WGU D570 Cognitive Psychology Pre-Assessment

What is a primary concern of behaviorism, according to John Watson?

A. Determining how behavior is representative of the mind.

B. Identifying the relationship between environmental stimuli and behavior.

C. Understanding the influence of emotions on behavior.

D. Investigating how perceptions create positive or negative behaviors.

B. Identifying the relationship between environmental stimuli and behavior.

Behaviorism is a psychological theory stating that all behaviors are learned through interaction with the environment. It suggests that actions are shaped by external stimuli and conditioning—through associations, rewards, and punishments—rather than by internal thoughts or emotions.

What is measured by the paper folding test?

A. Verbal imagery.

B. Auditory imagery.

C. Spatial Imagery.

D. Object Imagery.

C. Spatial imagery.

Spatial imagery is the ability to imagine, remember, and mentally manipulate where objects are located in space. It is the "mind's eye" skill that helps you visualize distances, shapes, and directions.

Which concept supports the paired-associate learning studies?

A. Mental chronometry.

B. Conceptual peg hypothesis.

C. Visual imagery.

D. Object imagery.

B. Conceptual peg hypothesis.

Created by Allan Paivio, a cognitive theory stating that concrete, high-imagery words (e.g., "apple") serve as effective memory anchors, or "pegs".

Which component of Broadbent's flow diagram of the mind blocks unattended messages?

A. Input.

B. Filter.

C. Detector.

D. Memory.

B. Filter.

The filter is a selective mechanism that acts as an early gatekeeper. It prevents the brain's limited-capacity processing channel from getting overloaded.

What is mental imagery?

A. The ability to see objects that are no longer visible to other people.

B. The ability to recreate sensory information without physical stimuli.

C. The ability to predict what objects will be presented next in a set.

D. The ability to decide which sensory information to process first.

B. The ability to recreate sensory information without physical stimuli.

You can imagine an apple without seeing one physically.

Which evidence disproves Aristotle's assertion that "thought is impossible without an image"?

A. People who cannot visualize images are still capable of thinking.

B. People who cannot visualize actions struggle with consecutive thoughts.

C. People who cannot think abstractly can think better concretely.

D. People who cannot think concretely can think better abstractly.

A. People who cannot visualize images are still capable of thinking.

Which stage of Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory does an individual begin to understand mathematical reasoning?

A. Concrete Operational.

B. Sensorimotor.

C. Formal operational.

D. Preoperational.

A. Concrete Operational.

The third phase in psychologist Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development between the ages of 7 and 11. Children develop the ability to think logically and systematically, but only when dealing with tangible, physical ("concrete") objects and direct experiences.

Which term describes a child's tendency to fixate on just one aspect of a problem or object, according to Piaget?

A. Centration.

B. Frustration.

C. Cessation.

D. Arbitration.

A. Centration.

Think of concentration.

Which stage in Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development is represented by a child's ability to mentally represent objects and events with words and images?

A. Concrete Operational.

B. Sensorimotor.

C. Formal operational.

D. Preoperational.

D. Preoperational.

The second phase of cognitive development lasts from ages 2 to 7. Children in this stage develop language and imaginative play, but cannot yet perform mental operations or understand adult logic. Their thinking is intuitive, egocentric, and highly dominated by what they immediately perceive.

Which kind of intelligence reflects abilities drawn from experience?

A. Crystalized.

B. Inactive.

C. Fluid.

D. Active.

A. Crystalized.

The ability to use knowledge, facts, and skills acquired through a lifetime of education and experience. Often referred to as "book smarts" or "wisdom," it relies on long-term memory and tends to remain stable or even increase as people age.

What is a component of psychosocial development?

A. Memory.

B. Emotion.

C. Growth.

D. Personality.

D. Personality.

The unique, enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that distinguish one person from another.

Which mental framework is used in learning, according to Piaget?

A. Schemas.

B. Events.

C. Ideals.

D. Milestones.

A. Schemas.

A structured framework, blueprint, or mental model used to organize information.

Ex. Restaurant schema: When you walk into a restaurant, you expect to be seated by a host, given a menu, eat, pay, and leave.

A child reads the following incorrect sentence: "The car was traveling down the hills were beautiful."

Which cognitive process illustrates the garden path model of parsing?

A. The child begins to mentally picture a car moving along a road.

B. The child changes their mind from the subject being the car to the hills.

C. The child infers that the hills being beautiful are caused by the moving car.

D. The child assumes the car belongs to the family written about in a previous sentence.

B. The child changes their mind from the subject being the car to the hills.

Example: "The horse raced past the barn fell."

Initial parse: You assume "raced" is the main verb of the sentence.

The Trap: When you hit the word "fell," the sentence stops making sense.

Reanalysis: Your brain must backtrack and re-parse the sentence as "The horse (that was) raced past the barn fell."

A student reads these two sentences: A dog was running. It slipped and fell.

Which thought process is an example of an anaphoric inference?

