Psychology Past Paper PDF

How does proactive interference differ from retroactive interference? SHOW ANSWER Proactive interference accelerates forgetting of only short-term memory. Proactive interference accelerates forgetting of only implicit memory. Proactive interference accelerates forgetting of what you learned earl...

How does proactive interference differ from retroactive interference? SHOW ANSWER Proactive interference accelerates forgetting of only short-term memory. Proactive interference accelerates forgetting of only implicit memory. Proactive interference accelerates forgetting of what you learned earlier. Proactive interference accelerates forgetting of what you learn later. Which of the following is an explanation for the recency effect in list learning? SHOW ANSWER The formation of new neurons consolidates the final item on a list. Hindsight bias does not impair the last item on a list. Proactive interference does not impair the last item on a list. Retroactive interference does not impair the last item on a list. What is true of most memories that people spontaneously recall after not remembering them in years? SHOW ANSWER These memories evoke intense emotions. These memories include little detail. These memories are almost always fantasies. These memories show up first in the person's dreams. Which of the following has been a heated controversy among psychologists? SHOW ANSWER Is it better to study all at once, or to spread out the study sessions? How reliably can clinicians get someone to recover a lost memory? How important is interference as a basis of forgetting? Which types of memory does hippocampal damage impair? Which of these was least impaired in H.M. and similar patients? SHOW ANSWER Formation of new long-term memories Episodic memory Procedural memory Ability to imagine future events Which of the following is most characteristic of people with Korsakoff's syndrome? SHOW ANSWER Retrograde amnesia without anterograde amnesia Loss of implicit memory Confabulations Inability to recognize faces Immaturity of the hippocampus could impair memory formation. Why is this fact, at best, an incomplete explanation for infant amnesia? SHOW ANSWER The rate of hippocampal maturation varies among species of animals. The rate of hippocampal maturation varies among children. Preschool children do form long-term memories. Infant amnesia applies mostly to procedural memories. Studies on mice support which explanation for this infantile amnesia? SHOW ANSWER Early memories are emotionally traumatic. Hearing and vision develop gradually after birth. Infants have not yet formed a sense of self. New neurons facilitate new learning but also facilitate forgetting. Which method of testing memory can detect the weakest memories? SHOW ANSWER Free recall Cued recall Recognition Savings How does procedural memory differ from declarative memory? SHOW ANSWER It extinguishes rapidly. It develops despite long CS--UCS intervals. It forms mainly during an early sensitive period. It develops gradually. Without realizing it, you start using some of the same words that you read recently. What type of memory is this? SHOW ANSWER Procedural Semantic Episodic Implicit When police ask a witness to identify a suspect from a lineup, what do psychologists recommend? SHOW ANSWER Use an array of suspects varying widely in their appearance. Offer encouragement if someone identifies the person that the police suspect. Ask for percent confidence answers instead of yes/no answers. Encourage the witness to identify someone, even if none seem exactly right. If you see a display of numbers for a split second, why can you name only about 4 or 5 of them? SHOW ANSWER In that time, you see only that much. Short-term memory has a limited capacity. Your sensory store fades within a second. Your attention wanders. Which of the following is an example of a semantic memory? SHOW ANSWER "The numbers I just saw on the screen were 4, 9, 7, and 1." "Yesterday morning was hot and dry." "Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychological laboratory." "The last novel I read was Left Hand of Darkness." What is a possible explanation for believing false reports you read several times on the Internet? SHOW ANSWER Source amnesia Sensory store Procedural memory Executive functioning On average, how long does information remain in short-term memory? SHOW ANSWER Less than 1 second Whatever time is necessary to consolidate it into long-term memory Less than 20 seconds unless it is rehearsed Seven seconds, plus or minus two How does emotional arousal affect memory, if at all? SHOW ANSWER It improves storage. It interferes with storage. It interferes with consolidation. It has no effect. You remember words best if you think about them in what way? SHOW ANSWER How you could use the items in a survival situation What stores sell each item What was the first time you saw each item What was the most