ThatQuiz Test Library Take this test now
Heuristic (psychology) - Quiz
Contributed by: Costello
  • 1. Which researchers originally proposed the availability, representativeness, and anchoring and adjustment heuristics?
A) Sigmund Freud
B) Abraham Maslow
C) Tversky and Kahneman
D) Robert Cialdini
  • 2. What are heuristics used to judge the desirability of choices called?
A) Judgment heuristics
B) Preference heuristics
C) Evaluation heuristics
D) Decision heuristics
  • 3. Which heuristic relies on emotions to solve problems quickly or efficiently?
A) Simulation heuristic
B) Balance heuristic
C) Affect heuristic
D) Availability heuristic
  • 4. The tendency to rely on the first piece of information offered when making a decision is known as:
A) Anchoring and adjustment
B) Scarcity heuristic
C) Representativeness heuristic
D) Default heuristic
  • 5. The availability heuristic is based on:
A) The emotional intensity of the memory
B) The total statistical data available
C) The ease with which examples come to mind
D) The amount of effort put into the decision
  • 6. Which heuristic helps individuals achieve peace and harmony by balancing positive and negative effects?
A) Fairness heuristic
B) Balance heuristic
C) Common sense heuristic
D) Social proof
  • 7. What is the common issue associated with the base rate heuristic?
A) Misjudging the likelihood of a situation
B) Overvaluing rare items
C) Copying the actions of others
D) Relying on emotions rather than data
  • 8. The contagion heuristic follows which law?
A) Law of Diminishing Returns
B) Law of Availability
C) Law of Cognitive Load
D) Law of Contagion or Similarity
  • 9. When consumers select the default option regardless of their actual preference, they are using the:
A) Scarcity heuristic
B) Default heuristic
C) Affect heuristic
D) Representativeness heuristic
  • 10. Which heuristic states that the worth of an object is determined by the amount of effort put into its production?
A) Scarcity heuristic
B) Anchoring and adjustment
C) Representativeness heuristic
D) Effort heuristic
  • 11. Justifying increased investment based on cumulative prior investment is known as:
A) Escalation of commitment
B) Availability heuristic
C) Naïve diversification
D) Sunk cost fallacy
  • 12. The peak–end rule suggests that subjective perception is based on:
A) The initial impression of the event
B) The most intense and final moments of an event
C) The average effort expended throughout
D) The duration of the entire experience
  • 13. The representativeness heuristic is considered an example of which logical fallacy?
A) Conjunction fallacy
B) Sunk cost fallacy
C) Post hoc fallacy
D) Gambler's fallacy
  • 14. People assigning greater value to items perceived to be in limited supply are using the:
A) Scarcity heuristic
B) Effort heuristic
C) Familiarity heuristic
D) Representativeness heuristic
  • 15. Determining the likelihood of an event based on how easy it is to mentally picture it is the:
A) Common sense heuristic
B) Simulation heuristic
C) Availability heuristic
D) Representativeness heuristic
  • 16. Social proof is more prominent in which types of situations?
A) Ambiguous social situations where people are uncertain
B) Situations requiring high physical effort
C) Situations involving high financial stakes
D) Situations where the individual is an expert
  • 17. The working backward heuristic involves:
A) Diversifying choices to ensure success
B) Assuming the problem is solved and working backward to the start
C) Copying the actions of others
D) Using past behaviors to solve present problems
  • 18. The familiarity heuristic is especially prevalent when an individual experiences:
A) Financial abundance
B) Low emotional stress
C) High cognitive load
D) A need for variety
  • 19. Naïve diversification refers to the tendency to:
A) Choose the most expensive option first
B) Ignore statistical probabilities
C) Prefer the status quo over change
D) Diversify more when making choices at once than sequentially
  • 20. The fairness heuristic influences the likelihood of:
A) Correctly estimating probabilities
B) Voluntary compliance with an authoritative figure
C) Avoiding contaminated objects
D) Identifying the worth of an object
  • 21. What is the etymological origin of the term 'heuristics'?
A) Ancient Greek
B) German
C) Old English
D) Latin
  • 22. What is the primary function of heuristics?
A) Logical deduction analysis
B) Mental shortcuts for decision-making
C) Long-term memory storage
D) Mathematical proof derivation
  • 23. Who introduced the concept of heuristics in the 1950s?
A) Gerd Gigerenzer
B) Daniel Kahneman
C) Herbert A. Simon
D) Amos Tversky
  • 24. What term describes the decision-making model introduced by Herbert A. Simon?
