PSYCH chapter 9A

Researchers studying chimpanzees in the wild report that they have found at least 39 customs that are specific to local chimpanzee groups. Differences in tool use, grooming, and courtship rituals can be accounted for by:

cultural diversity

Scott is a young engineer who just started work at a company that has several seasoned engineers on staff. During a regular meeting several of these seasoned engineers are discussing how to solve a problem. After about 15 minutes of listening to this, Scott jumps up and yells, "Eureka, I've got it!" This is an example of:

insight

The tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past, is known as a(n) _____.

mental set

When you have trouble in a class, try outlining the book in your own words. What is this general rule of thumb for solving a common academic problem called?

A heuristic

Köhler studied insight by observing:

chimps obtaining bananas

Shawna is about to graduate with a bachelor of arts in psychology and is planning to attend graduate school. Her primary interests are in how people store new information in memory, solve problems, and communicate with others. She is MOST interested in mental activities known as:

cognition

_____ thinking involves narrowing available problem solutions to the single best solution.

convergent

"How many uses can you think of for a brick?" Norman is asked by the examiner. Norman is taking a test of:

divergent thinking

A fixation refers to an inability to:

view a problem from a fresh perspective

At the zoo, a chimpanzee has figured out how to use the right kind of stones to crack open the nuts thrown to him by spectators. In Skinner's terms, the chimpanzee's problem solving has been shaped by:

reinforcement

_____ is the ability to produce ideas that are both novel and valuable.

creativity

Divergent thinking involves:

expanding the number of possible solutions to a problem

Makayla is taking a child development class and has been assigned a class project of her choice. She has chosen to analyze children's drawings. She collected children's drawings from a nearby elementary school from a total of 50 children in the third grade. Now she is in the process of analyzing the drawings and preparing her presentation. She has completely lost track of time. She meant to work on this for only an hour but when she looks at the clock three hours have passed. She is completely interested in the project and finds it challenging to analyze the drawings. Makayla is demonstrating _____.

intrinsic motivation

A few days before flying to San Francisco, Jim watched a documentary about the 1906 earthquake that devastated the city. Even though the chance of getting caught in an earthquake while in San Francisco was relatively minor, Jim decided to cancel his trip. This best illustrates:

the availability heuristic

The easier it is for people to remember circumstances in which friends betrayed them, the more they expect such events to recur. This BEST illustrates the impact of:

the availability heuristic

Lori and Monica are looking at the cans of coffee on display at a local supermarket. They are trying to decide which of two different-sized cans is a better buy. Lori attempts to divide the price of each can by the number of ounces of coffee each contains. Monica suggests that the larger size is usually a better buy. Lori is using a(n) _____; Monica is using a(n) ______.

algorithm; heuristic

An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought is called _____.

intuition

When making each day's hundreds of judgments and decisions, people often refer to:

intuition

For years, the most common grade in Dr. Gunn's class has been a B. The second most common has always been a C. At the beginning of each semester, Dr. Gunn asks his class which grade they think they will get at the end of the semester. Most students indicate that they think they will get an A. This example BEST illustrates:

overconfidence

Auriele is a very attractive female who lives in Cleveland and loves American football. When asked to predict if it is more probable that she is a schoolteacher or a cheerleader for the Cleveland Browns, most people selected the latter even though there are thousands of more schoolteachers than cheerleaders for the Browns in Cleveland. This illustrates the fallacy in reasoning known as:

representativeness heuristic