A. The student can process the word "dog" quickly because it is so frequently seen.

B. The student is able to picture the dog falling and trying to get back up.

C. The student infers that the word "it" refers to the dog.

D. The student determines that the dog slipped and fell because it was running.

C. The student infers that the word "it" refers to the dog.

Anaphoric inference is the cognitive process of connecting pronouns or noun phrases back to a person, object, or concept mentioned earlier in a text.

A child reads the following incorrect sentence: "The car was traveling down the hills were beautiful."

Which cognitive process illustrates causal inference?

A. The child begins to mentally picture a car moving along a road as they read the rest of the sentence.

B. The child first thinks the sentence is about a car, but as each word is added, their understanding evolves.

C. The child infers that the hills being beautiful are caused by the motion of the moving car.

D. The child assumes the car belongs to a family that was written about in a sentence that came earlier in the paragraph.

C. The child infers that the hills being beautiful are caused by the motion of the moving car.

Causal inference is the process of determining the actual, independent effect of one variable on another.

Which method is used by psychologists to understand how common ground is established in a conversation?

A. The referential communication task.

B. The garden path model of parsing.

C. The constraint-based approach to parsing.

D. The given-new contract method.

A. The referential communication task.

A psychological and linguistic exercise used to evaluate a person's ability to describe an object, location, or action clearly enough for a listener to distinguish it from other similar items.

Which conversation between two students demonstrates the process of entrainment?

A. The students take opposite tones.

B. The students are arguing with each other.

C. The students talk about topics they both know and understand.

D. The students both start speaking loudly and gesturing.

D. The students both start speaking loudly and gesturing.

Entrainment: a spontaneous alignment of body language, speech patterns, and even brain activity during collaborative tasks.

Which property of words contributes to the word frequency effect?

A. The number of meanings a word can have.

B. The number of synonyms a word has.

C. How many times a word is used in a sentence.

D. How often a word is used within a language.

D. How often a word is used within a language.

The word frequency effect is a psychological phenomenon where people process, recognize, and recall frequently used words (e.g., "the", "car") much faster and more accurately than less common, obscure words (e.g., "strait", "zephyr").

Where is the cerebral cortex located in the brain?

A. In the center.

B. On the surface.

C. On the bottom.

D. In the brainstem.

B. On the surface.

The cerebral cortex is the brain's outermost layer of gray matter.

What is the electrical impulse fired down the axon of a neuron?

A. Neurotransmitter.

B. Synaptic gap.

C. Action potential.

D. Voxel.

C. Action potential.

An action potential is a rapid, temporary electrical impulse that travels down a neuron's axon. It allows nerve cells to communicate by carrying signals to other neurons, muscles, or glands.

Which part of a neuron transports an electrical signal?

A. Axon.

B. Synapse.

C. Dendrite.

D. Nucleus.

A. Axon.

An axon is a long, slender projection of a neuron (nerve cell) that conducts electrical impulses away from the cell body (soma) to other neurons, muscles, or glands. It acts as the primary transmission line of the nervous system.

While studying in a noisy coffee shop, a student is able to focus solely on their textbook, tuning out the surrounding conversations and background music.

Which cognitive phenomenon does this scenario illustrate?

A. Selective attention

B. Divided attention

C. Sustained attention

D. Distracted attention

A. Selective attention

The cognitive process of intentionally focusing on specific, relevant stimuli while simultaneously filtering out irrelevant or distracting information.

A person is enjoying a day at the beach. They hear children playing, see the ocean waves, feel the warm sun, taste the salty air, and smell sunscreen.

Which state of consciousness is this person experiencing?

A. Wakeful state

B. Asleep state

C. Hypnotized state

D. Daydream state

A. Wakeful state

Wakefulness is a daily recurring brain state and state of consciousness in which an individual is conscious and engages in coherent cognitive and behavioral responses to the external world.

How does rotating shift work affect consciousness?

A. It can affect a person's sleep regulation, leading to insomnia and fatigue.

B. It can reduce long-term memory, affecting a person's ability to remember.

C. It can shorten the time it takes to fall asleep, leading to more restorative sleep.

D. It can interrupt hormone production, reducing cognitive ability.

A. It can affect a person's sleep regulation, leading to insomnia and fatigue.

Rotating shift work is a schedule where employees cycle through different shift times—such as days, evenings, and nights—on a repeating basis, rather than working a fixed 9-to-5.

Which statement describes circadian rhythm in the sleep-wake cycle and consciousness?

A. Circadian rhythms primarily determine how long one sleeps.

B. Circadian rhythms regulate the sleep-wake cycle and impact alertness.

C. Circadian rhythms exclusively affect the sleep-wake cycle.

D. Circadian rhythms only influence dream content during the sleep-wake cycle.

B. Circadian rhythms regulate the sleep-wake cycle and impact alertness.

A circadian rhythm is your body's natural, internal 24-hour clock.

The sleep-wake cycle is a fundamental biological rhythm that dictates your daily pattern of approximately 16 hours of daytime wakefulness and 8 hours of nighttime sleep.

