4 Barriers to Solving Problems Online Quiz Questions

True or false: Strong motivation guarantees that a person will solve a problem.

What cognitive capacity temporarily holds and manipulates information needed for an ongoing task?

True or false: Anxiety may make problem solving harder by drawing attention toward worry instead of relevant information.

In the candle problem, someone overlooks that the tack box could support the candle because they see it only as a container. Which action most directly addresses this barrier?

Select all the effects that the problem-solving material associates with environmental interruptions or distractions.

When progress feels difficult, what is the concise term for one smaller objective that helps make the next action clear and manageable?

A technician suspects a router is faulty but has not checked for a loose cable or a service outage. Which next step best counters confirmation bias?

A multi-step word problem overloads a learner's working memory. Select all the strategies that can reduce the amount of information the learner must hold mentally.

After an unsuccessful attempt, a learner concludes that the whole problem is impossible and feels ready to quit. Describe a practical way to respond that could help the learner continue or revise their approach.

True or false: A strategy that worked in the past may be easy to retrieve but harder to question when it stops working.

A person cannot prevent interruptions in their workspace and often loses track of a task when returning to it. Which action is most likely to help them resume?

A person trying to attach a candle to a wall treats a small box only as a container and does not consider using it as a platform. What cognitive barrier does this illustrate?

A technician suspects a router is faulty and checks only clues that support that suspicion, ignoring signs of a loose cable or a service outage. What bias is affecting the technician's investigation?

A student cannot move to a quieter place, but noise makes it difficult to keep track of progress on a multi-step task. Which response is most consistent with the recommended ways to work under an unchangeable setting?

A worker is interrupted during a demanding step and often loses track of where they were. What is the most useful action to take before pausing when possible?

A learner keeps losing quantities and intermediate results while solving a word problem with many conditions. Which approach most directly addresses the limited capacity of working memory?

A problem solver feels discouraged because progress is slow. Which plan best supports continued effort while still allowing the strategy to change?

A learner becomes anxious during a difficult task and spends more attention worrying than examining the available information. Which effect of anxiety best explains this difficulty?