Decision Making Ch. 9

Question 1

rational choice theory

Answer 1

The classical view that we make decisions by determining how likely something is to happen, judging the value of the outcome, and then multiplying the two.

Question 2

availability bias

Answer 2

Items that are more readily available in memory are judged as having occurred more frequently.

Question 3

heuristic

Answer 3

A fast and efficient strategy that may facilitate decision making but does not guarantee that a solution will be reached.

Question 4

algorithm

Answer 4

A well-defined sequence of procedures or rules that guarantees a solution to a problem.

Question 5

conjunction fallacy

Answer 5

When people think that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event

Question 6

representativeness heuristic

Answer 6

A mental shortcut that involves making a probability judgment by comparing an object or event to a prototype of the object or event.

Question 7

framing effects

Answer 7

When people give different answers to the same problem depending on how the problem is phrased (or framed).

Question 8

sunk-cost fallacy

Answer 8

A framing effect in which people make decisions about a current situation based on what they have previously invested in the situation.

Question 9

prospect theory

Answer 9

proposes that people choose to take on risk when evaluating potential losses and avoid risks when evaluating potential gains.

Question 10

certainty effect

Answer 10

when making decisions, people give greater weight to outcomes that are a sure thing.

Question 11

frequency format hypothesis

Answer 11

The proposal that our minds evolved to notice how frequently things occur, not how likely they are to occur.

Question 12

ill-defined problem

Answer 12

a problem that does not have a clear goal or well-defined solution path

Question 13

well-defined problem

Answer 13

a problem with clearly specified goals and clearly defined solution paths.

Question 14

means-ends analysis

Answer 14

a process of searching for the means or steps to reduce the differences between the current situation and the desired goal

Question 15

means-ends process steps

Answer 15

1. analyze the goal 2. analyze the current state 3. list differences between the current state and the goal state 4. reduce the list of differences by direct means, generating a subgoal or finding a similar problem that has a known solution

Question 16

analogical problem solving

Answer 16

solve a problem by finding a similar problem with a known solution and applying that solution to the current problem

Question 17

goal state

Answer 17

the desired outcome you want to attain

Question 18

current state

Answer 18

your starting point, or current situation

Question 19

coherent

Answer 19

solvable series

Question 20

incoherent

Answer 20

series with no solutions

Question 21

functional fixedness

Answer 21

the tendency to perceive the functions of objects as fixed

Question 22

reasoning

Answer 22

a mental activity that consists of organizing information or beliefs into a series of steps to reach conclusions

Question 23

logic

Answer 23

tool to reasonsing-a system of rules that specifies which conclusions follow from a set of statements.

Question 24

practical reasoning

Answer 24

figuring out what to do, or reasoning directed toward action

Question 25

theoretical reasoning

Answer 25

reasoning directed toward arriving at a belief

Question 26

belief bias

Answer 26

people’s judgments about whether to accept conclusions depend more on how believable the conclusions are than on whether the arguments are logically valid

Question 27

syllogistic reasoning

Answer 27

we asses whether a conclusion follows from two statements that we assume to be true

Question 28

belief laden trials

Answer 28

participants were scanned while they reasoned about syllogisms that could be influenced by knowledge affecting the believability of the conclusions

Question 29

belief-neutral trials

Answer 29

syllogisms contained obscure terms whose meaning was unknown to participants

Question 30

intelligence

Answer 30

ability to direct one’s thinking adapt to one’s circumstances and learn from one’s experiences