Chapter 1 The Science of the Mind Cartes

Which of the following is a way in which cognitive psychology is different from physics?

A) Physicists test their theories using the scientific method and cognitive psychologists do not.

B) Cognitive psychologists must consider the way in which participants interpret their study.

C) Psychology does not allow for direct observation of the causes of phenomena like in physics.

D) Physics bases its theories on objective, quantifiable data and cognitive psychology does not.

B) Cognitive psychologists must consider the way in which participants interpret their study.

Which of the following claims about the cognitive revolution is true?

A) It ended in the 1970s.

B) Its methods and tools spread to many other areas of psychology.

C) It focused on the importance of introspection as a methodology.

D) It relies entirely on the metaphor of the computer.

B) Its methods and tools spread to many other areas of psychology.

Edward Tolman's research findings with rats in mazes...

A) supported behaviorists' definition of learning as a change in behavior.

B) showed that rats only learn the layout of a maze when they are consistently rewarded for doing so.

C) showed that learning involves the acquisition of knowledge.

D) showed that human learning was fundamentally different from rat learning.

C) showed that learning involves the acquisition of knowledge.

Cognitive psychology researchers use which of the following?

A) a diverse set of methodologies for collecting data

B) a common theoretical approach

C) a narrow range of methodologies across topics

D) a common underlying logic and a uniform methodology

A) a diverse set of methodologies for collecting data

Donald Broadbent used the language of __________ to describe important aspects of human cognition, including how we direct our __________.

A) introspection; unconscious thoughts

B) behaviorism; learning

C) optics; visual systems

D) computer science; attention

D) computer science; attention

The statements "Please pass the salt" and "Gee, this food really needs some salt" are both likely to produce the same salt-passing response at the dinner table. This illustrates that...

A) learned associations between stimuli and responses require that the stimulus be exactly the same every time.

B) the meaning of an utterance, not the physical stimulus, is most important for predicting behavior.

C) introspection is an essential component to understanding human cognition.

D) language is a highly reflexive behavior that requires fast and automatic responses.

B) the meaning of an utterance, not the physical stimulus, is most important for predicting behavior.

A researcher says she belongs to the same school of thought as Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener. Based on this, she likely believes that the best way to study thoughts is to...

A) have every person freely introspect about his or her own thoughts.

B) have only highly trained and qualified people introspect about their own thoughts.

C) use the behaviors that people produce as a basis for inferring their thoughts.

D) use simple animal models as a basis for theorizing about cognition in humans.

B) have only highly trained and qualified people introspect about their own thoughts.

Which of the following behaviors is most difficult to explain from a behaviorist perspective?

A) Your response to a stimulus is dependent on how you interpret that stimulus.

B) You are very likely to respond differently to a novel stimulus than to a familiar one.

C) Once you have learned that a particular response is rewarded, you are likely to repeat that response.

D) Often someone's responses are different from what the person had said initially that he or she planned or hoped to do.

A) Your response to a stimulus is dependent on how you interpret that stimulus.

A psychologist who adheres to the behaviorist perspective would most likely attribute someone reaching for a slice of pie as a result of

A) an interaction between memory and desire.

B) a learned behavior in response to specific environmental triggers.

C) a chemical imbalance produced by a deficit in nutrients.

D) inadequate maternal supervision and love during infancy.

B) a learned behavior in response to specific environmental triggers.

How do cognitive psychologists use speed to assess behavior?

A) They measure small differences in response times to gain insight into the mental processing that is necessary for those behaviors.

B) They frequently use the speed of the response to select subjects for research.

C) Speed of response is the primary way in which cognitive psychologists differentiate between individuals.

D) Cognitive psychologists almost never use speed of response to assess behavior.

A) They measure small differences in response times to gain insight into the mental processing that is necessary for those behaviors.

What is the most precise explanation for why most of cognitive psychology relies on inferential methods?

A) Language processing requires the ability to draw inferences.

B) It is hard to know why the behavior of a particular individual changes.

C) Psychology is an inaccurate science.

D) Psychology often demands hypotheses about processes that cannot be observed directly in order to explain the capacities and the behaviors that we can observe.

D) Psychology often demands hypotheses about processes that cannot be observed directly in order to explain the capacities and the behaviors that we can observe.

Who wrote a strong critique of behaviorism in the 1950s?

A) B. F. Skinner

B) Immanuel Kant

C) John B. Watson

D) Noam Chomsky

D) Noam Chomsky

Researchers in cognitive psychology rely on all of the following forms of data EXCEPT...

A) measurements of how long someone needs to make a response.

