Question 1

People use the ________ heuristic when they try to categorize something by judging how similar the object is to their conception of the typical member of the relevant category.
A) representativeness
B) anchoring
C) availability
D) correspondence

Accepted Answer

The representativeness heuristic involves judging how similar something is to our prototype or typical example of a category.

Question 2

People sometimes have to assess whether someone is a member of a particular group.In assessing whether someone is gay or a Republican,for example,we often rely on the ________ heuristic,which entails figuring out the degree to which ________.
A) availability; someone resembles a category prototype
B) availability; someone can be categorized quickly
C) representativeness; someone resembles a category prototype
D) representativeness; someone can be categorized quickly

Accepted Answer

The question is about assessing whether someone is a member of a particular group, which involves categorization. The representativeness heuristic is used to categorize people based on how well they fit the prototype or typical features of a category. Therefore, option C is the best choice as it mentions the representativeness heuristic, which involves assessing whether someone resembles a category prototype. Option A, which also mentions the availability heuristic, is not the best choice as it does not directly relate to categorization based on resemblance to a prototype. Option B and D are incorrect because they mention categorization speed, which is not necessarily related to accuracy in categorization.

Question 3

Recall that Chapman and Chapman (1967)studied how experienced clinical psychologists and college students would interpret individuals' responses to the Draw-a-Person test,which often is used to diagnose psychiatric disorders.Results showed that ________ perceived illusory correlations between individuals' mental disorders and their drawings.
A) only the students
B) only the clinicians
C) both the students and the clinicians
D) neither the students nor the clinicians

Accepted Answer

Both the students and the clinicians perceived illusory correlations between individuals' mental disorders and their drawings, as found in Chapman and Chapman's (1967) study.

Question 4

Having prior knowledge about a situation can influence how we construe ambiguous situations.This is a result of a heavy reliance on
A) bottom-up processing.
B) top-down processing.
C) pluralistic ignorance.
D) the recency effect.

Accepted Answer

Top-down processing refers to how our pre-existing knowledge and beliefs can influence how we interpret new information or situations. This can lead to biases and assumptions that shape our perception and understanding, even in ambiguous situations where objective cues may be limited or unclear. Bottom-up processing, in contrast, refers to a more sensory-driven approach where stimuli are processed purely based on their physical properties rather than higher-level cognitive factors. Pluralistic ignorance and the recency effect are not directly related to this concept of prior knowledge and perception biases.

Question 5

________ are mental shortcuts that provide serviceable but often inexact answers to common judgmental problems.
A) Pluralistic judgments
B) Base rates
C) Mental deliberations
D) Heuristics

Accepted Answer

Heuristics are mental shortcuts that provide quick and easy solutions to common judgmental problems. They often rely on simplifying complex information or using past experiences to make quick decisions. While heuristics can be useful, they can also lead to errors and biases because they don't always take into account all the relevant information.

Question 6

People rely on the ________ heuristic when they judge the frequency or probability of some event by the readiness with which similar events come to mind.
A) encoding
B) representativeness
C) accessibility
D) availability

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is used when people judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily they can bring similar examples to mind. It relies on the availability of salient and memorable examples rather than objective statistics.

Question 7

When forming judgments about others,people often rely on the representativeness heuristic.Unfortunately,this can lead people to
A) ignore how much a person resembles a prototypical group member.
B) use information that is causally relevant.
C) rely too heavily on base-rate frequency information.
D) ignore base-rate information.

Accepted Answer

The representativeness heuristic involves using similarity to a prototype or stereotype to form judgments about a person or group. This can lead people to ignore base-rate information, which is information about the prevalence of a particular trait or behavior in a larger population. For example, if someone assumes that all lawyers are aggressive and argumentative based on media portrayals, they may ignore the fact that most lawyers are not like this in reality. This can lead to biased judgments and stereotypes.

Question 8

________ processes consist of observing and remembering relevant stimuli from the outside world,and ________ processes filter and interpret stimuli in light of preexisting knowledge and expectations.
A) Deductive; inductive
B) Attentive; elaborative
C) Bottom-up; top-down
D) Perceptual; constructive

Accepted Answer

Bottom-up processes refer to the initial processing of sensory information from the environment, while top-down processes use prior knowledge and expectations to interpret and understand that information. The other answer options do not accurately describe these processes.

