Cognitive psychology worksheet with answers

Free printable Cognitive psychology worksheet: 8 problems from easy to exam level, with an answer key. Print it or save it as a PDF.

New worksheetPractise online with hints

For teachers: free to print, copy and use in class. Every new worksheet has new values and its own answer key. A link to ExamProblems on your course page is appreciated.

Name: ____________________   Date: ____________

1.Easy

Selective attention is best illustrated by:

  1. ARemembering a phone number for a few seconds
  2. BFollowing one conversation at a noisy party
  3. CSolving an arithmetic problem
  4. DRecognising a face you have seen before
2.Easy

Trying to perform two tasks at the same time, such as texting while listening to a lecture, involves:

  1. ADivided attention
  2. BIconic memory
  3. CSelective attention
  4. DSustained attention
3.Easy

Remembering what you did at your tenth birthday party relies mainly on:

  1. AIconic memory
  2. BSemantic memory
  3. CEpisodic memory
  4. DProcedural memory
4.Medium

Which of these is an ill-defined problem?

  1. ACompleting a Tower of Hanoi puzzle
  2. BSolving an anagram
  3. CDesigning a pleasant garden
  4. DFinding the sum of two numbers
5.Medium

Encoding specificity means that recall is best when:

  1. ALearning happens just before sleep only
  2. BThe context at retrieval matches the context at learning
  3. CInformation is learned in one long session
  4. DThe material is learned in a noisy room
6.Medium

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. ACannot be inspected once formed
  2. BAre processed in the phonological loop
  3. CAre stored only as abstract verbal descriptions of the scene
  4. DPreserve spatial relationships of the real scene
7.Hard

Gick and Holyoak gave participants a story about an army attacking a fortress from many sides, then Duncker's radiation problem. What did they find?

  1. AFew used the analogy until told the story might help
  2. BThe story made the radiation problem harder to solve
  3. CNobody could solve the radiation problem, even with a hint
  4. DAlmost everyone used the analogy without needing any hint
8.Hard

Countries where people are organ donors unless they opt out have far higher donor rates than countries where people must opt in. This is best explained by:

  1. ABelief bias in moral reasoning about donation
  2. BThe availability heuristic
  3. CThe sunk cost fallacy
  4. DThe default effect and status quo bias

Answer key

  1. 1. B · Following one conversation at a noisy party
  2. 2. A · Divided attention
  3. 3. C · Episodic memory
  4. 4. C · Designing a pleasant garden
  5. 5. B · The context at retrieval matches the context at learning
  6. 6. D · Preserve spatial relationships of the real scene
  7. 7. A · Few used the analogy until told the story might help
  8. 8. D · The default effect and status quo bias

Full step-by-step solutions: practise this topic on examproblems.com.