Question : 61. Zelma asked to think of all the words beginning with : 1233715

 

61. 

Zelma is asked to think of all the words beginning with the letters “squ,” such as squeak. She is then given a fill-in-the-blank task where one of the items is “s _ _ o n g.” Zelma keeps trying to make “squong” a word, and she has trouble thinking of the common word “strong.” Zelma’s ability to solve this problem has been hampered by:

A. 

syllogistic reasoning.

B. 

mental set.

C. 

the confirmation bias.

D. 

the representativeness heuristic.

62. 

Which of the following statements best expresses the relationship between mental and functional fixedness?

A. 

Functional fixedness is an example of a broader phenomenon known as mental set.

B. 

Mental set is actually a specific instance of functional fixedness.

C. 

Mental set and functional fixedness are the same thing.

D. 

Functional fixedness and mental set are distinct problem-solving impediments.

63. 

Alyssa uses a shoe as a hammer and a butter knife as a screwdriver while making several minor household repairs. Which of the following statements best characterizes Alyssa’s problem solving?

A. 

She is constrained by a powerful mental set.

B. 

She has been released from functional fixedness.

C. 

She is taking advantage of the representative heuristic.

D. 

She is forming subgoals.

64. 

A jeweler is unable to fix a particular mounting in a ring because she can imagine only the conventional uses of her tools. Which of the following does this best demonstrate?

A. 

Syllogistic reasoning

B. 

Functional fixedness

C. 

Algorithmic thinking

D. 

Means-end analysis

65. Henry’s dog Sparky has been rolling in the mud. Henry must bathe Sparky before the dog gets mud all over the carpet. However, Henry is unable to find the plug for the tub. Sitting on the counter right beside the tub is a fifty-cent piece. In his frustration, Henry fails to see that the coin could be used as an emergency plug for the tub. What happened to Henry? 

A. 

He took a heuristic approach.

B. 

He fell prey to confirmation bias.

C. 

He suffered from mental set.

D. 

He employed representational thought.

66. 

_____ is the tendency to seek out and give greater weight to information that supports one’s initial hypothesis and to ignore contradictory information that supports alternative hypotheses or solutions.

A. 

Functional fixedness

B. 

A mental set

C. 

Confirmation bias

D. 

Representativeness heuristic

67. 

Which of the following impediments to effective problem solving is correctly matched with its definition?

A. 

Functional fixedness—the tendency for old patterns of problem solving to persist

B. 

Mental set—the tendency to think of an object only in terms of its customary use

C. 

Confirmation bias—the tendency to favor existing hypotheses and to ignore evidence favoring alternatives

D. 

Representative heuristic—involves judging the probability of an event on the basis of how easily the event can be recalled from memory

68. 

Nigel often cites newspaper editorials favoring the presidential candidate he supports. He appears to ignore editorials’ criticism of the candidate. Nigel appears to be prone to:

A. 

functional fixedness.

B. 

mental set.

C. 

the confirmation bias.

D. 

the representativeness heuristic.

69. 

Sandy, a true believer in astrology, reads in her horoscope that today is her lucky day. She gets so excited that she spills coffee all over herself, necessitating a change of clothes. As a result, she is late for work and for a very important meeting, which in turn gets her into serious trouble with her boss. In the evening, her brother is taken to the emergency room. On her way to visit him, Sandy finds a dime in the hospital parking lot. What will Sandy do based on the research on confirmation bias?

A. 

Sandy will renounce astrology as completely wrong because of all the horrible things that happened on her “lucky day.”

B. 

Sandy will begin to question her belief in astrology because of all the horrible things that happened on her “lucky day.”

C. 

Sandy will seize on the dime she found as evidence of astrology’s accuracy.

D. 

Confirmation bias has little or no relevance to how Sandy will think about astrology in the future.

70. 

The ability to generate original ideas or develop novel solutions to problems is known as:

A. 

convergent thinking.

B. 

insight.

C. 

creativity.

D. 

syllogistic reasoning.