Question 9

Responses to stimuli in the environment are guided by two different systems of thinking.The intuitive system performs many operations ________,while the rational system is more likely to perform operations ________.
A) slowly; quickly
B) effortfully; automatically
C) in parallel; one at a time
D) consciously; unconsciously

Accepted Answer

The intuitive system processes information quickly and in parallel, handling many operations at once without conscious effort. In contrast, the rational system processes information more slowly, effortfully, and typically one operation at a time, requiring conscious attention.

Question 10

Because of the availability heuristic,people can be more likely to
A) underestimate the frequency of dramatic natural disasters.
B) overestimate the frequency of dramatic natural disasters.
C) overestimate the frequency of common illnesses that can become fatal, such as diabetes or asthma.
D) underestimate the frequency of dramatic accidents that lead to death.

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is the tendency for people to judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily they can recall similar examples. Therefore, if people are constantly exposed to news stories or images of dramatic natural disasters, they may overestimate how often they occur. This can lead to a heightened sense of fear or concern about these events.

Question 11

According to Tversky and Kahneman (1974),when an initial intuitive assessment of a situation is not modified or overridden by a more deliberative analysis,
A) the intuitive system always produces inaccurate judgments.
B) important factors may be ignored and our judgments may be systematically biased.
C) more efficient and accurate information processing occurs.
D) the rational system takes over to produce accurate judgments.

Accepted Answer

When an initial intuitive assessment is not modified, important factors may be ignored, leading to systematic biases. This is known as the anchoring effect, where individuals rely too heavily on the initial information they are presented with and do not adjust enough for additional information. Therefore, the initial intuition may not be accurate, and a more deliberate analysis may be necessary to overcome biases and arrive at more accurate judgments.

Question 12

Base-rate information includes information about the
A) degree of resemblance between members of a category and a base prototype.
B) relative frequency of members of different categories in a population.
C) rate of basing estimates on similarity between a member and the population.
D) relative frequency of utilizing the representative heuristic in a population.

Accepted Answer

Base-rate information refers to the relative frequency of different categories in a population. It is necessary information for making accurate judgments and decisions. The other options, such as prototype resemblance and heuristic utilization, do not directly involve base-rate information.

Question 13

Luis has negative schemas about his looks and his intelligence.He believes he is unattractive and doubts his intellectual abilities.At school on Friday,Luis interacted with a few different people.Which of these interactions is Luis likely to remember the following week?
A) Luis's track coach said he needs to practice more.
B) Luis's friend told him she did poorly on the SATs.
C) Luis's classmate told him his new haircut looks good.
D) Luis's history teacher said his paper was not clear.

Accepted Answer

Luis is likely to remember the interaction that aligns with his negative schemas about himself. Since he doubts his intellectual abilities, the comment from his history teacher about his paper not being clear would reinforce his negative beliefs and thus be more memorable.

Question 14

Hedwig just met her friend's new boyfriend,and her initial impression wasn't positive.He was so reserved; he barely talked at all.Hedwig then spends some time and energy thinking about all of the good things her friend has told her about him,and considers the fact that sometimes it takes a little while to feel comfortable around new people.She decides he is probably cool after all.In forming this new,positive impression of the boyfriend,Hedwig relied on
A) the rational system.
B) the intuitive system.
C) top-down processing.
D) schema-driven processing.

Accepted Answer

Hedwig used the rational system by consciously thinking through the positive information her friend provided and considering the context of meeting someone new, leading her to form a more positive impression.

Question 15

________ is the feeling of ease (or difficulty)associated with processing information.
A) Fluency
B) Accessibility
C) Representativeness
D) Applicability

Accepted Answer

Fluency refers to the ease with which information is processed, and is commonly associated with positive affect or preference. This can include factors such as perceptual clarity, familiarity, simplicity, and coherence, all of which contribute to a sense of cognitive fluency. B, C, and D are not accurate descriptions of this phenomenon.

Question 16

Kahneman and Tversky (1973)found that a majority of participants mistakenly believed there were more words in the English language that start with the letter r than words that have r in the third position.These results demonstrate the functioning of
A) the availability heuristic.
B) the regression fallacy.
C) the representativeness heuristic.
D) an illusory correlation.

