Cognitive psychology worksheet with answers

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

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

The smallest unit of sound in a language that can change the meaning of a word is a:

1. APhoneme
2. BSyllable
3. CGrapheme
4. DMorpheme

A vivid, detailed memory of where you were when you heard shocking news is called a:

1. AFlashbulb memory
2. BScreen memory
3. CProcedural memory
4. DIconic memory

Students given a coffee mug ask for a much higher price to sell it than other students will pay to buy it. This is the:

1. ASunk cost fallacy
2. BAnchoring effect
3. CGambler's fallacy
4. DEndowment effect

In Duncker's candle problem, participants must fix a candle to a wall using a box of tacks and matches. The solution is hard to find because people:

1. ASee the box only as a container, not as a shelf
2. BSpend too long trying to melt wax with the matches
3. CAssume the tacks are too short to hold the candle
4. DDo not realise the candle has to be lit first

A friend walking away from you does not seem to shrink, even though their image on your retina gets smaller. This is called:

1. ALinear perspective
2. BSize constancy
3. CShape constancy
4. DFigure–ground organisation

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. ARetrograde amnesia only
2. BKorsakoff's syndrome
3. CWernicke's aphasia
4. DDissociative amnesia

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 80%
2. BAbout 15%
3. CAbout 41%
4. DAbout 68%