A Group of Participants Has Just Completed a Series of Problems

question 3

Multiple Choice

A group of participants has just completed a series of problems involving water jars. In each problem, the participants needed to fill the largest jar, pour from it once into the middle-sized jar, and then pour from the largest jar twice into the smallest jar. The participants are now given a new problem, which cannot be solved via this procedure. We would expect that the participants will

• A) quickly solve the new problem because they have had practice with a series of very similar problems.
• B) have difficulty with the new problem because they are now locked into the procedure they used successfully.
• C) behave just as participants who have no experience with water jar problems; that is, there will be no effect of the prior training.
• D) try their already practiced procedure and, once they realize this procedure does not help them, they will show no effect of the prior training.

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Definitions:

Producer Surplus

The discrepancy between the amount sellers are prepared to take for a product or service and the actual payment they get.

Consumer Surplus

The difference between the maximum price a consumer is willing to pay for a good or service and the actual market price they pay.

Demand Curve

A graph showing the relationship between the price of a good and the quantity demanded by consumers, typically downward sloping.

Marginal Cost

The rise in overall expenses associated with the production of an extra unit of a good or service.