Accepted Answer

The availability heuristic is at play here, where individuals base their judgments on the information that is readily available to them. In this case, words that begin with the letter r may be more salient and memorable than words that have r in the third position, leading to the overestimation of the former.

Question 17

Which of the following instances of what we call common sense may be due to the representativeness heuristic?
A) Handwriting analysis cannot reveal certain things about your personality.
B) Eating turtle meat makes you a worse swimmer.
C) You should avoid potato chips if you suffer from greasy skin and acne.
D) You should drink milk when you have a cold.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following instances of what...

Question 18

People sometimes work together on a project and later decide who should get the most credit.According to research by Ross and colleagues (1979),this decision often entails ________ one's own contributions to joint projects.Moreover,this tendency arises from ________.
A) overestimating; self-enhancement motives
B) overestimating; the availability heuristic
C) underestimating; self-enhancement motives
D) underestimating; the availability heuristic

Accepted Answer

Ross and colleagues (1979) found that people tend to overestimate their own contributions to joint projects due to the availability heuristic, where individuals recall their own contributions more easily than those of others.

Question 19

Lola visits Trish in Weston,CT.At some point,Lola asks Trish whether there is a lot of crime in Weston.Although crime rarely occurs there,Trish recalls a recent news story about a Weston drug store robbery.On the basis of this memory,she then tells Lola that there is a lot of crime in Weston.This scenario illustrates reliance on the ________ heuristic.
A) representativeness
B) recollection
C) availability
D) anchoring

Accepted Answer

Trish is relying on the availability heuristic, where she is making a judgement based on the ease with which she can recall a relevant example (the drug store robbery news story), rather than assessing the actual frequency or likelihood of crimes occurring in Weston.

Question 20

The availability and representativeness heuristics sometimes can operate in tandem.The joint effect of these two heuristics can create a(n)
A) unmemorable association.
B) co-occurrence fallacy.
C) statistical association.
D) illusory correlation.

Accepted Answer

The joint effect of availability and representativeness heuristics can create an illusory correlation. This occurs when people overestimate the link between variables that are memorable and representative, even if there is no actual statistical relationship between them.

Quiz 4: Social Cognition: Thinking About

People use the ________ heuristic when they try to categorize something by judging how similar the object is to their conception of the typical member of the relevant category.

People sometimes have to assess whether someone is a member of a particular group.In assessing whether someone is gay or a Republican,for example,we often rely on the heuristic,which entails figuring out the degree to which .

Having prior knowledge about a situation can influence how we construe ambiguous situations.This is a result of a heavy reliance on

________ are mental shortcuts that provide serviceable but often inexact answers to common judgmental problems.

People rely on the ________ heuristic when they judge the frequency or probability of some event by the readiness with which similar events come to mind.

When forming judgments about others,people often rely on the representativeness heuristic.Unfortunately,this can lead people to

processes consist of observing and remembering relevant stimuli from the outside world,and processes filter and interpret stimuli in light of preexisting knowledge and expectations.

Responses to stimuli in the environment are guided by two different systems of thinking.The intuitive system performs many operations ,while the rational system is more likely to perform operations .

Because of the availability heuristic,people can be more likely to

According to Tversky and Kahneman (1974) ,when an initial intuitive assessment of a situation is not modified or overridden by a more deliberative analysis,

Base-rate information includes information about the

Luis has negative schemas about his looks and his intelligence.He believes he is unattractive and doubts his intellectual abilities.At school on Friday,Luis interacted with a few different people.Which of these interactions is Luis likely to remember the following week?

________ is the feeling of ease (or difficulty) associated with processing information.

Kahneman and Tversky (1973) found that a majority of participants mistakenly believed there were more words in the English language that start with the letter r than words that have r in the third position.These results demonstrate the functioning of

Which of the following instances of what we call common sense may be due to the representativeness heuristic?

People sometimes work together on a project and later decide who should get the most credit.According to research by Ross and colleagues (1979) ,this decision often entails one's own contributions to joint projects.Moreover,this tendency arises from .

The availability and representativeness heuristics sometimes can operate in tandem.The joint effect of these two heuristics can create a(n)