1. Describe some of the heuristics and biases people use while making judgments or reaching decisions.

2. What are the two logical arguments and the two logical fallacies associated with conditional reasoning, as in the Wason Selection Task?

3. Which of the various approaches to conditional reasoning seems best to explain the available data? Give reasons for your answer.

4. Some cognitive psychologists question the merits of studying logical formalisms, such as linear or categorical syllogisms. What do you think can be gained by studying how people reason in regard to syllogisms?

5. Using the information in this chapter, design a way to help high school students more effectively apply deductive reasoning to the problems they face.

6. Design a question, such as the ones used by Kahneman and Tversky, which requires people to estimate subjective probabilities of two different events. Indi- cate the fallacies that you may expect to influence people's estimates or explain why you think people would give realistic estimates of probability.

7. Suppose that you need to rent an apartment. How would you go about finding one that most effectively meets your requirements and your preferences? How closely does your method resemble the methods described by subjective expected utility theory, by satisficing, or by elimination by aspects?

8. Give two examples showing how you use rule-based reasoning and associative reasoning in your everyday experiences. In what kinds of instances do you believe each type of reasoning works better, or not as well?

Cognitive Psychology Robert Sternberg

Chapter 12