Which types of tasks have revealed cognitive deficits in people with a substance abuse disorder?

A. Attention seeking tests

B. Verbal matching puzzles

C. Spatial awareness puzzles

D. Working memory tests

D. Working memory tests

Individuals with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) struggle with working memory tests primarily because chronic drug and alcohol use alters the brain's executive control center and disrupts the delicate balance of chemicals—like dopamine and glutamate—required for active learning, attention, and mental manipulation.

Which test measures brain activity to determine a person's stage of sleep or consciousness?

A. Electroencephalogram (EEG)

B. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

C. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

D. Positron emission tomography (PET)

A. Electroencephalogram (EEG)

There are 2 E's in sleep and 2 E's in EEG.

What does the Stroop interference task use to demonstrate a slower reaction time?

A. By displaying familiar words in unusual fonts

B. By displaying unknown words in different colors

C. By displaying color words in different color fonts

D. By displaying the same words in different sizes

C. By displaying color words in different color fonts

The Stroop Interference Test (or Stroop Effect) is a cognitive psychology task that measures your brain's ability to inhibit automatic habits and process conflicting information. You are asked to name the ink color of a word, while ignoring the word itself (e.g., saying "Blue" when the word is "RED" written in blue font).

A kindergarten student is trying to solve a handheld maze. The student focuses on the last step of the maze, causing them to miss earlier steps.

What process describes why the student has a difficult time discovering the first step required to solve the maze?

A. Fixation causes the student to focus too much on the last part of the maze and to overlook important steps at the beginning.

B. Insight causes the student to become too focused on predicting the final steps for completing the maze.

C. Focus causes the student to concentrate on the end result instead of picturing the maze in their mind.

D. Restructuring of the maze path in the student's mind leads to the finding the wrong solution.

A. Fixation causes the student to focus too much on the last part of the maze and to overlook important steps at the beginning.

In psychology, fixation is an obsessive preoccupation with a person, concept, or an unresolved stage of development.

A teenager's car won't start because the battery is drained after leaving the headlights on overnight. He realizes he needs jumper cables after recalling a childhood memory of his parents jump-starting the family car after the battery died.

Which recognition and memory retrieval processes were involved in this problem-solving?

A. Fixating, checking, and assessing

B. Encoding, revising, and trading-off

C. Sourcing, analyzing, and target-recognizing

D. Noticing, mapping, and applying

D. Noticing, mapping, and applying

A mental map (or cognitive map) is a person's internal, personalized representation of their surroundings. It encompasses how we perceive, remember, and navigate physical environments (from a single room to the entire globe), and it is heavily influenced by personal experiences, culture, and subjective feelings.

New employees at a company typically quit within three months of being hired. The Human Resources Department has been tasked with finding a way to resolve the problem.

How can the Human Resources Department use Stage I of Basadur's process to help solve the problem?

A. They ask employees who quit to complete a questionnaire to determine reasons for leaving the company.

B. They select and evaluate ideas on ways to improve employee retention that were generated in a group brainstorming session.

C. They conduct a group brainstorming session to determine potential ways to retain employees.

D. They implement their selected employee retention plan.

A. They ask employees who quit to complete a questionnaire to determine reasons for leaving the company.

Basadur's Stages:

1. Problem Generation:

Problem Finding and Fact Finding.

2. Problem Formulation: Problem Definition and Idea Finding.

3. Problem Solving: Evaluation and Selection, and Planning.

4. Solution Implementation: Generating Engagement and Taking Action

Which example demonstrates the importance of how a problem statement is presented for effective problem solving?

A. A person reads a prompt for an essay question and notices that the teacher used certain language, which helped the person eliminate incorrect answers.

B. A person reads and rereads a passage for an essay question and notices information that was not in the main story and adopts it into their essay.

C. A person is unsure of how to proceed through a hedge maze and decides to first try the path they noticed other participants take and then try the path least taken.

D. A person does not understand the directions to complete a task and decides to complete the parts they can and skip the rest, knowing they will need to fix it later.

A. A person reads a prompt for an essay question and notices that the teacher used certain language, which helped the person eliminate incorrect answers.

How a problem statement is presented dramatically shapes our cognitive response, often determining whether we discover innovative solutions or get trapped in cognitive biases. It establishes the mental framework (or schema) we use to decode the challenge, dictating where we focus our mental energy.

A student started a new club for their school and is thinking of ways to increase participation.

Which scenario is based on the student's use of analogical transfer?

A. The student uses colorful flyers to advertise the club because they remember that this strategy previously led to increased school voting.

B. The student agrees to take all club members out for free ice cream if 10 new members sign up by the end of the month.

C. The student agrees to give potential new members a free t-shirt in exchange for their attendance at a club information session.

D. The student emails club information to potential members and includes an image of their school mascot to capture their attention.

A. The student uses colorful flyers to advertise the club because they remember that this strategy previously led to increased school voting.

Analogical transfer is the cognitive process of applying knowledge, problem-solving strategies, or skills learned in a familiar situation to a structurally similar, but novel, situation.

