AP Psychology Practice Quiz: Thinking, Problem-Solving, Judgments, and Decision-Making

Correct Answer: C

A prototype is the ideal or most typical example of a concept. A robin is a more common and representative example of the concept "bird" for many people than a penguin is.

Correct Answer: B

Accommodation involves changing an existing schema or creating a new one to incorporate new information that doesn't fit. The child is changing their schema for animals to accommodate the new information about cats.

Correct Answer: B

An algorithm is a problem-solving strategy that involves attempting all possible solutions to guarantee a correct outcome.

Correct Answer: B

The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut where people judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind. The vivid news reports make shark attacks easily available in memory, leading to an overestimation of their frequency.

Correct Answer: C

A mental set is the tendency to approach problems using a strategy that has worked in the past due to prior successes. The chess player's reliance on a previously successful opening hinders their ability to adapt to a new situation.

Correct Answer: B

The sunk-cost fallacy is the tendency to continue a course of action because of previously invested resources (like time or money), regardless of the current prospects of success.

Correct Answer: C

Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used, thus hindering creative problem-solving.

Correct Answer: D

Assimilation is the process of fitting new information into an existing schema. The toddler is fitting the new example of a truck into her existing "car" schema.

Correct Answer: B

The representativeness heuristic involves making judgments by comparing something to our mental prototype of a category. The person's description matches the prototype of a professor, leading to an incorrect judgment about probability.

Correct Answer: C

Framing refers to how an issue or choice is presented by surrounding circumstances. Presenting the information in terms of success (a positive frame) versus failure (a negative frame) can significantly influence decision-making.

Correct Answer: C

The gambler's fallacy is the erroneous belief that if a particular event occurs more frequently than normal during the past, it is less likely to happen in the future in a situation where outcomes are independent and random.

Correct Answer: C

Executive functions are the high-level cognitive processes that enable goal-directed behaviors and critical thinking, including planning and attention control.

Correct Answer: B

Divergent thinking is a key component of creativity that involves generating multiple, novel ideas or solutions to a problem. Brainstorming various uses for a common object is a classic test of divergent thinking.

Correct Answer: B

Priming is a phenomenon where exposure to one stimulus (the surrounding circumstances) influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention. The words related to old age primed the concept of being old, which influenced behavior.

Correct Answer: B

Concepts form the basis of thought by creating mental categories. A prototype is the ideal or most representative example that embodies the key features of that concept.

Correct Answer: B

The key difference is that algorithms are methodical procedures that guarantee a correct solution. Heuristics are mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that are quicker but do not guarantee a correct solution and can lead to errors.