imposed invalid and unrealistic standards of rationality.
B) human brains are wired to think in terms of base rates and probabilities.
C) humans only seem irrational because cognitive psychologists have been asking the wrong questions.
D) human decision making and problem solving strategies have been tailored to handle real world adaptive problems.

Accepted Answer

Evolutionary theorists do not argue that human brains are specifically wired to think in terms of base rates and probabilities. While evolutionary psychology suggests that human cognitive strategies have arisen as adaptations to solve real-world problems, this does not necessarily include specific cognitive tendencies towards certain types of reasoning.

Question 17

The fact that variations in cognitive style sometimes reflect the ecological demands of one's environment helps to illustrate which of your text's unifying themes?
A) Our experience of the world is highly subjective.
B) Psychology is theoretically diverse.
C) Our behavior is shaped by our cultural heritage.
D) Psychology evolves in a sociohistorical context.

Accepted Answer

Variations in cognitive style due to ecological demands highlight how behavior is influenced by cultural and environmental factors, aligning with the theme that our behavior is shaped by our cultural heritage.

Question 18

Incorrectly estimating that the odds of two uncertain events happening together are greater than the odds of either event happening alone is known as the
A) conjunction fallacy.
B) alternative outcome effect.
C) gambler's fallacy.
D) base rate fallacy.

Accepted Answer

The conjunction fallacy is the tendency to believe that the probability of two events occurring together is greater than the probability of either event occurring alone. This goes against the laws of probability and can lead to errors in decision making. The other options listed are different cognitive biases.

Question 19

The representativeness heuristic causes people to think that families with four children are more likely to have
A) four children of the same sex.
B) two boys and two girls.
C) three boys and one girl.
D) three girls and one boy.

Accepted Answer

The representativeness heuristic operates on the principle that people tend to judge probabilities or likelihoods based on how representative or similar an event or object is to a typical or familiar example. In this case, the most familiar or typical family structure is one that has two parents and two children, typically a boy and a girl. However, if a family has four children, it is still more likely to have a combination of two boys and two girls, rather than all of the same sex or three of one sex and one of the other. Therefore, option B is the best choice.

Question 20

Evolutionary theorists maintain that many human errors in reasoning would vanish if ther problems are presented in terms of
A) base rates and probabilities, rather than raw frequencies.
B) both raw frequencies and base rates.
C) neither raw frequencies nor base rates.
D) raw frequencies, rather than base rates and probabilities.

Accepted Answer

Evolutionary theorists argue that humans are better at reasoning when problems are presented in terms of raw frequencies, as this aligns more closely with the way our ancestors encountered and processed information in natural environments.

Quiz 8: Language and Thought

Walter mistakenly estimates that the probability of two separate events occurring at the same time is higher than the probability of either event occurring on its own.Walter's mistake is an example of

According to dual-process theories of decision-making,when complicated or important decisions need to be made people use

Even though he knows only a small percentage of high school athletes go on to professional careers,Charlie believes that he will receive a scholarship to play football in college and then will have a career in the NFL.Charlie is

When people must choose between two alternatives,and they recognize one alternative but not the other,they often infer that the alternative they recognize has the higher value.This decision-making heuristic is called the

Evolutionary psychologists suggest that when people have to make quick decisions they tend to

Arguing from an evolutionary perspective,Gigerenzer suggests that humans' reasoning largely depends on

Which of the following heuristics has been shown by evolutionary psychologists to be both simple and surprisingly effective?

The linguistic relativity hypothesis is most consistent with the unifying theme in psychology that

Basing the estimated probability of an event on how similar it is to the prototype of that event is termed the

The fact that choices which are objectively identical can seem very different when reframed in different terms helps to illustrate which of your text's unifying themes?

During the 1950s and 1960s,creative new ways of measuring mental processes paved the way for the cognitive revolution.The development of new research methods helps to illustrate which of your text's unifying themes?

Evolutionary theorists argue that if decision problems were stated in terms of raw frequencies,then

Evolutionary theorists argue all of the following EXCEPT that

The fact that variations in cognitive style sometimes reflect the ecological demands of one's environment helps to illustrate which of your text's unifying themes?

Incorrectly estimating that the odds of two uncertain events happening together are greater than the odds of either event happening alone is known as the

The representativeness heuristic causes people to think that families with four children are more likely to have

Evolutionary theorists maintain that many human errors in reasoning would vanish if ther problems are presented in terms of