Psychology Chapter 8

How do cognitive psychologists study mental processes? (Answer on P.

301)

While participating in an image rotation study, you responded very slowly to some items that shared certain characteristics. What is the likely reason for these slow responses? (Answer on P.302)

How do researchers explain the effectiveness of mental imagery as an adjunct to athletes’ preparation for competition? (Answer on P.303)

Don can tell Ray about his sports car because Ray understands common characteristics of “sports cars” and what makes them different from “family cars.” Thus Ray is using mental categories called: (Answer on P.303)

Compared to artificial concepts learned in the laboratory, natural concepts tend to be: (Answer on P.304)

Most college students in the U.S. probably think of football or basketball when “sports” are mentioned, rather than soccer or luge.

Thus, football and basketball would serve as ________ for sports. (Answer on P.304)

What are the three characteristics of well-defined problems? (Answer on P.305)

What term might a cognitive psychologist use to describe the formula for calculating the square yards of carpet needed to cover the bedroom floor? (Answer on P.305)

What problem-solving strategies don’t guarantee solutions but make efficient use of time? (Answer on P.306)

Compared to non-experts, psychologists have found that expert problem solvers are especially proficient at: (Answer on P.306)

You have a term paper due in a month. For the first week, you decide to find 10 references, read them in the second week, develop an outline in the third week, and write the paper during the fourth week. What problem-solving approach are you using? (Answer on P.306)

What term do we use for the tendency to rely too heavily on past experience in solving problems? (Answer on P.306)

You have worked at the same job for five years and always drive home using the same route. A new street is built that would shorten your trip but you continue to use the same route. What problem-solving block are you experiencing? (Answer on P.307)

John is trying to figure out what is wrong with his car. He thinks there is a problem with the fuel injection system so he hasn’t checked if there might be another malfunction before he takes it to the dealer. Which error may John be committing? (Answer on P.310)

Pat is a psychologist who works with defense attorneys in formulating questions during jury selection. Many prospective jurors think Pat is an attorney because he is male, dresses in a three-piece suit, writes on a legal pad, and has a good command of language. What decision-making process did the prospective jurors use? (Answer on P.310)

After hearing about a horrible airline crash that killed 250 people, Jim cancels his airplane reservations because he feels it is too risky to fly. Instead, he decides to drive across the country. What decision-making process was involved in Jim’s decision? (Answer on P.311)

A psychologist presents people with situations involving the purchase of a blender and a suit. He wants to know if they would be willing to drive 20 minutes in order to save some money. What decisions are people most likely to make in these situations? (Answer on P.312)

A surgeon is reviewing the chances of success for two surgical procedures and says that if Procedure A is used, the chances of survival are 35%. If Procedure B is used, the chances of failure are 65%. What will patients tend to do when faced with this type of information? (Answer on P.312)

What is the relation between intelligence and creativity? (Answer pn P.312)

What type of thinking could be described as taking different directions in search of a variety of answers to a question? (Answer on P. 314)

The town council asked a sculptor to create a work in celebration of the town’s 100th anniversary. Some members of the council want to offer a large monetary sum; others believe money will detract from the quality of the art. What advice might a psychologist offer members of the council? (Answer on P.315)

You are learning Russian in preparation for a trip next summer. Although you are doing a good job recognizing the written signs, you are having trouble with the sounds of the Russian language. Which of the following aspects of language is giving you trouble? (Answer on P.319)

What are the basic units of meaning in a language? (Answer on P.319)

At what age do children engage in cooing? (Answer on P.319)

A young child says “Mommy go,” signifying that her mother is going to the store. What does this example illustrate about language development? (Answer on P.319)

How would B. F. Skinner account for the acquisition of language? (Answer on P.319)

How do people who use American Sign Language place emphasis in their sentences? (Answer on P.322)

Which of the following describes the typical background and experience for a deaf person today? (Answer on P.322)

Which person would probably have the easiest time learning a second language? (Answer on P.321)

What do we call the hypothesis that language influences what we think? (Answer on P.323)

