Timmy's geography teacher gives the class a pop quiz in which he asks the class to draw a map of North America, which they learned about in the previous day's lesson. Knowing what you do about mental representations, how well do you think Timmy would do on this quiz?
A) He will draw a perfect map of North America.
B) He will get some of the details correct, but his map will contain many errors.
C) His map will be so far off that it will not even resemble North America.
D) The U.S. portion of the map will be very accurate, but Canada and Mexico will be distorted.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Mental representations are not exact replicas of what we have learned, but rather simplified versions that capture the essential features of what we have learned. Given that Timmy learned about North America in the previous day's lesson, it is likely that his mental representation of the continent is not yet fully developed. Thus, while he may get some of the details correct, his map is likely to contain many errors.

Timmy's Geography Teacher Gives the Class a Pop Quiz in Which