A musician is having a difficult time composing a new song. They spend a week camping alone in the mountains, completing the song while in the wilderness.

How can the musician's solitude contribute to this creativity and solve the problem?

A. The musician could avoid distractions and find space to think, allowing them to generate new ideas.

B. The musician could participate in focused attention meditation to avoid distractions, which leads to new ideas.

C. The musician could think of previous problems while alone to reduce distractions from the solution to their current problem.

D. The musician could avoid problems with functional fixedness while alone because it reduces distractions.

A. The musician could avoid distractions and find space to think, allowing them to generate new ideas.

Removing external distractions and social pressures, which allows your brain to shift into subconscious processing mode. This quiet mental state enables you to incubate ideas, form novel connections, and process information more deeply.

What is the relationship between open monitoring meditation and creativity?

A. Open monitoring meditation is associated with enhanced creativity because it causes greater activation of the default mode network.

B. Open monitoring meditation is associated with decreased creativity because it reduces activity in the default mode network.

C. Open monitoring meditation differentially affects creativity based on which region of the default mode network it activates.

D. Open monitoring meditation only affects creativity if the default mode network is activated before the meditation.

A. Open monitoring meditation is associated with enhanced creativity because it causes greater activation of the default mode network.

Open monitoring meditation (OMM) is a mindfulness technique where you observe your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations as they happen, without judging or reacting to them. Instead of focusing on a single anchor like your breath, you adopt a "witness" mentality, watching your mental experiences pass by like clouds in the sky.

A basketball coach is judging two potential players for recruitment and presumes that the taller athlete is more talented than the shorter one.

What thought process does the coach utilize?

A. A confirmation bias about height and performance

B. The backfire effect regarding height

C. A stereotype about height and performance

D. An illusory correlation related to performance

C. A stereotype about height and performance

A stereotype is a generalized and oversimplified belief about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviors of a group of people.

A first-year university student readily makes new friends with their engineering classmates. The student assumes that all engineers must be outgoing like their classmates.

How does this case demonstrate misuse of the representativeness heuristic?

A. The student shows a bias based on prior experiences and beliefs.

B. The student shows a bias involving a small sample of the population.

C. The student shows a bias that conforms to a personal hypothesis.

D. The student shows a bias regarding an event's probability.

B. The student shows a bias involving a small sample of the population.

The representativeness heuristic is a mental shortcut the brain uses to make quick judgments about probability or categorization. It works by comparing a new person, object, or situation to an existing mental prototype or stereotype to estimate how similar they are.

Some states apply rules such as, "If a citizen reaches the age of 16, then they may obtain a driver's license."

How does deductive reasoning govern such rules?

A. By applying permission schemas

B. By using the falsification principle

C. By validating relevant syllogisms

D. By understanding the utility theory

A. By applying permission schemas

A permission schema is a structured, reusable set of rules that defines user access, roles, and privileges within an application, database, or system. It abstracts authorization logic by assigning permissions to roles or groups rather than individual users, allowing for rapid and consistent access control.

Which conclusion is drawn from performance on conditional reasoning tasks, such as the Wason four-card problem?

A. Performance is generally poor when problems are stated in either abstract or real-world terms.

B. Performance is equally good when problems are stated in either abstract or real-world terms.

C. Performance improves when problems are stated in abstract terms.

D. Performance improves when problems are stated in real-world terms.

D. Performance improves when problems are stated in real-world terms.

The Wason Selection Task (or "four-card problem") is a famous logic puzzle used in psychology to study deductive reasoning and expose confirmation bias. It demonstrates how humans struggle to test rules by actively seeking out information that could falsify or disprove them.

Which person demonstrates inductive reasoning?

A. A dogwalker correctly identifies a dog's breed when they recognize the classic color and texture of the dog's fur.

B. A gardener observes some plants growing more rapidly in the sunlight than in the shade and concludes that all plants grow more efficiently in the sun.

C. A conspiracy theorist reads news only from sources that support their political viewpoints, which further confirms their beliefs that their beliefs are correct.

D. A person decides to drive to their vacation destination rather than fly after reading about a plane crash.

B. A gardener observes some plants growing more rapidly in the sunlight than in the shade and concludes that all plants grow more efficiently in the sun.

Inductive reasoning is a logical process where multiple specific observations are combined to draw a broader, generalized conclusion. Often called "bottom-up" reasoning, it is used to form theories and predictions when certainty isn't possible, as the conclusion is only probable rather than guaranteed.

How do intentions influence mirror neurons?

A. Intentions do not directly influence neurons, signifying that perception and mirror neurons are not necessarily linked.

B. The response of neurons is determined by the cognitive interpretation of how functional the tasks are.

C. The influence is not direct; mirror neurons cannot differentiate different types of intentions and contexts.

D. Mirror neurons address the cause of actions, and respond with varying degrees of activity based on intentions and context.

D. Mirror neurons address the cause of actions, and respond with varying degrees of activity based on intentions and context.