What do we call language that is purposely designed to make the bad seem good, turn a negative into a positive, or avoid responsibility? (Answer on P.323)

What term is used to describe an inoffensive word or phrase used in place of an unacceptable or offensive one? (Answer on P.324)

What effect will hearing a story in which all of the pronouns are he or him have on the stories children write immediately after hearing the story? (Answer on P.325)

Which of these is the best description of a psychological test? (Answer on P.327)

Compared to Americans, the descriptions of intelligence offered by the Japanese place greater emphasis on: (Answer on P.327)

You are reading written descriptions of definitions of intelligence from around the world. Which of the following might you think had come from people in African countries such as Kenya? (Answer on P.327)

“I believe that differences in levels of intellectual ability are due to hereditary factors and that these differences can be measured.” Who am I? (Answer on P.328)

The ability to excel in a number of tasks, especially those related to success in schoolwork, is a common American definition of: (Answer on P.328)

What was the original purpose of the first well-established test of intelligence? (Answer on P.328)

What could we conclude if we know that a child obtained a mental age of eight on a standard test of intelligence? (Answer on P.329)

You test an 11-year-old child and find she has a mental age of 10. What is her IQ? (Answer on P.329)

What two categories of subtests make up the Wechsler intelligence tests? (Answer on P.330)

Psychological tests that yield relatively consistent results are said to be: (Answer on P.331)

A psychological test that measures what we intend it to measure is said to be; (Answer on P.331)

An academic test that reflects the material it intends to assess is said to have: (Answer on P.331)

A test that estimates whether a person will succeed at a particular task is said to have: (Answer on P.331)

When you took your college entrance exam, students across the country took the same test at the same time with the same instructions. What characteristic of a good psychological test do these similarities reflect? (Answer on P.332)

What are scores obtained by a relatively large sample of people on the same psychological test? (Answer on P.332)

Many human characteristics such as height are distributed so the majority of scores fall in the middle, with fewer extreme scores. What do we call this type of distribution? (Answer on P.333)

What term designates children with learning disabilities, behavior and emotional disorders, sensory and physical handicaps, communication disorders, or intellectual differences? (Answer on P.333)

Ten-year-old Myra was evaluated by a psychologist at the State Hospital. She obtained an IQ of 62. What is the psychologist likely to conclude based on this testing? (Answer on P.333)

A psychologist tested Brian and found his overall IQ was 45. Yet Brian can add, subtract, multiply, and divide large numbers with lightning speed and consistent accuracy. What term is used for Brian’s exceptional ability? (Answer on P.334)

Failure to respond to people in socially appropriate ways and serious deficits in language are characteristics of: (Answer on P.336)

Charles Spearman believed that intelligence is composed of: (Answer on P.336)

What three types of intelligence constitute Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence? (Answer on P.336)

Howard Gardner and Robert Sternberg agree to be interviewed together on the topic of intelligence. At the end of the interview, what would you conclude is their major point of agreement? (Answer on P.338)

Which of the following summarizes the eugenics movement? (Answer on P.338)

A group of psychologists reviews the literature on the heritability of intelligence. They conclude that most of the estimates are in what range? (Answer on P.339)

Damage from what genetic abnormality can be avoided by modification of diet beginning at birth? (Answer on P.340)

Howard Skeels placed slow and unresponsive children in a home for mentally retarded adolescents for several months. What did he find? (Answer on P.341)

What has happened to IQ performance since the 1930s? (Answer on P.341)

What term did Robert Zajonc use to describe the idea that family structure can influence intelligence? (Answer on P.342)

What finding from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth seems critical in explaining past reports of a relation involving birth order, family size, and intelligence? (Answer on P.342)

When we consider intelligence, it is important to remember that although ________ sets limits on a child’s potential, it is the ________ that permits that potential to be actualized. (Answer on P.344)

What evidence does Claude Steele present in support of the stereotype vulnerability hypothesis as it relates to intelligence testing? (Answer on P.344)

What is one criticism of the conclusions offered by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray in The Bell Curve? (Answer on P.345)