Chapter 10 Practice Quizzes

. After hearing a riddle you spend days trying to figure out its elusive solution. Strangely, the answer just seems to pop in your mind one afternoon. Which of the following terms best describes this phenomenon?

An insight problem

Flexibility–rigidity dimension

Functional fixedness

Perception

. What do Köhler's observations with Sultan the chimpanzee suggest?

Sultan displayed insight.

Sultan failed to display insight.

Sultan failed to display a Gestalt switch.

Sultan suffered functional fixedness.

. You are in a problem-solving competition against a group of young children. Amazingly, they outperformed you on a number of different problems. This could be due to which of the following?

Structurally blind thinking on their part

Productive thinking on your part

Productive thinking on their part

Structurally blind thinking on your part and their part

. Which of the following best represents an overcoming of functional fixedness?

Using a stool as a chair

Using a lighter as a bottle opener

Using a knife to open a letter

Putting a TV on top of a dresser

. Which of the following is an essential characteristic that distinguishes insight from non-insight problems?

The solution takes less time to appear.

The solution takes longer to appear.

The solution appears suddenly and without warning

Insight solutions are preceded by a feeling of "warmth."

. What is the term for having a notion that you will be able to solve a problem?

Feeling of "warmth"

Feeling of knowing

Feeling of anticipation

Gestalt switch

. What are the two processes involved in the representational change theory?

Constraint relaxation and feeling of "warmth"

Feeling of knowing and feeling of "warmth"

Chunk decomposition and constraint relaxation

Feeling of knowing and chunk decomposition

. When solving a problem, it can be helpful to identify units that can be thought about independently. What is such course of action called?

Chunk decomposition

Constraint relaxation

Negative transfer

Mindlessness

. Someone who is open to alternative possibilities when solving a problem is said to be demonstrating ______.

mindlessness

functional fixedness

mindfulness

negative transfer

. You have just participated in an extra-credit study, and the experimenter sent you off with the knowledge that you exhibited the Einstellung effect. What does this mean?

You did very well in the study.

You produced many Gestalt switches.

You successfully used a number of different heuristics.

You probably didn't do very well and made the same mistake repeatedly.

. What was the general finding in Metcalfe and Wiebe's (1987) study on insight and non-insight problems?

The participants could predict which insight problems they could solve.

The participants could predict which non-insight problems they could solve.

The participants could predict which insight and non-insight problems they could solve.

The participants could not predict which insight or non-insight problems they could solve.

. Which of the following brain areas has been implicated in the insight problem-solving process?

Anterior cingulate cortex

Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Inferior temporal cortex

Primary visual cortex

. Unambiguous solution procedures used by artificial intelligence researchers are known as ______.

positive transfers

algorithms

subgoals

search trees

. Reducing the difference between the current state and the goal state can be accomplished by ______.

a goal stack

a Gestalt switch

a means-end analysis

chunk decomposition

. What does retrospective verbalization rely on?

Productive thinking

Constraint relaxation

Short-term memory

Long-term memory

. Which part of the brain has been suggested to be involved in gaining insight as a result of sleep?

Anterior cingulate cortex

Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Inferior temporal cortex

Hippocampus

. What does productive thinking involve?

Coming up with as many alternate solutions as possible

Using previous solutions to solve the current problem

Recognizing and applying general principles that are relevant to the problem

None of the above

. Insight problems typically require that we ______.

perform an evaluation function

re-structure the way the problem is represented

create a search tree

engage in concurrent verbalization

. Which of the following is NOT associated with the General Problem Solver (GPS)?

Production rules

Means-ends analysis

Goal stack

Analysis of the situation

. What did Weisberg and Alba (1981) conclude from their study that made use of the nine-dot problem?

Unnecessary assumptions can be overcome with hints.

The Gestalt theory of problem-solving was incorrect.

Insight is involuntary.

A hint is useful to solve the nine-dot problem to the extent that it coincides with the problem solver's direction of thought.

. Negative transfer refers to the inability to use tools outside of their normal use.

True

False

. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is critical in problem-solving, as exemplified by a study using the water jar problem with patients who have had prefrontal lesions.

True

False

. Mindfulness refers to the tendency to behave as if the situation had only one possible interpretation.

True

False

. A heuristic is a problem-solving strategy that guarantees the correct solution to a problem.

True

False

. The problem space refers to a representation of the problem, including the goal.

True

False

. Gestalt switches occur only in response to visual material.

True

False

. Children aged 5 or younger are less likely to be functionally fixed than are older children.

True

False

. Heuristics can be considered an example of a non-systematic algorithm.

True

False

. One of the steps Newell (1977) recommends when analyzing a thinking-aloud protocol is the creation of a problem behaviour graph.

True

False

. A way to avoid the Einstellung effect is through distributed reasoning.

True

False

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