Cognitive psychology worksheet with answers

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

1. A3 ± 1
2. B12 ± 3
3. C7 ± 2
4. D20 ± 5

The representativeness heuristic means judging the probability of something by:

1. AHow much time or money you have already invested in it
2. BHow easily examples come to mind
3. CHow closely it resembles a typical example
4. DThe first number you were given

In cognitive psychology, a schema is:

1. AAn organised framework of knowledge about something
2. BA visual illusion caused by misleading depth cues in a scene
3. CA single item held in short-term memory
4. DA sudden loss of memory after brain injury

Kosslyn found that the time to mentally scan between two landmarks on an imagined map increased with their distance. This suggests that mental images:

1. AAre processed in the phonological loop
2. BPreserve spatial relationships of the real scene
3. CCannot be inspected once formed
4. DAre stored only as abstract verbal descriptions of the scene

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

1. AIconic memory
2. BThe central executive
3. CThe visuospatial sketchpad
4. DThe phonological loop

Which of these is an ill-defined problem?

1. AFinding the sum of two numbers
2. BDesigning a pleasant garden
3. CCompleting a Tower of Hanoi puzzle
4. DSolving an anagram

A patient with damage to primary visual cortex says he sees nothing in part of his visual field, yet points to objects there well above chance. This is called:

1. AInattentional blindness
2. BChange blindness
3. CProsopagnosia
4. DBlindsight

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. ADecay over time
2. BThe testing effect
3. CRetrieval-induced forgetting
4. DRetroactive interference from a new list