Cognitive Psych quiz questions

Which part of the brain appears to be relatively spared in the aging adult? a. Hippocampus b. Parietal cortex c. Prefrontal cortex d. Brain stem

d. Brain Stem

________ is remembering to perform a planned activity in the future. a. Retrospective memory b. Anterograde memory c. Correlative memory d. Prospective memory

d. Prospective memory

Which of the following involves procedural memory? a. Knowing how it feels to be scared b. Recalling a childhood memory c. Knowing how an automobile engine works d. Reading a sentence in a book

d. Reading a sentence in a book

Which of the following psychologists is known for research on operant conditioning? a. Franciscus Donders b. Wilhelm Wundt c. John Watson d. B.F. Skinner

d. B.F. Skinner

A heuristic is a: a. "rule of thumb" that provides a best-guess solution to a problem. b. procedure that is guaranteed to solve a problem. c. series of rules that specify how d. we organize parts into wholes. short algorithm

a. "rule of thumb" that provides a best-guess solution to a problem.

Correlational studies suggest that _________ _________ improves working memory and executive functions and might stave off brain decline. a. Aerobic exercise b. Anaerobic exercise c. Stretching exercise d. Strength training

a. Aerobic exercise

How would you describe the relationship between elaborative rehearsal and maintenance rehearsal in terms of establishing long-term memories? a. Elaborative is more effective than maintenance. b.Maintenance is more effective than elaborative. c. Both are equally effective in all learning circumstances. d.Each one is sometimes more effective, depending on the learning circumstances.

a. Elaborative is more effective than maintenance

The primacy effect (from the serial position curve experiment) is associated with: a. LTM. b. STM. c. sensory memory. d. implicit memory.

a. LTM

When a double dissociation occurs, this indicates that two functions involve different mechanism. a. True b. False

a. True

The inability to assimilate or retain new knowledge is known as: a. anterograde amnesia. b. retrograde amnesia. c. the primacy effect. d. the serial effect.

a. anterograde amnesia

Wally and Sharon are out on a date. When Sharon asks Wally where they should go for dinner, Wally says "My coworkers keep telling me about that new Japanese place downtown, so it must be a great place to eat." Wally's response illustrates the use of a(n): a. availability heuristic. b.confirmation bias. c.conjunction rule. d.permission schema.

a. availability heuristic.

The sequence of steps that includes the image on the retina, changing the image into electrical signals, and neural processing is an example of _____ processing a. bottom-up b. top-down c. top-down d. both of these e. none of these

a. bottom-up

Controlled processing involves a. close attention. b. ease in performing parallel tasks. c. overlearning of tasks. d. few cognitive resources.

a. close attention

The branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of the mind is called: a. Cognitive Psychology b. Introspection c. Behaviorism d. Memory consolidation

a. cognitive psychology

Illusory conjunctions are: a. combinations of features from different stimuli. b. misidentified objects using the context of the scene. c. combinations of features from the masking field and the stimuli. d. features that are consistent across different stimuli.

a. combinations of features from different stimuli.

An experiment measures participants' performance in judging syllogisms. Two premises and a conclusion are presented as stimuli, and participants are asked to indicate (yes or no) if the conclusion logically follows from the premises. Error rates are then calculated for each syllogism. This experiment studies _____ reasoning. a. deductive b. intuitive c. falsification d. inductive

a. deductive

The ability to pay attention to, or carry out, two or more different tasks simultaneously is known as a. divided attention. b. dual attention. c. divergent tasking. d. selective attention.

a. divided attention

Divergent thinking is most closely associated with ____ problems. a. ill-defined b. well-defined c. source d. target

a. ill-defined

STM's capacity is best estimated as seven (plus or minus two): a. meaningful units. b. digits. c. words. d. sentences.

a. meaningful units

Some neurons respond when we watch someone else do something. These are known as: a. mirror neurons. b. afferent neurons. c. feature detectors. d. receptors.

a. mirror neurons

It is easier to perform two tasks at the same time if: a. one is handled by the sketch pad and one is handled by the phonological loop. b. both are handled by the sketch pad. c. both are handled by the phonological loop. d. both b and c are correct

a. one is handled by the sketch pad and one is handled by the phonological loop.

