Cognitive psychology worksheet with answers

The Gestalt principle of proximity states that we tend to group together elements that are:

1. AMoving in the same direction
2. BClose to each other
3. CSimilar in colour
4. DForming a closed shape

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

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

Knowing the usual order of events when eating at a restaurant (being seated, ordering, eating, paying) is called a:

1. AScript
2. BPhoneme
3. CHeuristic
4. DPrototype

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. BCannot be inspected once formed
3. CAre stored only as abstract verbal descriptions of the scene
4. DPreserve spatial relationships of the real scene

In Cherry's dichotic listening studies, participants shadowing one ear usually noticed which change in the unattended ear?

1. AWords repeated several times
2. BA switch from English to German in the same voice
3. CA switch from a male to a female voice
4. DThe meaning of the words

In Shepard and Metzler's mental rotation task, the time to decide whether two 3D shapes are the same:

1. AIs the same whatever the angle of rotation is
2. BIncreases with the angle between the two shapes
3. CDecreases as the angle between them gets larger
4. DDepends mainly on how complex the shapes are

A patient with a long history of heavy alcohol use cannot form new memories and fills gaps with invented stories that he believes. This is typical of:

1. AWernicke's aphasia
2. BDissociative amnesia
3. CRetrograde amnesia only
4. DKorsakoff's syndrome

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