Question 1

When you made a poor grade on history in high school, you made sure you read the chapters twice before taking the next test.Although this strategy has NOT worked in college, you continue this INEFFECTIVE strategy, disregarding the instructor's study advice.Your continued poor performance on tests is due to

Accepted Answer

The individual is exhibiting fixation, or sticking to a familiar, yet ineffective, strategy despite evidence that it is not working. This is causing poor performance on tests.

Question 2

If you have ever been without a screwdriver and took a dime out of your pocket and used it to loosen a screw, then you did not let _____ be a barrier to your thinking.

Accepted Answer

Using a dime instead of a screwdriver requires breaking away from functional fixedness, the tendency to only see an object's traditional use or function.

Question 3

More American college students than Chinese students were able to solve the cave problem by recalling the "Hansel and Gretel story," while more Chinese students than American students solved the statue's weight problem by recalling the "weighing the elephant" fable.These differing percentages illustrate that.our ability to use _____ to solve problems is related to cultural differences, such as the fables and stories told to our children as they are growing up.

Accepted Answer

The ability to use selective comparison to solve problems is influenced by cultural differences, as it involves comparing new problems to familiar stories or fables from one's cultural background.

Question 4

A student uses a Chinese fable about how villagers were able to weigh an elephant to solve the problem regarding how much gold would match a statue's weight without using a balance scale.The student is using

Accepted Answer

The student is using selective comparison by relating the problem to a Chinese fable about weighing an elephant without a balance scale. They are selecting and applying relevant information from the fable to solve the problem.

Question 5

Fixation occurs when we

Accepted Answer

Fixation can occur in different ways, such as becoming attached to wrong solutions (A), being blinded to alternatives (B), or imposing unnecessary restrictions on our thinking (C). Therefore, the best answer is D, as it encompasses all these possibilities.

Question 6

While reading a book about Sigmund Freud, you come upon the term psychosomatic.You cannot quite figure out the meaning of the word from the context in which it is used, and so you bring to mind your rudimentary knowledge of the parts of the word.You know that psycho has to do with the mind or with thinking, and you also know that somatic has to do with the body.Looking back at the book, you come to the conclusion that psychosomatic has to do with the mind's influence on one's physical state.You have just relied on selective

Accepted Answer

The answer of While reading a book about Sigmund Freud,...

Question 7

A truck gets stuck under a bridge.Several tow trucks are unable to pull it out.At last a little boy walks up and asks the red-faced adults trying to free the truck why they haven't let the air out of the truck's tires.Their oversight was due to

Accepted Answer

The adults' oversight in not considering the simple solution of letting the air out of the truck's tires is likely due to fixation, which refers to becoming too focused on one particular approach or solution and subsequently overlooking or dismissing other possibilities.

Question 8

Fixedness is related to which of Sternberg and Davidson's abilities involved in insight?

Accepted Answer

Fixedness is related to selective encoding, which involves the ability to filter out irrelevant information and focus on the relevant aspects of a problem to gain insight.

Question 9

One of the most important barriers to problem-solving that involves the tendency to get "hung up" on wrong solutions or become blind to alternatives is called

Accepted Answer

Fixation refers to becoming stuck on incorrect or ineffective problem-solving strategies or solutions, which can impede progress and prevent the discovery of creative and alternative solutions. Inhibition refers to a general unwillingness or inability to act or take risks, while conditional thinking involves imposing rigid rules or limitations on problem-solving approaches. Incubation refers to the unconscious processing or reflection that can occur during periods of rest, relaxation, or distraction, which can sometimes lead to novel insights or solutions.

Question 10

Concerning the candle problem presented in your textbook, students who saw the box in which the materials were presented as only a container rather than as a part of the solution were exhibiting _____ regarding the box.

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person's ability to see an object's potential uses beyond its typical or intended use. In the case of the candle problem, some students saw the box only as a container and struggled to think of how it could be used as a platform to hold the candle. This is an example of functional fixedness towards the box.

Question 11

You are asked to plant four small trees so that each is an equal distance from all the others.If you believe that the trees all have to be planted on level ground, you are exhibiting _____ and will be unable to correctly answer this problem.

Accepted Answer

Fixation refers to being stuck on a particular way of thinking or problem-solving. Believing that the trees must be planted on level ground is an example of fixation because it limits the possible solutions. In reality, the trees could be planted on hills, with the distances adjusted accordingly, to ensure that they are all equidistant from each other.

Question 12

That people use fables and stories from their particular culture to solve new problems, such as using the Hansel and Gretel story to solve the cave problem in your textbook, illustrates the use of

Accepted Answer

Selective comparison involves using existing knowledge or analogies from one's culture or experiences to understand or solve new problems.

Question 13

You are trying to determine which of two terms is related to identical twins.You see "monozygotic" and "dizygotic.You remember that a zygote is formed from one egg and one sperm and that "mono" means one and "di" means two.Identical twins would have to result from the same egg and the same sperm, thus one zygote.Using old information to derive the meaning of "monozygotic"and "dizygotic" illustrates the use of

Accepted Answer

Selective comparison involves using previously learned information to compare and contrast new information in order to make a decision or solve a problem. In this scenario, the individual is using their knowledge of zygotes and the prefixes "mono" and "di" to compare the meanings of "monozygotic" and "dizygotic" in order to determine which term is related to identical twins.

Question 14

You are given the problem of building a structure that can support an overcoat in the middle of a room and are given only two long sticks and a clamp to work with.You are more likely to solve this problem if you first thought of how pole lamps are wedged between floor and ceiling.Using your previous knowledge of pole lamps to solve the coat rack problem is an example of

Accepted Answer

Selective comparison involves using prior knowledge or experiences to solve a current problem. In this scenario, the individual is using their prior knowledge of pole lamps to solve the coat rack problem, which is an example of selective comparison. Selective attention, selective combination, and selective encoding do not accurately describe the approach used in this situation.

Question 15

A person who gets "hung up" on using a familiar object only in one certain way is exhibiting

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness refers to the tendency to only view an object or concept in one specific way, limiting one's ability to think creatively or problem-solve in different ways.

Question 16

A subject who fails to see that the old doorknob in the box could be used as a weight to hang on the balance scale is exhibiting _____ in trying to solve the problem of weighing objects.

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to use an object only in its traditional function, and so the subject in this scenario is not able to see the doorknob as a weight due to functional fixedness.

Question 17

The inability to see new uses for familiar objects is termed

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness is the inability to see new or alternative uses for familiar objects or to think outside of their typical function. Disjunctive thinking refers to the ability to generate multiple solutions to a problem. Proactive inhibition and retroactive interference are both related to memory and forgetting, and are not related to the inability to see new uses for familiar objects.

Question 18

Which of the following could enhance your selective comparison ability and aid you in becoming a more flexible and resourceful thinker?

Accepted Answer

Increasing one's knowledge about other cultures can enhance selective comparison ability and aid in becoming a more flexible and resourceful thinker. This can provide a wider range of perspectives and approaches to problem-solving. Utilizing functional fixedness and algorithms can actually limit one's ability to compare and think flexibly.

Question 19

Fixation is

Accepted Answer

Fixation refers to getting stuck on a specific approach or idea, which can prevent someone from finding a solution to a problem. Therefore, it is a barrier to problem solving.

Question 20

Claudia's failure to see that a trash bag would make an excellent makeshift raincoat is an example of

Accepted Answer

Claudia's inability to see a trash bag as a raincoat demonstrates functional fixedness, which is the tendency to see an object only in terms of its common use and not for any other potential uses.

Quiz 9: Extension B: Cognition, Language, Creativity, and Intelligence