Utility refers to: a. outcomes that achieve a person's goals. b. how useful a reasoning process is. c. the validity of a syllogism. d. degree of risk aversion one has.

a. outcomes that achieve a person's goals.

Experiences resulting from stimulation of the senses and information from the senses that can help guide our actions are called: a. perception. b. sensation. c. Both of these d. None of these

a. perception

Gestalt psychologists consider problem solving as a process involving: a. restructuring. b. multiple goal states. c. sensory operators. d. continuity and form.

a. restructuring

The layer of neurons that lines the back of the eye is called the: a. retina. b. grandmother cell. c. reference electrode. d. feature detector.

a. retina

Information remains in sensory memory for: a. seconds or a fraction of a second. b. 15-30 seconds. c. 1-3 minutes. d. as long as it is rehearsed.

a. seconds or a fraction of a second.

If you remember something in terms of its meaning, the type of encoding you are using is: a. semantic. b. acoustic. c. visual. d. iconic.

a. semantic

The cocktail party effect is: a. the ability to pay attention to one message and ignore others, yet hear distinctive features of the unattended messages. b. the inability to pay attention to one message in the presence of competing messages. c. the diminished awareness of information in a crowd. d. the equal division of attention between competing messages.

a. the ability to pay attention to one message and ignore others, yet hear distinctive features of the unattended messages.

A syllogism is valid if: a. the conclusion follows logically from the two premises. b. the two premises and the conclusion are true. c. there is evidence to support the two premises. d. there is no more than one exception to the conclusion

a. the conclusion follows logically from the two premises.

The dramatic case of patient H.M. clearly illustrates that ____ is crucial for the formation of LTMs. a. the hippocampus b. synaptic consolidation. c. vitamin B1. d. deep processing.

a. the hippocampus

Gabrielle is blonde, extremely attractive, and lives in an expensive condo. If we judge the probability of Gabrielle's being a model quite high because she resembles our stereotype of a model, we are using: a. the representative heuristic. b. the availability heuristic. c. framing. d. the law of small numbers

a. the representative heuristic.

Memory enhancement due to repetition priming is a result of: a. the test stimulus being the same or resembling the priming stimulus. b. the test stimulus being different from the priming stimulus. c. the test stimulus being similar in meaning to the priming stimulus. d. the test stimulus being different in meaning from the priming stimulus.

a. the test stimulus being the same or resembling the priming stimulus.

Memory performance is enhanced if the type of task at encoding matches the type of task at retrieval. This is called: a. transfer-appropriate processing. b. episodic-based processing. c. elaborative rehearsal. d. personal semantic memory.

a. transfer-appropriate processing.

The effective duration of short-term memory, when rehearsal is prevented, is: a. a fraction of a second. b. 15-20 seconds. c. 1-3 minutes. d. 5-7 minutes

b. 15-20 seconds

The recognition-by-components approach proposes that there are a number of basic features such as horizontal lines and vertical lines. a. True b. False

b. False

The episodic buffer directly connects to which two components in Baddley's model of memory? a. The phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad b. The central executive and long-term memory c. The central executive and the phonological loop d. The phonological loop and long-term memory

b. The central executive and long-term memory

The ability to transfer experience from one problem solving situation to a similar problem is known as: a. analogical encoding. b. analogical transfer. c. insight. d. in vivo problem solving

b. analogical transfer.