recent time you saw each item What is meant by "depth of processing" in memory? SHOW ANSWER How strongly it affects the unconscious mind The number of times you have repeated something The location of synaptic connections in the brain The number and variety of associations Of the following, which is the best strategy for studying? SHOW ANSWER Do all your studying in the same location, such as one place in the library. Study at separated times, in varying situations, and often test yourself. Make a recording and listen to it while you sleep. Repeat each word or concept until you can repeat it. What is the result of testing yourself on what you are trying to learn? SHOW ANSWER It wastes time that you could better spend by repeated reading. By increasing frustration, it impairs learning and memory. On average, it has no effect on strength of memory. By forcing you to recall something, testing improves memory. What happens when you try to describe something that you do not remember perfectly? SHOW ANSWER You fill in the gaps with reasonable guesses. Your account becomes more confusing and less coherent. You describe mainly the most unusual or unlikely details. You describe only what you saw and not what you heard. Children who fail to display "theory of mind" seem to assume that if they know something, everyone else would know it too. Which of the following phenomena is similar to that assumption? SHOW ANSWER Encoding specificity principle Hypermnesia Hindsight bias Depth-of-processing principle Review Questions The phenomenon of choice blindness led to which of these conclusions? SHOW ANSWER People usually choose the option that seems to be the most popular. After people have made a decision, they ignore evidence against it. The reasons people give for their actions are often made up afterward. People make most of their decisions at random. Preattentive or bottom-up processes lead you to pay attention to what? SHOW ANSWER Objects in the periphery of a display The prototypes of a concept Inanimate objects Anything that is unusual When is mind-wandering most likely? SHOW ANSWER When someone is bored At the start of a long, simple project After some time on a demanding project About every 15 minutes What does the Stroop effect demonstrate? SHOW ANSWER Most of our decisions are based on unconscious motives. Any unusual item captures attention automatically. It is hard to suppress a habitual way of responding. We fail to detect visual changes that occur slowly or during a change of scene. Do stimulant drugs aid academic performance for people without ADHD? SHOW ANSWER Yes, about as much as they do for those with ADHD. Yes, but only for mathematics and related fields. Yes, but with a substantial probability of causing drug addiction. Slightly at most. The apparent benefits are a placebo effect. Priming a concept is responsible for which of the following? SHOW ANSWER Change blindness The Stroop effect The stop-signal task Spreading activation Which of the following is a likely result from developing expertise in a field? SHOW ANSWER Heavy reliance on the confirmation bias Using both algorithms and heuristics for every type of problem Frequently recognizing the correct answer by Type 1 processing Carefully considering each answer by Type 2 processing When is it best to use a heuristic instead of an algorithm? SHOW ANSWER When considering every possible choice would take too long When it is important to find the best possible answer When dealing with an unusual problem When you feel discouraged and powerless "Buyer's regret"---doubting that you made the right decision---is most likely under what circumstance? SHOW ANSWER Decisions based on heuristics Decisions based on algorithms Decisions made by maximizers Decisions made by satisficers What is meant by "base rate" information? SHOW ANSWER The frequency of some event under normal circumstances The ease of thinking of examples of some event The difference between results of heuristics and algorithms The number of choices available in a certain situation If you expect that violent behavior is more likely on nights of a full moon, and therefore you look for cases that fit, and remember those cases more than cases that don't fit, your behavior illustrates which two of the tendencies discussed in this chapter? SHOW ANSWER Confirmation bias and the availability heuristic Confirmation bias and the representativeness heuristic The framing effect and functional fixedness The framing effect and the sunk cost effect When are people most likely to show overconfidence? SHOW ANSWER When answering the most difficult questions When answering the easiest questions When they are aware of the base-rate information When they use an algorithm to choose their answer People will buy meat that claims "90 percent fat free," but not one that says "contains 10 percent fat." This observation is an example of which of the following? SHOW ANSWER