Visual Imagery

1. What is mental imagery, and why is it of interest to cognitive psychologists?
2. Summarize the “imagery debate.”
   a. What is it?
   b. What have Kosslyn’s (early, behavioral) experiments contributed to this debate? Describe the methods he used.
   c. What has neuroscience contributed to this debate?
   d. What are the current conclusions from the imagery debate?
3. How can visual imagery be used to improve memory? What are the limitations of these techniques?
4. Describe the differences between “spatial imagery” and “object imagery.”

Chapter 11: Language

1. How is language different from other forms of communication?
2. Name and define the four domains of psycholinguistics:
   a.
   b.
   c.
   d.
3. Consider the word chairs.
   a. How many phonemes does it have?
   b. How many morphemes does it have?
   c. Is it a high-frequency word or is it a low-frequency word? Explain.
4. Describe each of the following theories of language acquisition:
   a. Behaviorist:
   b. Nativist:
   c. Interactionist:
5. Explain how top-down and bottom-up processing both contribute to understanding:
   a. Spoken language
   b. Written language
6. What are the two approaches to how we parse sentences? In what way(s) do they differ? What is the evidence for each?
   a.
   b.
7. Define the three types of inferences people make to create coherence in stories and give an example of each.
   a.
   b.
   c.
8. When having a conversation, what steps can the speaker take to improve the listener’s understanding?

Chapter 12: Problem-Solving

1. Describe the Gestalt approach to problem solving.
2. Create an example of a problem space. What is the problem you are trying to solve?
   a. Initial state:
   b. Goal state:
   c. Operators:
   d. Path constraints:
   e. Solution:
3. Regarding analogical problem solving:
   a. What must the reasoner do to be successful?
   b. What factors make success more or less likely?
4. Why do experts outperform novices in problem-solving?
5. Generate an example of a creative solution to a problem. Break down the process of arriving at that solution according to Basadur’s (2000) four stages of creative thought.

Chapter 13: Judgment, Decisions, & Reasoning

1. Define:
   a. Reasoning
   b. Deciding
   c. Premise
   d. Syllogism
2. In what way does each of the following contribute to the strength of an inductive argument?
   a. Representativeness of observations
   b. Number of observations
   c. Quality of evidence
3. Choose three potential sources of errors in judgments from Table 13.2 (p. 403). Generate an example scenario illustrating each source.
   a.
   b.
   c.
4. What is the difference between inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning?
5. Create an example of a Wason four card task that could be solved by invoking a permission schema.
6. Why do people often make non-optimal decisions?
7. Describe the dual-systems approach to thinking.