I need answer the given questions in a 250-word response minimum. Try your best to reference the text I will message you privately for how to access the text book.

1. Some psychologists have argued that the factors that seem to promote good performance on one type of thinking task also seem to help on others. Among these factors are remaining open-minded, exploring unusual possibilities, questioning the first conclusion you come to, trying to avoid bias, and trying to find new and fresh approaches. How do you think that this concept may play out in some day-to-day examples in your own life?

2. Consider factors that hinder people's reasoning. In what ways are these factors present for other kinds of thinking and problem-solving tasks? (Hint: Review Chapter 10.) What does your answer imply about the relationship between thinking and reasoning?

3. What cautions must be given in interpreting findings on gender differences (or for that matter, any group-related individual differences) in cognition?

4. Schooling appears to help cognitive performance, especially on tasks such as formal reasoning. Yet schooling and literacy are distinct factors that appear to affect cognitive performance differently. Describe one or two of the differences and speculate on reasons for the difference(s).

5. Consider the following choice. I will give you a free $5 bill, no strings attached. Optionally, I will allow you to flip a coin: heads you win $10, tails you win nothing. Do you want the $5, or do you want to flip the coin? What does expected value theory tell you that you should do? Does this accurately represent your feeling about the decision?

6. When trying to solve a problem, you might have been instructed to "stop thinking about it and come back to it later." Based on what you have learned this week about impasses, do you think this is good advice? Why or why not?

I need participate (respond) to the classmates answers with notable and educational input. (250 word minimum Reponses)

1. Kelly: Hello classmates and facilitator. In my opinion it can be a good thing to take a break, but it can also be a bad thing. The good thing is that it keeps you from going into information overload where you take in so much and your memory just cannot handle on this information at one time. It needs a break for 5 or 10 minutes in order to function properly. On the other hand, when you take a break from studying it is important not to take too much of a break. You take the chance on forgetting what you are studying and when you go back to study you feel completely lost and have no clue what you are reading about. This is a tricky question because either way you lose and you win. I think it is best that if you need a break only take a very short break and maybe stretch your muscles and then get right back to studying. This way you do not lose the information you have already read and it is still fresh in your mind. Classmates what do you think about taking breaks from studying?

2. Scott:I think when we use day to day cognition we have a tendency to group information into concepts and prototypes, which then can lean towards biased thinking and prejudiced decisions. So to have an open mind, exploring unusual possibilities,avoiding bias, etc. is naturally hard for us when thinking about tasks and solving problems, because we have become so accustomed to clumping things together and basing things off our experiences. To take on these positive cognitive attributes takes a bit of re training your brain and dismissing biased thoughts that control whether or not a task is true or not.

The main way I have seen my walls come down when it comes to taking on these positive traits is actually by attending college. To attend college and do well, first of all you have to drop what you "think you know" and open your mind to outside information. You also quite a bit of diversity in college, so there are many outlooks from many types of people, all that can contribute to your knowledge and help shape a more well rounded view of the world. And the biggest skill that pertains to questioning the first conclusion, and trying fresh approaches is the use of critical thinking. Before coming to a hasty and heuristic conclusion about a task or problem, one should practice weighing out the possibilities, considering other input other than your own, and playing a problem out in your mind with many different scenarios creates a great tool for well grounded thinking. This could be from coming up with a strategy to balance your finances and avoid needless spending, to having a well thought debate on who to vote for in the presidential race.