A mirror neuron is a brain cell that activates both when you perform an action and when you watch someone else perform that same action. Essentially, your brain "mirrors" the behavior of another person, allowing you to inherently understand their actions, intentions, and emotions.

A community construction project is proposed in two different ways to an environmentally conscious audience. Group A is told that only 20% of the trees will be torn down, while Group B is told that 80% of the trees will be saved.

Which statement accurately describes the groups' anticipated responses to the community project, based on the principles of the framing effect?

A. Both groups will consider the project equally regardless of appearance of loss and gain, since statistically the outcome is the same.

B. Neither group's response can be predicted because expected emotions and attitudes will vary.

C. Group B is more likely to favor the project since the focus is on retention and gain of 80% of the trees, rather than the 20% loss of trees.

D. Group A is more likely to favor the project since it poses a small overall risk and loss of 20% of the trees, rather than the 80% gain of trees.

C. Group B is more likely to favor the project since the focus is on retention and gain of 80% of the trees, rather than the 20% loss of trees.

The framing effect is a cognitive bias where people make different decisions based on how information is presented.

A student is in a study lounge watching a video for a class and can fully focus on the video despite people chatting in the background and a clock loudly ticking.

How does the student process different stimuli in order to focus on the desired task?

A. The student filters stimuli through the cocktail party effect.

B. The student blocks unwanted stimuli using attentional capture.

C. The student separates different stimuli through dichotic listening.

D. The student manages all stimuli using divided attention.

A. The student filters stimuli through the cocktail party effect.

The cocktail party effect is the brain's ability to focus your auditory attention on a single conversation while actively filtering out a noisy, chaotic background (e.g., listening to a friend at a crowded party). It is a classic example of selective attention.

A person plans to attend a reception later that night and needs to select an outfit for the event.

Which statement demonstrates an automatic decision for the person?

A. They quickly decide on an outfit they typically wear to events without being consciously aware that they selected it.

B. They have difficulty deciding what outfit to wear and later forget why they selected a particular outfit.

C. They quickly select an outfit they typically wear because it is the most appropriate for the event.

D. They have difficulty deciding what outfit to wear and later regret not selecting a different one.

A. They quickly decide on an outfit they typically wear to events without being consciously aware that they selected it.

Automatic decision psychology refers to the unconscious, effortless, and rapid mental processes that guide our choices. Also known as intuitive or System 1 thinking, it relies on instincts, past experiences, and mental shortcuts (heuristics) to make immediate judgments without deliberate reasoning.

How did Strayer and Johnston's research influence the study of attention?

A. By demonstrating that both attention and response time are negatively impacted by talking on a mobile device while driving.

B. By demonstrating that attention was negatively impacted by talking on a mobile device while driving, but response time was not.

C. By demonstrating that response time was negatively impacted by talking on a mobile device while driving, but attention was not.

D. By demonstrating that neither attention nor response time was negatively impacted by talking on a mobile device while driving.

A. By demonstrating that both attention and response time are negatively impacted by talking on a mobile device while driving.

Strayer and Johnston are renowned cognitive psychologists who studied attention, dual-tasking, and driver distraction. Their most famous collaborative research investigated how conversing on a cell phone impacts a person's ability to drive safely.

A researcher presents a video of a street intersection and asks that participants count how many people walked through the intersection. In the video, a limousine passes through the intersection.

Which example would demonstrate inattentional blindness?

A. Some participants lose count of the people because the limousine is an uncommon vehicle.

B. Some participants do not notice the limousine because they are focused on the people.

C. Some participants lose count of the people because the limousine moves in the opposite direction.

D. Some participants do not notice the limousine because they have no experience with one.

B. Some participants do not notice the limousine because they are focused on the people.

Inattentional blindness is a psychological phenomenon where you fail to notice an unexpected, clearly visible object or event in plain sight because your focus is heavily engaged elsewhere.

A hiker walks along a trail looking for a spot for a picture when an unseen snake hisses from the nearby woods.

Which statement is true regarding the hiker's ability to notice the snake?

A. They will not notice the snake's hiss because they are engaged in a low-load task.

B. They will notice the snake's hiss if they recognize it as a danger signal.

C. They will not notice the snake's hiss unless they can also see the snake.

D. They will notice the snake's hiss only if they have past encounters with snakes.

B. They will notice the snake's hiss if they recognize it as a danger signal.

This answer is rooted in cognitive psychology, specifically the concepts of attention and signal detection.

Why is binding important in attention?

A. Binding makes it possible to perceive a whole object rather than a collection of its parts.

B. Binding makes it possible to perceive the individual letters of a word as opposed to the word itself.

C. Binding makes it possible to perceive the visual qualities of an object to the exclusion of perceiving sound.

D. Binding makes it possible to perceive one thing visually to the exclusion of perceiving something else visually.

A. Binding makes it possible to perceive a whole object rather than a collection of its parts.

Binding is the process by which the brain combines distinct, separate features of a single object (like color, shape, and location) into a unified, coherent perception.

