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Human Relations for Career & Personal Success, 11e (DuBrin)
Chapter 6 Problem Solving and Creativity
1) According to the technical definition of the term, you know you have a problem when
________.
A) you experience stress
B) there is a gap between what exists and what you want
C) you have to choose among alternatives
D) there are too many challenges facing you in one day
2) Emotional intelligence contributes to effective decision making because it ________.
A) focuses on increasing your creative output
B) takes the feelings out of decision making
C) allows you to vent your anger freely
D) helps you regulate your emotions to make a good decision
3) June relies on bringing up facts and emotional hunches at the same time. This is referred to as
________.
A) long forgotten information
B) traditional thinking
C) long-term memory
4) The flow experience occurs when someone ________.
A) is totally absorbed in his or her work
B) allows his or her concentration to wander
C) gets the creative juices flowing
D) is under heavy pressure
5) A notable consequence of perfectionism is that it often leads to a(n) ________.
A) sudden increase in satisfaction with the task
B) feelings of euphoria while solving a problem
C) delay in making decisions
D) lack of concern for details
6) With respect to problem solving, the need for risk taking and thrill seeking ________.
A) leads to procrastination
B) leads to perfectionism
C) is almost always a liability
7) Research suggests that an individual’s response to loss is ________.
A) about the same as response to gains
B) more intense than his or her response to gains
C) strongest when he or she is a consistent loser
D) strongest when he or she is a consistent winner
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8) You know that you have a problem when there is a gap between what you would like and
9) Formal education often inhibits problem solving and decision making because the person is
exposed to so many principles and facts.
10) High emotional intelligence is important because it helps managers and professionals keep
emotions out of decision making.
11) Intuition is based on expertise that stems from experience, and excludes feelings and
12) The flow experience occurs when the problem-solver allows his or her concentration to
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13) Barry purchases a cartridge refill franchise, mostly with borrowed money. His worst-case
scenario is likely to focus on what to do if he ________.
A) cannot find enough clerks to help run the store
B) runs short on refill ink
C) forgets to smile at customers
D) does not generate enough business to pay his bills
14) An exit strategy is most likely to be applied to the problem-solving and decision-making step
referred to as ________.
A) be aware of problem or opportunity
B) find creative alternatives
C) evaluate the choice
15) Asking “but-not” questions is a useful tool for identifying the cause of problems.
16) Pam is unhappy because her attempt at establishing an online jewelry business has failed.
The point of her using a worst-case scenario is to find a couple of people to blame for her failed
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17) Robin has an ability to know what information is relevant, to find connections between the
old and the new, to combine facts that are unrelated, and to see the “big picture.” Another way to
say this would be to say Robin has ________.
A) problem-solving paralysis
B) insight
C) a lack of concern for details
D) a strong personality
18) The accumulation of knowledge contributes to creativity because knowledge ________.
A) can be substituted for intuition
B) supplies the building blocks for generating and combining ideas
C) prevents too much mental flexibility
19) Laura is known to have a high degree of creative self-efficacy, so it would be a good idea for
her manager to assign Laura to a task requiring ________.
A) limited self-confidence in solving problems
B) limited cognitive skills
C) a standard solution
20) Intrinsic motivation contributes to creativity because it ________.
A) satisfies the need for recognition and other awards
B) helps the problem-solver conform to the right way of thinking
C) provides the facts needed for creativity
D) enables the problem-solver to be fascinated with the task
21) People are the most likely to be creative when they are motivated primarily by the ________.
A) potential financial reward for being creative
B) satisfaction and challenge of the work itself
C) fear of job loss for not being creative
D) opportunity to obtain recognition for the creative idea
22) The saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” emphasizes the contribution of ________
to creativity.
A) certain mental activities
B) ability
C) intrinsic motivation
D) environmental conditions
23) Alberto, a store-window decorator, is in a wonderful mood today, so we can anticipate that
he will be ________.