The procedure in which trained participants describe their experiences and thought processes in response to stimuli presented under controlled conditions is known as: a. information processing b. analytic introspection. c. functional analysis d. behavioral analysis

b. analytic introspection

Attention, perception, memory, and decision making are all different types of mental processes in which the mind engages. These are known as different types of: a. models b. cognition c. reaction times d. savings

b. cognition

Results of precueing experiments show that participants respond more rapidly to a stimulus that appeared at the ____ location. a. fixated. b. cued c. rightmost. d. topmost

b. cued

Regarding children's language development, Noam Chomsky noted that children generate many sentences they have never heard before. From this, he concluded that language development is driven largely by: a. inborn programming. b. cultural influences. c.classical conditioning. d. operant conditioning

b. cultural influences

The idea that specific functions are processed in many parts of the brain is known as: a. localization of function. b. distributed processing. c. modularity. d. aphasia.

b. distributed processing

Hebb's idea of long-term potentiation, which provides a physiological mechanism for the long-term storage of memories, includes the idea of: a. an increase in the size of cell bodies of neurons. b. enhanced firing in the neurons. c. larger electrical impulses in the synapse. d. the growth of new dendrites in neurons.

b. enhanced firing in the neurons.

The _____ lobe of the cortex serves higher functions such as language, thought, and memory. a.subcortical b.frontal c.occipital d.parietal

b. frontal

Experts categorize problems based on: a. how similar the objects in the problem are. b. general principles that problems share. c. surface and deep structures. d. event-specific knowledge.

b. general principles that problems share.

Paul Broca's and Carl Wernicke's research provided early evidence for: a. distributed processing. b. localization of function c. prosopagnosia. d. neural net theory.

b. localization of function

The solution to the candle problem involves realizing that the: a. match box can be used as a container for tacks. b. match box can be used as a shelf. c. candle can be cut in half. d. candle can be oriented horizontally or diagonally

b. match box can be used as a shelf.

The main difference between early and late selection models of attention is that in late selection models, selection of stimuli for final processing doesn't occur until the information is analyzed for: a. modality. b. meaning. c. physical characteristics. d. location.

b. meaning

The process during which information is strengthened and transformed into a strong memory that is resistant to interference is known as: a. savings. b. memory consolidation.

b. memory consolidation

The story in the text about the balloons that were used to suspend a speaker in mid air was used to illustrate the role of _____ in memory. a. rehearsal b. organization c. depth of processing d. forming connections with other information

b. organization

The process by which small objects become perceptually grouped to form larger objects is: a. conjunction. b. perceptual organization. c.perceptual discriminability d. perceptual fusion.

b. perceptual organization

This multiple choice question is an example of a ____ test. a. recall b. recognition c. word-completion d. personal semantic memory

b. recognition

Older adults are likely to have difficulties with ________, which involves remembering where a piece of information was acquired. a. implicit memory b. source memory c. semantic memory d. flashbulb memory

b. source memory

Which part of the brain is most susceptible to aging? a. Hippocampus. b. Parietal cortex c. Prefrontal cortex d. Occipital cortex

c. Prefrontal cortex

Positron emission tomography (PET) utilizes which of the following tools? a. Disc electrode b. Microelectrode c. Radioactive tracer d. Hemoglobin

c. Radioactive tracer

_______ cues help us remember information that has been stored in memory. a. Retrograde b. Encoding c. Retrieval d. Processing

c. Retrieval

The founder of the first laboratory of scientific psychology was: a. Franciscus Donders. b. Hermann von c.Helmholtz. d. Wilhelm Wundt. e. Hermann Ebbinghaus.

c. Wilhem Wundt

Ill-defined problems are so named because it is difficult to specify _____ for the problems. a. analogies b. initial states c. a single correct answer d. schemas

c. a single correct

The misinformation effect occurs when a person's memory for an event is modified by misleading information presented: a. before the event. b. during the event. c. after the event. d. all of the above

c. after the event

The radiation problem was used in your text to illustrate the role of ____ in problem solving. a. means-end analysis b. functional fixedness c. analogy d. mental set

c. analogy

The field that studies how to make machines behave in ways that are intelligent if a human were so behaving is known as: a. cognitive psychology. b. behaviorism. c. artificial intelligence. d. flow diagramming.

c. artificial intelligence

The typical purpose of subgoals is to: a. solve insight problems. b. move the solver directly from the initial state to the goal state c. bring the problem solver closer and closer to the goal state. d. avoid the need to perform means-end analysis.

c. bring the problem solver closer and closer to the goal state.

The key structural components of neurons are: a. cell body, dendrites, and transmitters. b. axon, dendrites, and modules. c. cell body, dendrites, and axon. d. transmitters, dendrites, and axon.

c. cell body, dendrites, and axon.

