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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1.Easy

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

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

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

  1. A12 ± 3
  2. B3 ± 1
  3. C20 ± 5
  4. D7 ± 2
3.Easy

Repeating a phone number over and over to keep it in mind is called:

  1. AConsolidation
  2. BMaintenance rehearsal
  3. CChunking
  4. DElaborative rehearsal
4.Medium

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

  1. AAnalogical reasoning
  2. BInductive reasoning
  3. CDeductive reasoning
  4. DThe availability heuristic
5.Medium

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

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

People recall more words from a list of short words (e.g. "cat, sun") than from a list of long words. The usual explanation is that:

  1. AShort words are held in iconic memory as well as acoustically
  2. BLong words cause retroactive interference with earlier items
  3. CLong words are processed more deeply and so crowd each other out
  4. DShort words take less time to rehearse in the phonological loop
7.Hard

In a city, 85% of cabs are green and 15% are blue. A witness who is correct 80% of the time says the cab in an accident was blue. What is the probability it really was blue?

  1. AAbout 41%
  2. BAbout 68%
  3. CAbout 15%
  4. DAbout 80%
8.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. AHis improvement came from rehearsal in short-term memory
  2. BMirror drawing depends mainly on the hippocampus
  3. CSkills can be learned without remembering the practice
  4. DH.M. was only pretending not to remember the sessions

Answer key

  1. 1. B · A step-by-step procedure that guarantees a solution
  2. 2. D · 7 ± 2
  3. 3. B · Maintenance rehearsal
  4. 4. C · Deductive reasoning
  5. 5. A · It is fast and hard to stop once started
  6. 6. D · Short words take less time to rehearse in the phonological loop
  7. 7. A · About 41%
  8. 8. C · Skills can be learned without remembering the practice

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