A) too ready to dismiss the importance of his work
B) at his creative worst
C) at his creative best
D) less creative than usual because he will be distracted
24) One reason that humor enhances workplace creativity is that humor ________.
A) helps prevent the attitude that work is serious business
B) will sometimes point to problems and a possible solution
C) helps compensate for low intelligence
D) helps block using old solutions to new problems
25) An important method for being creative is to carefully keep unrelated ideas separate to attain
26) Todd has a high degree of creative self-efficacy so he will minimize attempting to solve
27) Humor is a stimulant to creativity because it tends to get creative juices flowing.
28) A key contributor to being more creative is to be in a bad mood because when we are
29) A technology executive, referenced in the human relations text, contends that constraints
often enhance creativity because workers rise to the occasion.
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30) A recommended starting point in becoming a more creative problem solver is to ________.
A) take a nap to rest your mind
B) jump into a brainwriting session
C) make up a few good jokes related to your work
D) believe that you can be a creative problem solver
31) Jerry has become much more intellectually flexible since beginning his job with a jewelry
company, which is very helpful in his overcoming a fixed way of thinking. This is also referred
to as the ability to overcome ________.
A) intrinsic motivation
B) emotional intelligence
C) a traditional mental set
D) a job loss
32) Studies suggest that multicultural experiences often enhance creativity in all but in which one
of the following ways?
A) Giving us direct access to novel ideas
B) Helping restrict the range of ideas we accept
C) Helping us recognize that the same behavior might have different functions and implications
D) Shaking up thinking enough to help us engage in unconventional thinking
33) An effective way of enhancing creativity on the job is to ________.
A) seek feedback on your performance
B) avoid physical exercise during the working day
C) avoid the pressure that stems from placing an idea quota on yourself
D) ignore what others have to say about your job performance
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34) City planner Nadia is a morning-type person but today decides to engage in creative problem
solving at midnight. If she is successful it might be because ________.
A) the wine she probably drank will enhance her creativity
B) she can think more loosely and let in unusual thoughts
C) she can escape multicultural experiences
35) The lawyer role in the technique, “Play the roles of explorer, artist, judge, and lawyer”
involves ________.
A) collecting as much evidence as you can before offering a suggestion
B) judging whether an idea has merit
C) getting your creative idea implemented
36) A major component to any form of critical thinking is to ________.
A) accept the conclusions of experts
B) maintain an optimistic and cheerful outlook
C) accept the stated and unstated assumptions
37) Tanya wants to become an Olympic ice skater. She should therefore concentrate on
developing which one of the following multiple intelligences?
A) Bodily Kinesthetic
B) Spatial
C) Linguistic
D) Naturalist
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38) Abigail, a registered nurse, is correct when she states, “A major block to my creativity in
39) An important strategy for enhancing the outcome of brainstorming is to have intellectually
and culturally diverse group members.
40) Bert applies the technique of brainwriting correctly when he sends tweets to his followers to
obtain their input on a work problem he faces.
41) Establishing idea quotas for yourself often inhibits creativity because you might feel under
42) An analysis of many studies suggests that multicultural experiences enhance a person’s
ability to engage in creative problem solving.
43) Being a couch potato (someone who avoids physical exercise) is known to increase creativity
because the brain does not become oversupplied with oxygen.
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44) Carlos, a packaging design specialist, is likely to enhance his creativity when he seeks
45) Creative problem solving when not at your best often works because when you are fatigued,
the mind increases its filtering mechanisms thereby screening out ineffective ideas.
46) The artist role in being creative involves stretching your imagination and asking “what-if”
47) An important component of critical thinking is to exclude alternative arguments about the
problem at hand.
48) When people are in a high state of emotional arousal, their ability to think critically often
49) Jill wants to capitalize on the concept of multiple intelligences, so she should discipline her
mind to multiply her mental effort.
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50) Gus has excellent spatial intelligence, so he will probably take readily to 3-D (three-
dimensional) printing using a computer.