Connect Assignment: Ch07: Thinking

You have observed that you support political candidate A. All of your friends support political candidate A. If you use inductive reasoning, which of these conclusions are you likely to reach?

All individuals support political candidate A.

Bertram has decided to spend some of his free time over the holiday completing a woodworking project in his garage. Which of the following answers about Bertram's choice is correct?

Bertram used divergent thinking because there was not one correct solution to what he should do during his holiday free time.

Which of the following is an example of the availability heuristic?

Bill's brother is injured in the bathtub. Bill will now only take showers because he is afraid that bathtubs are unnecessarily dangerous.

Connie needs to make travel arrangements for a work conference. She has the option to fly or drive to her destination. It is a long drive, but Connie hates to fly. If Connie bases her decision on her biases, which decision will she make?

Connie will drive to the conference.

Why do we need heuristics?

Heuristics are mental shortcuts that are important in every day routines to make quick decisions.

is the ability to recognize when you do or don't know something.

Metacognition

Ellen's best friend won the lottery with the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. Now, Ellen buys a lottery ticket every day choosing these same numbers because she is convinced that she, too, will win. What error in judgment is Ellen making?

Rare, but highly memorable, events that come to mind easily act so as to increase our beliefs they will happen again even when they don't.

Which of the following statements about reasoning is NOT true?

There are three types of reasoning that we typically use.

Melissa and Kristin are arguing about the right answer to a question on their practice quiz. Melissa says that the right answer requires them to consider all of the facts before making a conclusion. Kristin says the correct answer is on page 74 and they should just copy it. Is Melissa using critical thinking to support her position?

Yes, because she is considering the facts before drawing a conclusion.

Analyzing the facts is

a first step in critical thinking.

An important step in critical thinking is evaluating the

argument

Inductive reasoning

begins with specific observations and progresses analytically to broader generalizations and theories based on those observed cases.

Which of the following is a type of mental shortcut that helps us make quick decisions about everyday matters?

biases

Brainstorming, when one comes up with as many solutions as possible, occurs as a part of

divergent thinking

Serita is 14 and her parents keep asking her what she wants to do with her life. As Serita thinks about her future, what type of future is she using?

divergent thinking, because there are many possibilities of what Serita could do as an adult

Sarah claims that most people are happy; she knows this because she read it on Wikipedia. Jake concludes that Sarah does not have enough evidence to make the claim that most people are happy. What two elements of critical thinking is Jake demonstrating?

evaluating the argument and forming a conclusion based on the evidence

A cognitive shortcut that speeds decision making is called a(n)

heuristic.

Mandy and Miguel are good friends, but they disagreed on who would be the best mayor for their town. Mandy voted for Tom Smith, but Miguel voted for Jane Brown. When the race was over, Jane Brown won. When Mandy and Miguel talked about the election later, Mandy said that she "knew that Jane Brown was going to win all along" because she had the most financial support and had more experience than Tom Smith. Miguel knows that this was not Mandy's stance before the election because they had discussed it many times. Which of the following tendencies is Mandy demonstrating?

hindsight bias

Muhammad is 4. His family has a cat who is orange. Muhammad's best friend, Aamir, also has a cat. Aamir's cat is also orange. Muhammad, therefore, believes that all cats are orange. Muhammad has made an error in

inductive reasoning.

Robyn is writing a research paper and she is frustrated because she can't find some of the information she needs to finish writing it. Her awareness that she is missing some information is an example of

metacognition.

You and your friend are reading dating profiles on a new website. She calls out to you: "I have found your perfect match!" You ask, "What does his profile say?" She responds: "Tall, dark, and handsome, I love to listen to old time rock and roll, do yoga, and go on walks to be 'one with nature.'" You break into this description and cry out: "He sounds like an old hippie!" Your friend responds: "No! He's an engineering student and lives in the dorm next door!" Which of the following heuristics did you use to reach your conclusion about the dating profile?

representativeness heuristic

People use heuristics because

they save time, save cognitive energy and often lead to correct responses.