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.

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Name: ____________________   Date: ____________

1.Easy

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

  1. AEndel Tulving
  2. BFrederic Bartlett
  3. CUlric Neisser
  4. DHermann Ebbinghaus
2.Easy

Declarative memory, which can be consciously recalled and put into words, is also called:

  1. AMotor memory
  2. BExplicit memory
  3. CImplicit memory
  4. DSensory memory
3.Easy

The representativeness heuristic means judging the probability of something by:

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

According to the levels-of-processing approach, which task leads to the best recall of words?

  1. ADeciding whether each word fits into a sentence
  2. BDeciding whether each word rhymes with "cat"
  3. CDeciding whether each word is in capital letters
  4. DCounting the letters in each word
5.Medium

In the Brown–Peterson task, participants count backwards by threes after seeing a trigram such as "KTR". The main finding was that:

  1. ARecall stayed almost perfect even after 18 seconds of counting
  2. BCounting backwards made the trigrams easier to remember
  3. CRecall fell sharply within about 18 seconds without rehearsal
  4. DOnly the first letter of each trigram tended to be forgotten
6.Medium

"All mammals breathe air. Whales are mammals. Therefore whales breathe air." This is an example of:

  1. AAnalogical reasoning
  2. BDeductive reasoning
  3. CThe availability heuristic
  4. DInductive reasoning
7.Hard

H.M. practised mirror drawing over several days. His performance improved steadily, yet each day he said he had never done the task before. What does this show?

  1. AMirror drawing depends mainly on the hippocampus
  2. BH.M. was only pretending not to remember the sessions
  3. CSkills can be learned without remembering the practice
  4. DHis improvement came from rehearsal in short-term memory
8.Hard

Which concept describes better recall when study sessions are spread out over time rather than crammed?

  1. AThe testing effect
  2. BThe spacing effect
  3. CThe generation effect
  4. DThe von Restorff effect

Answer key

  1. 1. D · Hermann Ebbinghaus
  2. 2. B · Explicit memory
  3. 3. B · How closely it resembles a typical example
  4. 4. A · Deciding whether each word fits into a sentence
  5. 5. C · Recall fell sharply within about 18 seconds without rehearsal
  6. 6. B · Deductive reasoning
  7. 7. C · Skills can be learned without remembering the practice
  8. 8. B · The spacing effect

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