PSY/CGS3361501 Decision Making Heuristic Take Home Assignment No 3 I uploaded the sheets. It’s answered the questions take-home quiz. Open note quiz (Take-

PSY/CGS3361501 Decision Making Heuristic Take Home Assignment No 3 I uploaded the sheets. It’s answered the questions take-home quiz. Open note quiz (Take-home Assignment #3)
Cognitive Psychology (PSY/CGS 3361_501) S19
DUE at beginning of class
on 4/24/19
Directions
• This take-home assignment has 12 questions, worth 2 points each & 1 question worth 1
point. The assignment is based on information covered in Chapter 12.
• ***Use the answer sheet provided on the last page; this is all you need to turn in.***
• For each question, select the decision-making heuristic that best applies to the description
provided. Choose your answers from the list below.
ANSWER CHOICES:
•
•
•
•
•
anchoring & adjustment
heuristic
availability heuristic
confirmation bias
conjunction fallacy
default heuristic
•
•
•
•
•
the framing effect
hindsight bias
loss aversion theory
planning fallacy
representativeness heuristic
* Each item in this list will be used at least once. Some items will be used more than once.*
__________________________________________________________________________________________
1. When you buy a new pair of shoes, it may initially provide a small boost in pleasure. However,
even if you never wear the shoes, giving them away a year or two later might be incredibly
painful. You never use them, but for some reason you just cannot stand parting with them.
Which decision-making heuristic best applies to this situation? (2pts)
2.
Consider the following:
“Todd enjoys listening to New Age music and faithfully reads his horoscope each day.
In his spare time, he practices meditation and attends meetings at a local spirituality center.”
Question: Do you think Todd is more likely to be a school teacher or a holistic healer?
Research has shown that many people will answer, “Todd is more likely to be a holistic healer.”
But in reality, it is far more likely that Todd is a school teacher based purely on probability.
This is because school teachers are statistically far more common than holistic healers.
Which decision-making heuristic accounts for this result? (2pts)
(continued on next page)
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3. Research by Steven Pinker and Andrew Mack (2014) has shown that we are currently living in the
least violent time in history. There are more people living in peace right now than ever before.
The rates of homicide, rape, sexual assault, and child abuse are all falling.
Most people are shocked when they hear these statistics. Some still refuse to believe them.
People think to themselves, “If this is the most peaceful time in history, why are there so many
wars going on right now? Why do I hear about rape and murder and crime every day? Why is
everyone talking about so many acts of terrorism and destruction?”
Which decision-making heuristic best accounts for the thinking described above? (2pts)
4. Imagine that a new burger joint in your neighborhood just opened. The restaurant is known for
gourmet burgers and cheeses. You decide to try it out. On the menu, they very boldly state,
“LIMIT 6 TYPES OF CHEESE PER BURGER.”
Your first thought is: This is absurd. Who gets six types of cheese on a burger?
Your second thought: Which six am I going to get?!
Although most people will not order six types of cheese, the statement, “LIMIT 6 TYPES OF
CHEESE PER BURGER” moves the average slices of cheese that people order from one slice to
two or three pieces of cheese. (And this adds a 1-2 dollars to the price of each burger).
Which decision-making heuristic best applies to this situation?
5. If you just bought a Honda Accord and you believe it is the best car on the market, then you’ll
naturally read any article you come across that praises the car. Meanwhile, if another magazine
lists a different car as the best pick of the year, you simply dismiss it and assume that the editors
of that particular magazine got it wrong or were looking for something different than what you
were looking for in a car.
Which choice from the list on p. 1 best applies to the thinking described above? (2pts)
6.
Eric: “I just knew I’d pass the Applied Mathematics section of the
entrance exam!”
Claire: “No, you didn’t. You thought you’d failed it when you spoke to
me right after the exam.”
What cognitive bias is Eric exhibiting? (2pts)
7. You feel a small bit of joy when you breeze through green lights on your way to work, but you will
get downright angry when the car in front of you sits at a green light and you miss the
opportunity to make it through the intersection. Losing out on the chance to make the light is far
more painful than the pleasure of hitting the green light from the beginning.
Which choice from the list on p. 1 best applies to this situation? (2pts)
2
8.
Derek is a 29-year-old bachelor who lives in Los Angeles. He is a fitness enthusiast, follows a
Paleo diet, and in his free time enjoys visiting national parks and other outdoor attractions.
Which of the following 2 options is more probable?
1. Derek is a real estate agent.
2. Derek is a real estate agent and a marathon runner.
When Tversky and Kahneman (1983) posed this type of question to participants, roughly 85% chose
option 2. However, the correct answer is option 1.
People who choose #2 as the more probable option are using which decision-making
heuristic? (2pts)
9.
Architects and city planners originally estimated the iconic Sydney Opera House would be
completed by 1963 at a cost of $7 million. A scaled-down version was finally completed in 1973
for $102 million, an entire decade later and 1,475% over budget.
Which decision-making error does this situation illustrate? (2pts)
10. In advertising, visuals and words are manipulated to present information in a positive light. For
example, the two descriptions below convey the same statistical information, but are worded
quite differently.
“Mega!” toothpaste has been proven effective in 80% of cases.”
–versus-“Mega!’ toothpaste has failed to work in only 2 out of every 10 cases.
Which choice from the list on p. 1 best applies here? (2pts)
3
11. Alicia is a big believer in extrasensory perception (ESP). As evidence of her ESP abilities, Alicia
keeps close track of instances when she was “thinking about Mom, and then the phone rang and
it was Mom!”
Yet, Alicia ignores the far more numerous times when: (a) She was thinking about Mom and Mom
didn’t call; and (b) She was not thinking about Mom and Mom did call.
Which choice from the list on p. 1 best applies to this situation? (2pts)
12. On May 22, 2017, there was a suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, United
Kingdom. Twenty-three people were killed, including the attacker. The next day, television
reporters conducted street interviews of several Manchester residents. Many of the residents
stated that they were now considering moving out of the UK due to safety concerns.
As distressing as that day was, a person is still twice as likely to die in an elevator than in a
terrorist attack.
Which decision-making heuristic were the residents of Manchester using that resulted in
a skewed view of their safety? (2pts)
13.
Miriam has owned an iPhone for several years now. Apple’s iPhone software allows
her to customize practically everything about her phone, including data usage, app
synchronization, phone encryption, and even how loud she wants the camera shutter to sound.
Guess how many of these Miriam has set up so far? You guessed it: not one.
Which choice from the list on p. 1 best applies to this situation? (1 pt.)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
EXTRA CREDIT: 1point
Each of the cards below has a location on one side and a method of travel on the other:
A.
B.
Chicago
C.
New York City
D.
Train
Airplane
Which of the cards do you need turn over to test the claim, “Every time I go to Chicago, I take the
train”?
(Write your answer in the space provided on the answer sheet)
(ANSWER SHEET PROVIDED ON NEXT PAGE)
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ANSWER SHEET
Take Home Assignment 3
NAME_________________________________
PSY/CGS 3361_501, Spring 2019
1. __________________________________________________
For full credit, use
correct spelling.
2. __________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________
6. __________________________________________________
7. __________________________________________________
8. __________________________________________________
9. __________________________________________________
10. __________________________________________________
11. __________________________________________________
12. __________________________________________________
13. __________________________________________________ (1 point)
EXTRA CREDIT ANSWER:
Score:
Score:__________
__________
5

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