A traveler can attend to what the hotel's concierge says about lunch options based on how loudly they are speaking, while disregarding other verbal communications happening in the noisy lobby.

How is Broadbent's model of attention used in this scenario?

A. The traveler uses detection to determine the importance of the lunch options.

B. The traveler uses sensory memory to filter out the unimportant verbal stimuli.

C. The traveler uses short-term memory to filter out the extra noise in the lobby.

D. The traveler uses filtering to focus on the lunch options over the lobby noise.

D. The traveler uses filtering to focus on the lunch options over the lobby noise.

The processing of information in Broadbent's model moves through three primary stages:

Sensory Buffer: All incoming environmental stimuli (sounds, sights) enter the system simultaneously and are briefly held in a temporary store.

Selective Filter: The filter acts as a bottleneck. It examines the basic physical properties of the stimuli—such as pitch, volume, or color—and selects only one channel of information to pass through. The rest is filtered out to prevent overloading the system.

Limited-Capacity Channel (Detector): Information that makes it through the filter is processed for meaning and eventually enters conscious awareness.

Which example shows how sensory memory results in the persistence of vision when watching fireworks?

A. Long-term memories of the colors' iconic stimuli can be easily retrieved due to the vividness of the colors.

B. Fireworks appear as falling trails of light due to iconic memories lasting fractions of a second.

C. Echoic and iconic memories of the fireworks combine to create long-term memories of the experience.

D. Brief periods of darkness are ignored perceptually when watching rapidly flashed iconic stimuli.

B. Fireworks appear as falling trails of light due to iconic memories lasting fractions of a second.

Sensory memory is the initial, ultra-short stage of memory that briefly holds raw, highly detailed impressions of environmental information captured by your senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste).

Which explanation shows how multiple forms of memory would contribute to effective execution of a mental math problem?

A. Procedural memory used to clearly organize the math problem influences the efficiency of short-term memory and working memory used in problem-solving.

B. Episodic memories for math calculations facilitate both short-term memory capacity and working memory when solving the problem.

C. Information about how to solve the problem is transferred from sensory memory to aid both short-term memory and working memory when solving the problem.

D. Numbers are held in short-term memory and manipulations are conducted on the numbers in working memory when solving the math problem.

D. Numbers are held in short-term memory and manipulations are conducted on the numbers in working memory when solving the math problem.

Short-term memory is the brain's temporary storage system that holds a limited amount of information in active consciousness.

Working memory is your brain's "mental workspace." It is the cognitive system used to temporarily hold, process, and manipulate small amounts of information in your mind for short periods.

Which scenario exemplifies how the articulatory rehearsal process contributes to a student's short-term memory for course lecture material, according to Baddeley's model?

A. The student reads their notes aloud after each class to determine if they are missing any important information.

B. The student tests themselves on the material from their notes by mentally asking themselves questions.

C. The student repeats silently what their instructor has said before writing it down concisely on paper.

D. The student tries to write down on paper exactly what the instructor says in order to have a full set of notes.

C. The student repeats silently what their instructor has said before writing it down concisely on paper.

Baddeley's model of working memory is a cognitive framework proposed by Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch in 1974 to explain how the brain temporarily stores and manipulates information during complex tasks.

A person is trying to recall the names of a set of seven actors whose pictures were briefly presented upside down.

What explains how the episodic buffer enhances working memory in this scenario?

A. The episodic buffer mentally rotates the pictures of the actors in working memory.

B. The episodic buffer coordinates visual and phonological information related to the actors' faces and names in working memory.

C. The episodic buffer connects with long-term memory of the actors' faces and names, bringing content into working memory.

D. The episodic buffer allocates attention to various aspects of the task in working memory.

C. The episodic buffer connects with long-term memory of the actors' faces and names, bringing content into working memory.

An episodic buffer is a temporary storage component of working memory that integrates visual, spatial, and verbal information from different sources into a single, cohesive "episode".

How does activity-silent working memory help performance on mental rotation problems?

A. Imagining drawing the objects while solving mental rotation problems helps performance.

B. Continuous firing of neurons helps performance on mental rotation problems.

C. Visualizing fluid object movement while solving mental rotation problems helps performance.

D. Strengthening of connections between neurons helps performance on mental rotation problems.

D. Strengthening of connections between neurons helps performance on mental rotation problems.

Activity-silent working memory refers to the brain's ability to hold information in mind without relying on constant, sustained electrical firing of neurons.

How is the primacy effect related to attention for a set of words presented sequentially?

A. The first word presented is attended to in sensory memory.

B. The first word presented interferes with the person attending to other words.

C. The first word presented receives the person's full attention.

D. The first word presented draws attention away from the word presented last.

C. The first word presented receives the person's full attention.

The primacy effect is a cognitive bias where we remember and are more heavily influenced by the first pieces of information we encounter in a sequence.

Which example shows Westmacott and Moscovitch's concept of autobiographically significant semantic memories?