A) Ecological bias
B) Satisficing
C) The less-is-more effect
D) Rational choice theory
  • 25. What field did Herbert A. Simon found regarding decision environments?
A) Algorithmic engineering
B) Cognitive psychology
C) Bounded rationality
D) Behavioral economics
  • 26. What is the primary difference between formal and informal models of heuristics?
A) Formal models are not based on psychology
B) Informal models are based on mathematics
C) Formal models are more accurate than informal ones
D) Formal models use algorithms, while informal models use verbal descriptions
  • 27. The study of the match between heuristics and decision environments is known as?
A) Ecological rationality
B) Adaptive toolboxing
C) Satisficing engineering
D) Bounded psychology
  • 28. In the satisficing model, what happens if no alternative is found after time beta?
A) Increase the aspiration level
B) Select a random alternative
C) Decrease the aspiration level
D) Abandon the decision process
  • 29. Which heuristic is used when all alternatives are simultaneously available?
A) Fluency heuristic
B) Satisficing
C) Tallying
D) Elimination by aspects
  • 30. Which domain is mentioned as using satisficing for pricing cars?
A) Used BMW dealers
B) Business angels
C) Electricity contract providers
D) Real-estate entrepreneurs
  • 31. What is a key characteristic of the elimination-by-aspects model mentioned in the text?
A) It involves nonnumerical computations
B) It is a compensatory model that maximizes utility
C) It requires perfect information about all alternatives
D) It is based on complex mathematical formulas
  • 32. In the elimination-by-aspects example, what was the first attribute suggested for car buying?
A) Automatic transmission
B) Color of the vehicle
C) Fuel efficiency
D) Price limit
  • 33. What does the recognition heuristic predict when comparing two alternatives if only one is recognized?
A) No prediction can be made
B) Both alternatives have equal value
C) The unrecognized alternative has a higher value
D) The recognized alternative has a higher value
  • 34. How many exits would a full decision tree require for n binary cues?
A) 2n
B) n
C) n + 1
D) n squared
  • 35. Which test produces fewer false alarms in the HIV screening context?
A) Physical exam
B) ELISA
C) Initial blood count
D) Western blot
  • 36. Does the order of cues matter for the accuracy of a full decision tree?
A) Yes, it is critical
B) Only if costs are involved
C) Only if there are two cues
D) No
  • 37. What is an example of a profession found to use fast-and-frugal trees for decision making?
A) Computer programmers
B) Architects
C) London magistrates
D) Professional athletes
  • 38. If the second ELISA is negative in the HIV tree, what is the result?
A) The client is informed they have HIV
B) The procedure restarts
C) The procedure moves to a Western blot
D) The procedure stops
  • 39. Which heuristic discriminates between the importance of different cues?
A) Take-the-best
B) Tallying
C) Random choice
D) Weighted tallying
  • 40. If a choice has four aspects and an alternative wins in three of them, which heuristic would choose that alternative?
A) Both are equally likely to fail
B) None of the above
C) Take-the-best
D) Tallying
  • 41. What is the process of activating a concept, such as hostility or kindness, through word tasks called?
A) Priming
B) Anchoring
C) Conditioning
D) Availability
  • 42. What is ignored when people use the representativeness heuristic?
A) Base rates
B) Individual characteristics
C) Similarity to a prototype
D) Categorization rules
  • 43. What bias occurs when people wrongly assume a causal relationship because things resemble one another?
A) Representativeness bias
B) The prototype effect
C) The statistical probability bias
D) The base rate correction
  • 44. What does the text cite as an example of cause-and-effect bias related to representativeness?
A) Magical associative thinking
B) Mathematical logical reasoning
C) The use of base rates
D) The scientific method
  • 45. How did the ratings of likelihood compare to the ratings of similarity in the Tom W. study?
A) They matched almost perfectly
B) They were uncorrelated
C) They were completely opposite
D) Likelihood was always rated lower than similarity
  • 46. What is the name of the woman described in the classic Tversky and Kahneman experiment?
A) Mary
B) Linda
C) Sarah
D) Jane
  • 47. How was Bill described in the experiment conducted by Tversky and Kahneman?
A) Academic and stubborn
B) Intelligent but unimaginative
C) Creative and outgoing
D) Extroverted and logical
  • 48. What percentage of subjects found the illogical argument in the experiment more convincing than the logical one?
A) Seventy-five percent
B) Eighty percent
C) Fifty percent
D) Sixty-five percent
Created with That Quiz — where a math practice test is always one click away.