B) the exact types of errors people make.

C) which conditions lead to greater accuracy and which lead to poor accuracy.

D) anecdotes, dreams, and testimonials.

D) anecdotes, dreams, and testimonials.

Modern psychologists follow the lead of Immanuel Kant in arguing that the solution to the impasse between introspectionism and behaviorism lies in a method in which we begin with __________ in order to draw conclusions about __________.

A) animal models; human models

B) internal causes; likely behavioral outcomes

C) observable facts; likely internal causes

D) the computer as a metaphor; the human mind

C) observable facts; likely internal causes

When reading a story about a child shaking a piggy bank because he or she wants to buy something, we understand the reasons for this action because...

A) the story teaches us how piggy banks work.

B) the story already presents all the necessary information.

C) we have read a nearly identical story before.

D) we fill in additional background knowledge based on our own experience.

D) we fill in additional background knowledge based on our own experience.

Which of the following concerns remains a problem for the study of psychology despite adopting a cognitive approach?

A) The study of psychology involves entities (like beliefs or desires) that cannot be directly observed.

B) Many mental processes are unconscious.

C) Many mental processes unfold so rapidly that it is difficult to observe them.

D) A hypothesis might actually be incorrect, but the data that would disconfirm it has not yet been collected and so a new hypothesis is not formed.

D) A hypothesis might actually be incorrect, but the data that would disconfirm it has not yet been collected and so a new hypothesis is not formed.

The famous psychologist Edward Titchener claimed to have identified and catalogued nearly 10,000 sensations that he observed within himself. What method best describes his approach?

A) introspection

B) behaviorism

C) Gestalt psychology

D) transcendentalism

A) introspection

All of the following are problems exclusive to introspection as a research technique EXCEPT...

A) some thoughts are not available to the conscious mind.

B) many introspective claims cannot be tested in a rigorous fashion.

C) how people react to a stimulus is heavily influenced by past experience and interpretation.

D) thoughts and feelings cannot be meaningfully compared across individuals.

C) how people react to a stimulus is heavily influenced by past experience and interpretation.

Gestalt psychologists argued which of the following?

A) People who have been trained in introspection can provide objective explanations of their own behavior.

B) All behavior can be explained in terms of stimulus and response.

C) The perceiver is of central importance in organizing his or her own experience.

D) The human brain works like a computer.

C) The perceiver is of central importance in organizing his or her own experience.

H.M. was an important case from the field of...

A) cognitive neuroscience.

B) social psychology.

C) clinical neuropsychology.

D) developmental psychology.

C) clinical neuropsychology.

Cognitive psychology is primarily concerned with which of the following?

A) the relationship between environmental input and behavior

B) the understanding and treatment of mental disorders

C) what we know, what we remember, and how we think

D) the physical structures of the mind

C) what we know, what we remember, and how we think

Martin is trying to understand why he has been forgetting things lately. As a well-trained cognitive psychologist, Martin is likely to investigate this puzzle by...

A) examining the circumstances of his memory failures (e.g., Was the material difficult? Was he paying attention during learning?).

B) focusing only on recent stimuli, including rewards or punishments he has received.

C) focusing only on the experience of trying to remember and of succeeding or failing.

D) relying on friends' anecdotes about when they remember or forget things.

A) examining the circumstances of his memory failures (e.g., Was the material difficult? Was he paying attention during learning?).

Frederick Bartlett contributed which of the following to the field of cognitive psychology?

A) the computer as a metaphor

B) important work on the organization of rat brains

C) the idea of a "schema," which is a mental framework that can influence perception, understanding, and memory

D) the key tool of measuring response time

C) the idea of a "schema," which is a mental framework that can influence perception, understanding, and memory

Which of the following is the LEAST accurate statement about behaviorism?

A) Behaviorism rejected introspection on the grounds that objectivity is of paramount importance in science.

B) Behaviorism is primarily designed to explain why organisms believe their behavior is justified or reasonable.

C) Behaviorism can track an individual's learning by observing how the response to a stimulus changes over time.

D) Behaviorism claims that behaviors are often best explained by the presence or absence of reinforcement or punishment.

B) Behaviorism is primarily designed to explain why organisms believe their behavior is justified or reasonable.

If a patient were to suffer amnesia similar to the amnesia suffered by H.M., which of the following would pose a particular problem?

A) recalling the name of childhood pets

B) accessing the background knowledge necessary to understand simple stories

C) navigating streets he or she knew well before having the brain surgery

D) remembering leaving the hospital after undergoing the brain surgery

D) remembering leaving the hospital after undergoing the brain surgery