A. A person recalls the steps to a dance they learned in elementary school.

B. A person recalls the name of the actor that they saw in the airport years ago.

C. A person remembers the first time they stayed overnight at a friend's house.

D. A person remembers that there are pyramids in Egypt, which they learned in second grade.

B. A person recalls the name of the actor that they saw in the airport years ago.

Westmacott and Moscovitch's concept of autobiographically significant semantic memories refers to facts and knowledge about your life that are personally meaningful, even if you do not remember the exact event where you learned them.

Semantic memory = general knowledge and facts(Example: knowing your high school mascot, your childhood address, or your grandmother's favorite saying.)

Autobiographical memory = memories connected to your own life story.

A person went on a trip to the ocean.

Which example shows the concept of autobiographical memory as an integration of episodic and semantic memories for this scenario?

A. The person recalls how long it takes to drive to the ocean and how much it costs to park there.

B. The person shows a friend how to body surf and talks about how much they loved playing in the water.

C. The person remembers jumping in the waves and the outdoor temperature that day.

D. The person tells their friend how they felt while at the beach and relays their plan to return next year.

C. The person remembers jumping in the waves and the outdoor temperature that day.

Autobiographical memory is a hybrid mental system that fuses specific, sensory-rich event recollections with generalized, conceptual life facts. This integration is essential for constructing your personal identity, providing continuity across time, and guiding future behavior.

A person is studying a list of types of fish for a wildlife test that will occur in one week.

Which example illustrates the combined long-term memory encoding strategies of visual imagery and organization?

A. The person looks at pictures of each fish so that the information is held in the visuospatial sketch pad in working memory, to be manipulated by the central executive.

B. The person transfers procedural memories of themselves fishing into working memory and generates a list of fish that are unfamiliar.

C. The person imagines each fish on a tree structure corresponding to categories of fish types.

D. The person writes notes about each fish, with attention to variables such as color, length, and accessibility.

C. The person imagines each fish on a tree structure corresponding to categories of fish types.

Visual imagery and organization are potent cognitive strategies that convert information into durable, long-term memories. They leverage the brain's natural capacity to process vivid mental pictures and structured patterns, making abstract data easier to encode, store, and reliably recall.

How does the generation effect relate to attention in a paired-associate task?

A. Having participants associate each word to their own life experiences led to cognitive control by the central executive.

B. Having participants engage in word completion focused attention longer on each word pair, compared to shallow word processing.

C. Having participants group together similar items across the word pairs distributed attention across the set of stimuli used in the task.

D. Having participants develop visual images of each word pair interacting yielded more attention to the word pairs.

B. Having participants engage in word completion focused attention longer on each word pair, compared to shallow word processing.

The generation effect is a psychological phenomenon where information is significantly better remembered and recalled when you actively produce or generate it from your own mind, rather than passively reading or listening to it.

A paired-associate task is a classic psychological test of episodic memory and associative learning. Participants learn to pair stimulus items with specific response items—such as words, shapes, or locations—and are later tested on their ability to recall the corresponding pair when given a cue.

Which stimuli are remembered best in a long-term memory task according to Nairne's evolutionary theory of encoding?

A. Stimuli retained in visual memory after auditory interference

B. Stimuli judged as useful for providing protection

C. Stimuli related to one's own early formative life experiences

D. Stimuli studied earlier in a lifespan development course

B. Stimuli judged as useful for providing protection.

Nairne's adaptive memory theory posits that human memory systems evolved to prioritize the retention of fitness-relevant information. It suggests that our minds are specially tuned to encode and remember details tied to survival (e.g., finding food, avoiding predators), resulting in significantly better recall for information processed in survival contexts.

How do the standard consolidation model and multiple trace model differ for episodic memories (like a lake trip)?

A. Standard: memories start in prefrontal cortex; Multiple trace: start in parietal lobe.

B. Standard: LTP encodes memories; Multiple trace: thousands of synapses encode memories.

C. Standard: memories stored visually; Multiple trace: stored visually and auditorily.

D. Standard: hippocampus only helps early memory formation; Multiple trace: hippocampus stays involved long-term.

D. Standard: hippocampus only helps early memory formation; Multiple trace: hippocampus stays involved long-term.

The main difference between the two theories is the role of the hippocampus over time.

The standard model says the hippocampus only helps create and organize memories at first. Later, the memory becomes stored in the cortex and no longer needs the hippocampus.

The multiple trace model says the hippocampus is always involved when recalling detailed episodic memories, even very old ones.

A person is studying a list of names of pastries for their new job at a bakery.

Which example shows the interaction between the deep processing strategies of generation and self-reference?

A. The person draws their own organizational tree on paper, grouping the names of the pastries according to categories of pastry type.

B. The person visualizes each pastry, its name, and the location of each pastry in the display case.

C. The person photographs each pastry and its name in the display case and reviews them at home.

D. The person creates flashcards for the names of the pastries, pairing each with an estimate of how appetizing the pastry appears.

