Cognitive psychology worksheet with answers

Functional fixedness is the tendency to:

1. ASolve every problem with the same algorithm
2. BSee an object only in terms of its usual use
3. CRemember objects better than words
4. DForget the purpose of an object after a delay

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

1. AHermann Ebbinghaus
2. BFrederic Bartlett
3. CEndel Tulving
4. DUlric Neisser

In categorisation research, a prototype is:

1. AThe first example of a category that a child learns in early life
2. BA strict list of features every member must have
3. CA rare and unusual member of a category
4. DThe most typical member or average example of a category

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. AAssume the tacks are too short to hold the candle
2. BDo not realise the candle has to be lit first
3. CSee the box only as a container, not as a shelf
4. DSpend too long trying to melt wax with the matches

In dual-process theory, which task most clearly requires System 2 thinking?

1. AWorking out 17 × 24 in your head
2. BReading a large familiar word on a road sign
3. CNoticing that a sound is loud
4. DRecognising a friend's face

Which working memory component is most heavily used when you switch between two tasks and decide what to focus on?

1. AThe phonological loop
2. BIconic memory
3. CThe visuospatial sketchpad
4. DThe central executive

Readers stumble on "The horse raced past the barn fell" before understanding it. What does this show about sentence processing?

1. AShort sentences are always harder than long ones
2. BPeople wait until the end of a sentence before interpreting it
3. CPeople build an interpretation word by word and must revise it when it fails
4. DGrammar plays no role in understanding

Clive Wearing developed severe amnesia after a brain infection and cannot remember events from moment to moment, yet he can still play the piano and conduct music. This shows that:

1. AProcedural memory can survive severe loss of episodic memory
2. BEpisodic memory is needed to perform any skill
3. CAll long-term memory depends on a single system
4. DMusical skills are stored in short-term memory