Cognitive psychology worksheet with answers

Selective attention is best illustrated by:

1. AFollowing one conversation at a noisy party
2. BRemembering a phone number for a few seconds
3. CRecognising a face you have seen before
4. DSolving an arithmetic problem

Who first measured the "forgetting curve" using nonsense syllables?

1. AUlric Neisser
2. BFrederic Bartlett
3. CEndel Tulving
4. DHermann Ebbinghaus

An algorithm, in the psychology of problem solving, is:

1. AA mental picture of how the problem looks
2. BA sudden flash of understanding about a problem
3. CA step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution
4. DA quick rule of thumb that usually works well enough

Which feature is typical of an automatic process, such as reading a familiar word?

1. AIt is easily disrupted by a second task
2. BIt can only be done slowly, one step at a time
3. CIt is fast and hard to stop once started
4. DIt needs a lot of conscious effort

After studying the words "bed, rest, tired, dream, snooze", many people falsely recall "sleep". This paradigm demonstrates:

1. ARapid decay of items in iconic memory
2. BNear-perfect recall of meaningful, related word lists
3. CThe word length effect in verbal memory
4. DFalse memories produced by related associations

The serial position effect predicts that items in a list are recalled best when they are:

1. ARandomly placed, whatever the length of the list
2. BAt the beginning and end of the list
3. CIn the middle of the list
4. DOnly at the beginning of the list

In Sperling's experiments, participants saw a 3 × 4 grid of letters briefly. When a tone signalled which row to report immediately afterwards, they could report most letters of that row. What did this show?

1. AIconic memory holds only about four letters, however they are tested
2. BBriefly seen letters are transferred into long-term memory at once
3. CMost of the display is briefly held but fades before it can all be reported
4. DHearing a warning tone improves visual perception of nearby letters in general

In prospect theory, losses typically feel:

1. AWeaker than gains of the same size
2. BStrong only when they are certain
3. CExactly as strong as gains of the same size, on average
4. DAbout twice as strong as gains of the same size