Animal Trainers' Expectations May Have Led Them to Interpret Some

question 508

Multiple Choice

Animal trainers' expectations may have led them to interpret some chimpanzees' signs as indicative of greater linguistic ability than is warranted. This best illustrates the shortcoming of

• A) an algorithm.
• B) a critical period.
• C) a perceptual set.
• D) linguistic determinism.

---

Definitions:

Availability Heuristic

The availability heuristic is a cognitive bias that relies on immediate examples that come to mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method, or decision.

Representativeness Heuristic

A cognitive shortcut that people use to classify something as belonging to a certain category based on how similar it is to a typical case from that category.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.

Cognitive Shortcuts

Mental strategies or heuristics that simplify decision making by reducing the amount of processing required to come to conclusions.