D. The person creates flashcards for the names of the pastries, pairing each with an estimate of how appetizing the pastry appears.

Generation and self-reference are two of the most robust deep processing strategies in cognitive psychology, and they interact synergistically to maximize long-term memory retention. Together, they transform information from abstract, easily forgotten concepts into highly personalized, actively constructed cognitive schema

What has research determined about the association between neutral language or profanity and enhanced memory?

A. Enhanced memories depend on subjective experiences not on if profanity or neutral language is used in those memories.

B. Repeated exposure to neutral words is just as memorable as single exposure to profanity.

C. Neutral words are more memorable than explicit words, since offensive words are not a priority for memory storage.

D. Arousing words that reference profanity or explicit content are more memorable than neutral words.

D. Arousing words that reference profanity or explicit content are more memorable than neutral words.

Research shows profanity can improve memory retention and emotional processing. While neutral language is better for structured recall, taboo words trigger the limbic system, causing increased emotional arousal that enhances attention and recall.

Which example demonstrates the constructive nature of memory?

A. A person forgets details of an event and fills in the gaps of the memory by adding new information and real-life experiences.

B. A person remembers an event but forgets its minor details to encode the important ones.

C. A person forgets an event and constructs a new memory about it through posts on social media.

D. A person remembers the details of an event only after watching a report about it on the news that evening.

A. A person forgets details of an event and fills in the gaps of the memory by adding new information and real-life experiences.

The constructive nature of memory is the psychological concept that our recollections are not passive, exact recordings of the past (like a video camera).

Which example demonstrates the Proust effect?

A. A person vividly recalls their first visit to the Grand Canyon due to how beautiful the view was.

B. A person smells freshly chopped wood and recalls a cabin vacation with their family.

C. A person sees a limited-edition vehicle on the freeway and recalls a friend who had the same car in the past.

D. A person walks past a skateboard shop and remembers receiving their first skateboard.

B. A person smells freshly chopped wood and recalls a cabin vacation with their family.

The Proustian effect (or Proust phenomenon) describes how sensory cues—particularly taste and smell—can spontaneously and vividly trigger deep, long-forgotten autobiographical memories and emotions.

Which significant findings did the "War of Ghosts" experiment demonstrate regarding the effect of repeated reproduction on recall?

A. Increased time passage had little effect on accurate recall of the stories, except for edits that reflected the participant's own culture.

B. Increased time passage led to fewer inaccuracies and omissions in recall of the stories, based on cultural context.

C. Increased time passage led to greater inaccuracies and omissions in recall of the stories based on cultural context.

D. Increased time passage had little effect on accurate recall of the stories and cultural details remained unchanged.

C. Increased time passage led to greater inaccuracies and omissions in recall of the stories based on cultural context.

The "War of the Ghosts" study is a foundational 1932 psychology experiment by Sir Frederic Bartlett. It demonstrated that human memory is not a perfect recording of events, but rather a "reconstructive" process heavily influenced by a person's cultural background, pre-existing knowledge, and expectations (known as schemas).

A person surprises themself in recalling the name of an artist most have not heard of.

Which process occurs when the person tries to remember how they learned that fact?

A. Source confusion

B. Source misattributions

C. Source mirroring

D. Source monitoring

D. Source monitoring

Source monitoring is the cognitive process of identifying the origin of our memories, knowledge, and beliefs.

Which factor affects the accuracy and reliability of eyewitness testimony?

A. Which factor affects the accuracy and reliability of eyewitness testimony?

B. Eyewitnesses may sensationalize information so they can get on the news.

C. Eyewitnesses may not see all aspects of a given incident.

D. Eyewitnesses may be unable to understand what they saw.

C. Eyewitnesses may not see all aspects of a given incident.

Eyewitness testimony is highly vulnerable to distortion because human memory is reconstructive rather than a fixed video recording. Key factors that affect its accuracy include anxiety/stress levels, leading questions, the weapon focus effect, and post-event information.

What did Nash and Wade's fake cheating video study show about false confessions?

A. People confessed after seeing fake video evidence, showing how suggestion and false evidence can create false confessions.

B. People denied cheating despite fake evidence, suggesting false confession concerns are overstated.

C. People confessed only after fake evidence and legal threats, showing confessions can be manipulated.

D. People confessed only if warned about the fake video first, showing the effect of suggestion tactics.

A. People confessed after seeing fake video evidence, showing how suggestion and false evidence can create false confessions.

The study showed that people can falsely confess when presented with convincing fake evidence, even if they did not actually do anything wrong. This demonstrates how suggestive questioning and manipulated evidence can influence memory and confessions.

Which example reflects the impact of the self-image hypothesis?

A. A person remembers the words to a popular song.

B. A person remembers where their childhood home is located.

C. A person remembers going shopping last week.

D. A person remembers graduating from law school.

D. A person remembers graduating from law school.

The self-image hypothesis in cognitive psychology explains why we remember certain periods of our lives better than others. It suggests that memory is enhanced during the time a person's self-image or core life identity is actively being formed.