The study of the physiological basis of cognition is known as: a. cognitive psychology. b. neuroscience. c. cognitive neuroscience. d. neuropsychology.

c. cognitive neuroscience

The field of _______________ is concerned with effects of aging on the brain and cognition. a. neuroscience of aging b. cognitive psychology of aging c. cognitive neuroscience of aging d. clinical psychology of aging

c. cognitive neuroscience of aging

According to the _____ approach to memory, what people report as memories is based on what actually happened plus additional factors such as other knowledge, experiences, and expectations: a. event-specific b. source c. constructive d. misinformation

c. constructive

Knowledge acquired through experience and education, and preserved in aging, constitutes: a. fluid intelligence. b. tertiary intelligence. c. crystallized intelligence. d. primary intelligence.

c. crystallized intelligence.

We are conscious of _____ memories. a. implicit b. procedural c. declarative d. all of the above

c. declarative

Two types of declarative memory are _____ and _____ memory. a.semantic; implicit b.implicit; episodic c. episodic; semantic d. procedural; episodic

c. episodic; semantic

Making probable conclusions based on evidence involves _____ reasoning. a. deductive b. syllogistic c. inductive d. connective

c. inductive

Recording from single neurons in the brain has shown that neurons responding to specific types of stimuli are often clustered in specific areas. These results support the idea of: a.cortical association. b.dissociation. c.localization of function. d. the information processing approach

c. localization of function.

According to your text, the behavioral approach to the study of the mind involves: a. measuring the relation between stimulation and brain processes. b. controlling behavior by presenting positive reinforcements. c.measuring the relation between stimuli and behavior. d. controlling behavior by presenting negative reinforcements.

c. measuring the relation between stimuli and behavior.

Speech segmentation is defined as: a. creating a sentence from a series of spoken words. b. ignoring the spaces between the spoken words of a sentence. c. organizing the sounds of speech into individual words d. recognizing a few words out of many when hearing a largely unfamiliar language

c. organizing the sounds of speech into individual words

Location-based attention is when: a. the enhancing effect of attention spreads throughout an object. b. attention is divided across two or more tasks simultaneously. c. people move their attention from one place to another. d.attention affects an entire object, even if it is occluded by other objects.

c. people move their attention from one place to another.

According to Treisman's feature integration theory, the first stage of perception is called the _____ stage. a. feature analysis. b. focused attention c. preattentive d. letter analysis

c. preattentive

The three structural components of the modal model of memory are: a. receptors, occipital lobe, temporal lobe. b. receptors, temporal lobe, frontal lobe. c. sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory. d. sensory memory, iconic memory, rehearsal.

c. sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory.

Perseveration represents difficulty in: a. automatic processing. b. performing a task repeatedly. c. shifting to a new behavior. d. organizing perceptual information coherently

c. shifting to a new behavior.

Research on the use of cell phones while driving indicates that: a. the negative effect can be decreased by using "hands-free" units. b. the problem with cell phones is that attention is distracted from the task of driving by the need to hold the phone and drive with one hand. c. the main effect of cell phone use on driving safety can be attributed to the fact that attention is used up by the cognitive task of talking on the phone. d. both a and b are correct

c. the main effect of cell phone use on driving safety can be attributed to the fact that attention is used up by the cognitive task of talking on the phone.

Research on eyewitness testimony reveals that: a. highly confident eyewitnesses are usually accurate. b. it is unnecessary to warn an eyewitness that a suspect may or may not be in a lineup. c. when viewing a lineup, an eyewitness's confidence in her choice of the suspect can be increased by an authority's confirmation of her choice, even when the choice is wrong. d. all of the above

c. when viewing a lineup, an eyewitness's confidence in her choice of the suspect can be increased by an authority's confirmation of her choice, even when the choice is wrong.

Working memory differs from short-term memory in that: a. short-term memory consists of a number of components. b. short-term memory has unlimited capacity. c. working memory is concerned with the manipulation of information. d. working memory has unlimited capacity.

c. working memory is concerned with the manipulation of information.

