Chapter 12

Question 1

Deductive reasoning

Answer 1

you begin with some specific premises that are true, and you need to judge whether those premises allow you to draw a particular conclusion, based on the principles of logic

Question 2

Decision making

Answer 2

you must assess the information and choose among two or more alternatives

Question 3

Dual-process theory

Answer 3

distinguishes between two types of cognitive processing

Question 4

Type 1 processing

Answer 4

is fast and automatic; it requires little conscious attention

Question 5

Type 2 processing

Answer 5

relatively slow and controlled; it requires focused attention, and it is typically more accurate

Question 6

Conditional reasoning (or propositional reasoning task)

Answer 6

describes the relationship between conditions

Question 7

Syllogism

Answer 7

consists of two statements that we must assume to be true, plus a conclusion

Question 8

Propositional calculus

Answer 8

a system for categorizing the four kinds of reasoning used in analyzing propositions, or statements

Question 9

Antecedent

Answer 9

the first proposition or statement; the antecedent is contained in the “if…” part of the sentence

Question 10

Consequent

Answer 10

the proposition that comes second; it is the consequence or the “…then” part of the sentence

Question 11

Affirming the antecedent

Answer 11

you say that the “if…” part of the sentence is true (valid, correct conclusion)

Question 12

Affirming the consequent

Answer 12

you say that the “then…” part of the sentence is true (invalid conclusion)

Question 13

Denying the antecedent

Answer 13

you say that the “if…” part of the sentence is false (invalid conclusion)

Question 14

Denying the consequent

Answer 14

you say the “then…” part of the sentence is false (correct conclusion)

Question 15

The Belief-Bias Effect

Answer 15

occurs in reasoning when people make judgements based on prior beliefs and general knowledge, rather than on the rules of logic

Question 16

The Confirmation Bias

Answer 16

people would rather confirm or support a hypothesis than try to disprove it

Question 17

Representative heuristic

Answer 17

we judge that a sample is likely if it is similar to the population from which this sample was selected

Question 18

Small-sample fallacy

Answer 18

people assume that a small sample will be representative of the population from which is was selected

Question 19

Base rate

Answer 19

how often the item occurs in the population

Question 20

Base rate fallacy

Answer 20

paying too little attention to important information about base rate

Question 21

Conjunction rule

Answer 21

the probability of the conjunction of two events cannot be larger than the probability of either of its constituent events

Question 22

Conjunction Fallacy

Answer 22

people judge the probability of the conjunction of two events to be greater than the probability of either constituent event

Question 23

Availability heuristic

Answer 23

when you estimate frequency or probability in terms of how easy it is to think of relevant examples of something

Question 24

Recognition heuristic

Answer 24

typically operates when you must compare the relative frequency of two categories; if you recognize one category, but not the other, you conclude that the recognized category has the higher frequency

Question 25

Illusory correlation

Answer 25

occurs when people believe that two variables are statistically related, even though there is no actual evidence for this relationship

Question 26

Anchoring and adjustment heuristic (anchoring effect

Answer 26

begin with a first approximation, which serves as an anchor; then we make adjustments to that number, based on additional information

Question 27

Confidence interval

Answer 27

the range within which we expect a number to fall a certain percentage of the time

Question 28

Framing effect

Answer 28

demonstrates that the outcome of your decision can be influenced by two factors: (1) the background context of the choice and (2) they way in which a question is worded (or framed)

Question 29

Prospect theory

Answer 29

refers to people’s tendencies to think that possible gains are different from possible losses, specifically:

1. When dealing with possible gains (for example, lives saved), people tend to avoid risks.
2. When dealing with possible losses (for example, lives lost), people tend to seek risks.

Question 30

Overconfidence

Answer 30

your confidence judgements are higher than they should be, based on you actually performance on the task

Question 31

Crystal ball technique

Answer 31

asks decision makers to imagine that a completely accurate crystal ball has determined that their favored hypothesis is actually incorrect; the decision makers must therefore search for alternative explanations for the outcome; they must also find reasonable evidence to support these alternative explanations

Question 32

Planning fallacy

Answer 32

people typically underestimate the amount of time (or money) required to complete a project; they also estimate that the task will be relatively easy to complete

Question 33

My-side bias

Answer 33

the overconfidence that your own view is correct in a confrontational situation

Question 34

Hindsight

Answer 34

refers to our judgements about events that already happened in the past

Question 35

Hindsight bias

Answer 35

occurs when an event has happened, and we say that the event had been inevitable; we had actually “known it all along”

Question 36

Ecological rationality

Answer 36

describes how people create a wide variety of heuristics to help themselves make useful, adaptive decisions in the real world

Question 37

Default heuristic

Answer 37

if there is a standard option, then people will choose it

Question 38

Maximizers

Answer 38

people who have a minimizing decision-making style; they tend to examine as many options as possible

Question 39

Satisficers

Answer 39

people who have a satisficing decision-making style; they tend to settle for somethng that is satisfactory