Question 1

On average,patients with prefrontal cortex damage will experience more anxiety when anticipating a risky choice than will non-brain-damaged individuals.

Accepted Answer

Patients with prefrontal cortex damage often experience less anxiety or concern when anticipating a risky choice due to the role of the prefrontal cortex in decision-making, impulse control, and foreseeing the consequences of actions.

Question 2

When we engage in analogical problem solving,we attempt to solve a problem by finding a similar problem with a known solution and applying that solution to the current problem.

Accepted Answer

Analogical problem solving involves finding similarities between the current problem and a known problem, and then applying the solution to the current problem based on those similarities.

Question 3

People are more likely to buy a product if they are told that it works 70% of the time than if they are told it fails to work 30% of the time.

Accepted Answer

This statement is supported by research on cognitive biases, specifically the "framing effect." People tend to focus on the positive aspect of a message, such as the 70% success rate, rather than the negative aspect, such as the 30% failure rate, when making decisions. Therefore, they are more likely to buy a product when it is framed in a positive light.

Question 4

On average,gamblers with prefrontal cortex damage will show less of an emotional reaction to a loss than will non-brain-damaged gamblers.

Accepted Answer

The answer of On average,gamblers with prefrontal cortex damage will...

Question 5

Functional fixedness is a type of framing effect.

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person's ability to see an object's potential uses beyond its typical function. Framing effect, on the other hand, is a cognitive bias where individuals react differently to a particular choice depending on how it is presented or framed.

Question 6

Patients with prefrontal cortex damage make more risky choices than do non-brain-damaged individuals.

Accepted Answer

Studies have shown that patients with prefrontal cortex damage tend to make more risky choices and have difficulty with decision-making tasks. The prefrontal cortex plays a crucial role in executive functions such as planning, weighing risks and benefits, and impulse control. Damage to this area can impair these functions, leading to increased risk-taking behavior.

Question 7

Functional fixedness occurs when the wrong past analogy is applied to a new goal state problem.

Accepted Answer

Functional fixedness refers to the cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used, rather than realizing the object can be used in different ways to solve a new problem. It does not involve applying past analogies to new problems.

Question 8

The goal of a means-ends approach to problem solving is to modify the goal state until it is as similar as possible to the current state.

Accepted Answer

The goal of a means-ends approach to problem solving is to modify the current state until it is as similar as possible to the goal state.

Question 9

When people use the representative heuristic to judge the probability of an event,they tend to ignore information about the base-rate occurrence of the event.

Accepted Answer

The representative heuristic is the tendency to judge probabilities based on how similar an event is to a typical example or prototype. This can lead people to ignore information about the base-rate occurrence of the event, such as how frequently it occurs in the population.

Question 10

The first step of means-ends analysis is to find a similar problem with a known solution.

Accepted Answer

The first step of means-ends analysis is to identify the difference between the current state and the goal state, and then to find actions that can reduce these differences.

Question 11

Means-ends analysis was first described by Friedrich Gauss.

Accepted Answer

Means-ends analysis was not described by Friedrich Gauss. It is a problem-solving strategy in cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence.

Question 12

On average,patients with prefrontal cortex damage are less sensitive to the future consequences of their behavior than are non-brain-damaged individuals.

Accepted Answer

Studies have shown that patients with prefrontal cortex damage exhibit reduced sensitivity to future consequences compared to non-brain-damaged individuals. This is due to the role of the prefrontal cortex in executive functions such as long-term planning, impulse control, and decision-making. Damage to this area can result in deficits in these functions, leading to a reduced ability to consider future outcomes and adjust behavior accordingly.

Question 13

Prospect theory predicts that when given the choice between two options,people will choose the option associated with the greatest objective value.

Accepted Answer

Prospect theory predicts that people's decision-making is not solely based on objective value, but also on subjective factors such as perceived losses and gains, risk aversion, and reference points. Therefore, people may choose an option that is not objectively the best if they perceive it as less risky or as a gain relative to a reference point.

Question 14

One of the challenges to the success of analogical problem solving is that people are strongly affected by superficial similarities between problems when the relationship between analogous problems often lies deep in their structure.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. People often focus on surface-level similarities between problems when trying to solve them analogically, rather than identifying the deeper structural similarities that are necessary for successful analogical problem solving.

Question 15

The sunk-cost fallacy states that people tend to make poorer financial decisions when information is presented in probability form relative to frequency form.

Accepted Answer

The sunk-cost fallacy refers to the phenomenon where people continue a behavior or endeavor as a result of previously invested resources (time, money, or effort), rather than because the current costs and benefits justify the continued investment. It does not specifically relate to how information (probability vs. frequency) impacts financial decisions.

Question 16

Prospect theory predicts that people will choose an 80 percent chance of winning $4,000 over $3,000 outright.

Accepted Answer

Prospect theory suggests that people are risk-averse when it comes to gains, meaning they would likely prefer a certain gain ($3,000 outright) over a risky option with a higher potential gain (80 percent chance of winning $4,000).

Question 17

Instead of being spontaneously generated,insightful solutions appear to be the result of incremental unconscious processes.

Accepted Answer

Research suggests that insights may not be sudden flashes of inspiration, but rather the result of incremental unconscious processes that occur over time. These processes involve neural connections and patterns that allow the brain to piece together seemingly disparate information and come up with a novel solution.

Question 18

Prospect theory predicts that people will be more likely to take risks in order to achieve gains than to avoid losses.

Accepted Answer

Prospect theory actually predicts that people are more likely to take risks to avoid losses than to achieve gains.

Question 19

Prospect theory assumes that people give a greater weight to outcomes that are certainties.

Accepted Answer

Prospect theory suggests that people give more weight to certain outcomes than uncertain outcomes, even if the uncertain outcome might have a higher expected value. This is known as the "certainty effect".

Question 20

The tendency to perceive the functions of objects as fixed or unchanging can be an impediment to effective problem solving.

Accepted Answer

Perceiving the functions of objects as fixed or unchanging limits the range of possibilities for problem solving and can prevent individuals from considering alternative solutions. It is important to be open to different perspectives and possibilities in order to effectively solve problems.

Quiz 9: Language and Thought-Part C