Chapter 8

Question 1

In a pioneering study, Shepard and Metzler concluded that imagining how something would look from a different angle is something like actually watching something rotate. They drew this conclusion by measuring what?

Answer 1

The delay of people’s responses

Question 2

Suppose you are in a field of brownish bushes and one motionless brown rabbit. You will find it by ______ . If the rabbit starts hopping, you will find it by______ .

Answer 2

an attentive process … a preattentive process

Question 3

What does the Stroop effect demonstrate?

Answer 3

Familiarity with a word can interfere with saying the color of its ink.

Question 4

Other things being equal, which children in a class are most likely to be treated for ADHD?

Answer 4

Children who are younger than average for the grade in school

Question 5

Priming a concept is responsible for which of the following?

Answer 5

Spreading activation

Question 6

In contrast to System 1 (or Type 1 thinking), what is true of System 2?

Answer 6

It is best suited to considering and evaluating complex evidence.

Question 7

What is a heuristic?

Answer 7

A strategy for simplifying a problem

Question 8

In decision making, what is the disadvantage of being a maximizer?

Answer 8

Maximizers tend to be less satisfied with their decisions.

Question 9

People who believe that violent or bizarre behavior is more common on nights of a full moon remember the few occasions that fit this expectation and decide that the results support their belief. This is an example of which heuristic?

Answer 9

The availability heuristic

Question 10

Steve says he has a coworker who is persecuting him. You conclude that Steve is paranoid, ignoring the possibility that Steve really does have an enemy. This is a possible example of which heuristic?

Answer 10

The representativeness heuristic

Question 11

Someone tells me that if I say “abracadabra” every morning, I will stay healthy. I say it daily and, sure enough, I stay healthy. I conclude that this magic word ensures health. What error of thinking have I made?

Answer 11

Confirmation bias

Question 12

People will buy meat that claims “90 percent fat free,” but not one that says “contains 10 percent fat.” This observation is an example of which of the following?

Answer 12

Framing effect

Question 13

Why do most musicians have better-than-average hearing? And what’s the evidence?

Answer 13

People with better hearing are more likely than average to practice music. Twins with more music practice do not have better hearing than their twins with little or no practice.

Question 14

As people develop expertise in a skill such as chess, what improves?

Answer 14

Their ability to recognize common patterns

Question 15

Many people recommend that old people do crossword puzzles or similar activities to improve everyday memory. If that advice worked (and generally it doesn’t), it would be an example of what?

Answer 15

Far transfer

Question 16

When bonobos learned to use symbols to communicate, what training method was used?

Answer 16

Observation and imitation

Question 17

Someone with Broca’s aphasia shows impairments most strongly with regard to which aspect of language?

Answer 17

Use of prepositions, word endings, and other grammatical devices

Question 18

At what age do people begin to use rules of grammar?

Answer 18

Very early, even at ages 2 or 3

Question 19

What is the most convincing evidence that early exposure to language is necessary for language development?

Answer 19

Deaf children who do not learn any language when young are seriously impaired when they try to learn one later.

Question 20

Suppose one sound in a word is engineered to sound halfway between d and t, or halfway between s and sh. What do you hear?

Answer 20

You hear the sound that makes more sense in context, unless the context is delayed.

Question 21

What is meant by the “word-superiority effect”?

Answer 21

You more easily recognize a letter when it is part of a word than when it is alone.

Question 22

When we read a word, do we read it one letter at a time? And what’s the evidence?

Answer 22

No, we do not. An ambiguous letter can appear to be one letter in one context and a different letter in some other context.

Question 23

Reading alternates between fixations and saccades. On average, a person reading an alphabetic language can read about _____ characters during a fixation and about _____ during a saccade.

Answer 23

11 … 0