Consider the following argument: Observation: Here in Nashville, the sun has risen every morning. Conclusion: The sun is going to rise in Nashville tomorrow. a. The argument is weak because there is only one specific case. b. The argument is strong because the premise includes scientific evidence. c. The argument is weak because the observation does not consider other cities. d. The argument is strong because there are a large number of observations.

d. The argument is strong because there are a large number of observations.

Which of the following brain changes occur with normal aging? a. decrease in brain weight b. debranching of dendrites c. decline in neurotransmitter function d. all of the above

d. all of the above

Neuropsychological evidence indicates that STM and LTM probably: a. represent different aspects of the same mechanism. b. are caused by different mechanisms that depend upon each other. c. both rely most heavily on a semantic coding mechanism. d. are caused by different mechanisms that act independently.

d. are caused by different mechanisms that act independently.

Things that form patterns that are meaningful are likely to be grouped together according to the law of: a. simplicity. b. similarity. c. pragnanz. d. familiarity.

d. familiarity

Which of the following is preserved with aging? a. episodic memory b. prospective memory c. working memory d. implicit memory

d. implicit memory

From the behavior of H.M., who experienced memory problems after a brain operation, we can conclude that the hippocampus is important in: a. procedural memory. b. long-term memory storage. c. working memory. d. long-term memory acquisition.

d. long-term memory acquisition.

The posterior brain regions, such as the visual cortex, show relatively little ________ with aging. a. white matter b. intensity c. neuronal processing d. neuronal shrinkage

d. neuronal shrinkage

Research on monkeys has shown that the part of the brain most closely associated with working memory is the a. hippocampus. b. amygdala. c. occipital cortex. d. prefrontal cortex.

d. prefrontal cortex

Reaction time refers to the time between the ________ of a stimulus and a person's response to it. a. perception b. mental awareness c.disappearance d.presentation

d. presentation

The information processing approach describes problem solving as a process involving: a. design fixation. b. creative cognition. c.insight. d. search

d. search

When Sam listens to his girlfriend Susan in the restaurant and ignores other people's conversations, he is engaged in the process of ____ attention. a. low load b. divided c. cocktail party d. selective

d. selective

Which of the following is NOT an example of an implicit memory? a. Classical conditioning b. Priming c. Procedural memory d. Semantic memory

d. semantic memory

Charlene sees her boyfriend across campus and waves. Even though the image he projects on her retina from that distance is quite small, Charlene does not perceive him to have shrunk at all. Instead, she perceives him as far away because of: a. the light-from-above heuristic. b. algorithmic thinking c. experience-dependent plasticity d. size constancy

d. size constancy

The primary effect of chunking is to: a. maximize the recency effect. b.increase memory for items by grouping them together based on sound. c. develop a visual code to supplement a phonological code for the information. d. stretch the capacity of STM.

d. stretch the capacity of STM

According to your text, the key to solving the Wason four-card problem is: a. a mental model. b. a categorical syllogism. c. the law of large numbers. d. the falsification principle.

d. the falsification principle.

A synapse is: a. a tube filled with fluid that conducts electrical signals. b. the structure that contains mechanisms to keep a neuron alive. c. the structure that receives electrical signals from other neurons. d. the space between neurons.

d. the space between neurons.

Insight refers to: a. prior learning facilitating problem solving. b. prior learning hindering problem solving. c. the tendency to respond in a certain manner, based on past experience. d. the sudden realization of a problem's solution.

d. the sudden realization of a problem's solution.

Asking people to recall the most influential events that happened during their college careers show that ____ in people's lives appear to be particularly memorable. a. peer-group experiences b. academic challenges c. the sophomore year d. transition points

d. transition points

The temporal lobe is: a. the first place in the cerebral b.cortex where visual information is received. c.important for language, memory, hearing, and vision. important for higher functions such as language, thought, and memory, as well as motor functioning. d.where signals are received from the auditory system.

d. where signals are received from the auditory system.

Inductive reasoning involves: a. definite conclusions. b.logical certainty. c. factual premises. d.observational premises.

d.observational premises.