Cognitive psychology worksheet with answers

Functional fixedness is the tendency to:

1. ARemember objects better than words
2. BSolve every problem with the same algorithm
3. CForget the purpose of an object after a delay
4. DSee an object only in terms of its usual use

Forgetting because new information interferes with remembering old information is called:

1. ARepression
2. BRetroactive interference
3. CProactive interference
4. DDecay

About how many items can a person hold in short-term memory, according to George Miller's classic estimate?

1. A20 ± 5
2. B7 ± 2
3. C3 ± 1
4. D12 ± 3

Which working memory component is most heavily used when you switch between two tasks and decide what to focus on?

1. AThe visuospatial sketchpad
2. BThe phonological loop
3. CThe central executive
4. DIconic memory

In January you keep writing last year's date on forms. This is an example of:

1. AEncoding failure
2. BRetroactive interference
3. CAnterograde amnesia
4. DProactive interference

In Collins and Quillian's hierarchical network model, why does "A canary is an animal" take longer to verify than "A canary is a bird"?

1. A"Animal" is a longer and less frequent word than "bird"
2. BThe sentence contains more letters to read
3. CMore levels must be travelled to reach "animal"
4. DCanaries are rated as untypical members of "animal"

Morris, Bransford and Franks found that words processed for rhyme were better recognised in a rhyming test than words processed for meaning. This challenges levels of processing because:

1. AMeaning cannot be processed during learning
2. BShallow processing is always better than deep processing
3. CMemory depends on the match between encoding and test, not only on depth
4. DRhyming words are stored in iconic memory

Participants practise retrieving some items from a studied category (e.g. "fruit – orange"). Later, unpractised items from the same category (e.g. "fruit – banana") are recalled worse than items from unpractised categories. This is:

1. AThe testing effect
2. BRetroactive interference from a new list
3. CRetrieval-induced forgetting
4. DDecay over time