Psych Chapter Eight (Thinking, Reasoning, and Language)
UPDATED ACTUAL Questions and CORRECT Answers
What is cognition? internal mental processes including information processing, thinking,
reasoning, and problem solving; we think about what we know (thoughts as
images/concepts)
What is mental imagery? a representation of any sensory experience that is stored in memory and can
be retrieved for later use
What are other types of imagery? auditory, olfactory, cutaneous, taste
Why does knowledge have to be organized? knowledge needs to be organized to be useful (extract organization ideas from
specific instances/occurrences we experience)
What is a concept? an organizing principle derived from experience; can be continually tested
and refined
What are the feature, prototype, and exemplar feature approach: identify characteristics (problem: too many exceptions)
approaches and their problems? prototype: a representation of a category formed by averaging all members of
the category; compare new items to your various prototypes (problem: does
not capture variability)
exemplar: retrieve specific members of a category used to represent; compare
new items to the members of categories to find a match (excludes members
too dissimilar to the model)
Why do we think? to guide behavior and help us solve problems we face everyday
What is the definition of a problem? a situation in which a current state is separated from an ideal state by obstacles
What is the definition of problem-solving? the use of information to meet a specific goal
What are the different problem-solving strategies? generate and test: generate solutions and see if they work
(provide an example of each) means-end analysis: yes or no questions, work towards solution
working backward: analyze goal to determine last step needed
backtracking: undo steps and repeat until problem is solved
Why do we have trouble? 1) functional fixedness (a barrier to successful problem solving which a concept
is considered only in its most typical form)
2) difficult with reasoning/logic
Explain Maier Two-String two strings hanging from the ceiling, must tie them together without letting go
of the one using available objects
UPDATED ACTUAL Questions and CORRECT Answers
What is cognition? internal mental processes including information processing, thinking,
reasoning, and problem solving; we think about what we know (thoughts as
images/concepts)
What is mental imagery? a representation of any sensory experience that is stored in memory and can
be retrieved for later use
What are other types of imagery? auditory, olfactory, cutaneous, taste
Why does knowledge have to be organized? knowledge needs to be organized to be useful (extract organization ideas from
specific instances/occurrences we experience)
What is a concept? an organizing principle derived from experience; can be continually tested
and refined
What are the feature, prototype, and exemplar feature approach: identify characteristics (problem: too many exceptions)
approaches and their problems? prototype: a representation of a category formed by averaging all members of
the category; compare new items to your various prototypes (problem: does
not capture variability)
exemplar: retrieve specific members of a category used to represent; compare
new items to the members of categories to find a match (excludes members
too dissimilar to the model)
Why do we think? to guide behavior and help us solve problems we face everyday
What is the definition of a problem? a situation in which a current state is separated from an ideal state by obstacles
What is the definition of problem-solving? the use of information to meet a specific goal
What are the different problem-solving strategies? generate and test: generate solutions and see if they work
(provide an example of each) means-end analysis: yes or no questions, work towards solution
working backward: analyze goal to determine last step needed
backtracking: undo steps and repeat until problem is solved
Why do we have trouble? 1) functional fixedness (a barrier to successful problem solving which a concept
is considered only in its most typical form)
2) difficult with reasoning/logic
Explain Maier Two-String two strings hanging from the ceiling, must tie them together without letting go
of the one using available objects
