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

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

  1. AMotor memory
  2. BImplicit memory
  3. CSensory memory
  4. DExplicit memory
2.Easy

Selective attention is best illustrated by:

  1. ARecognising a face you have seen before
  2. BRemembering a phone number for a few seconds
  3. CSolving an arithmetic problem
  4. DFollowing one conversation at a noisy party
3.Easy

Continuing to invest in a failing project because of the money already spent is called the:

  1. AFraming effect
  2. BGambler's fallacy
  3. CSunk cost fallacy
  4. DAvailability heuristic
4.Medium

Repeating "the, the, the" aloud while learning a word list impairs recall because it:

  1. AErases information already in long-term memory
  2. BPrevents the eyes from reading the words
  3. CBlocks rehearsal in the phonological loop
  4. DOverloads the visuospatial sketchpad
5.Medium

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

  1. AIncreases with the angle between the two shapes
  2. BDecreases as the angle between them gets larger
  3. CIs the same whatever the angle of rotation is
  4. DDepends mainly on how complex the shapes are
6.Medium

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

  1. ACounting backwards made the trigrams easier to remember
  2. BRecall stayed almost perfect even after 18 seconds of counting
  3. COnly the first letter of each trigram tended to be forgotten
  4. DRecall fell sharply within about 18 seconds without rehearsal
7.Hard

Change blindness experiments show that people often:

  1. ASee changes only in colour, not in shape
  2. BNotice every small change in their visual field
  3. CFail to notice large changes in a scene when the change happens during a brief interruption
  4. DAre better at spotting changes in faces than in objects in all cases
8.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 15%
  2. BAbout 80%
  3. CAbout 41%
  4. DAbout 68%

Answer key

  1. 1. D · Explicit memory
  2. 2. D · Following one conversation at a noisy party
  3. 3. C · Sunk cost fallacy
  4. 4. C · Blocks rehearsal in the phonological loop
  5. 5. A · Increases with the angle between the two shapes
  6. 6. D · Recall fell sharply within about 18 seconds without rehearsal
  7. 7. C · Fail to notice large changes in a scene when the change happens during a brief interruption
  8. 8. C · About 41%

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