Overconfidence Framing effect Sunk cost effect Inappropriate use of the availability heuristic When are people most likely to believe in conspiracy theories? SHOW ANSWER When they experience a change in status, such as a promotion When they feel isolated from like-minded people When their cherished values seem to be threatened When they feel more confident than usual Which of the following is essential for developing expertise? SHOW ANSWER Prolonged practice with feedback Practicing working memory on tasks unrelated to the field of expertise Intensive practice beginning in adulthood Imagining yourself as a success As people develop expertise in a skill such as chess, what improves? SHOW ANSWER Ability to recognize common patterns The ratio of excitatory to inhibitory transmission The accuracy of vision, hearing, and other senses Overall memory and intelligence What are the effects of working daily crossword puzzles? SHOW ANSWER Increases in overall intelligence Improvement in working memory Faster neural transmission in the cerebral cortex Improvement on crossword puzzles, but not much else What do the observations on Williams syndrome tell us about language?? SHOW ANSWER The two brain hemispheres contribute to language in different ways. Language learning is easiest in early childhood and gradually declines. Language is not a byproduct of overall intelligence. Positive reinforcement is essential for language learning. Someone with Wernicke's aphasia shows impairments most strongly with regard to which aspect of language? SHOW ANSWER Speech fluency Use of prepositions, word endings, and other grammatical devices Speech comprehension Emotional intonation of speech At what age do people begin to use rules of grammar? SHOW ANSWER Very early, even at ages 2 or 3 When they start school After a few years of school As teenagers What happens if a deaf child is prevented from learning sign language in childhood? SHOW ANSWER The child becomes more likely to learn lip reading. The child begins babbling more and more. The child will probably never develop good language of any type. The child will have no trouble learning sign language later in life. How does the brain of a bilingual person represent language? SHOW ANSWER One language in the left hemisphere and the other in the right hemisphere. Both languages in the left hemisphere. Both languages in both hemispheres. Either both in the left hemisphere or both in both, depending on the age of becoming bilingual. Suppose one sound in a word is engineered to sound halfway between d and t, or halfway between s and sh. What do you hear? SHOW ANSWER You hear both sounds. You hear whichever sound is more common in your language. You hear the sound that makes more sense in context, unless the context is delayed. You hear the sound that makes more sense in context, even if the context is delayed. What is meant by the "word-superiority effect"? SHOW ANSWER Children learn to read better by the whole word method than by phonics. Familiar words activate more of the brain than less familiar words. It is easier to recognize a letter when it is part of a familiar word. People make faster saccades to words than to nonsensical strings of letters. Which of the following would be a likely way to increase reading speed? SHOW ANSWER Decrease the time spent on each saccade. Decrease the time spent on each fixation. Double the number of characters seen in each fixation. Read text that is written in a smaller font. What evidence did Spearman have for the existence of g? SHOW ANSWER Scores of monozygotic twins correlate highly with each other. Scores on any test of intelligent performance correlate positively with scores on other tests. Children who are identified as intellectually gifted tend to become highly productive adults. On average, intelligence scores are equal for males and females. On average, how does intelligence change after age 20? SHOW ANSWER Both fluid and crystallized intelligence decline. Fluid intelligence declines, but crystallized intelligence increases. Fluid intelligence increases, but crystallized intelligence declines. Both fluid and crystallized intelligence remain constant. The research most strongly supports which of these conclusions? SHOW ANSWER It is important for educators to identify children's different learning styles. The IQs of monozygotic twins become more similar as they grow older. People have several independent, unrelated forms of intelligence. IQ scores explain why some children do better than others in school. What was the original purpose of Binet's first IQ test? SHOW ANSWER To select the brightest students for advanced training To compare the performance of ethnic groups To determine the relationship between intelligence and brain size To identify slow learners who needed special education What is the advantage of Raven's Progressive Matrices test? SHOW ANSWER It provides subscores that identify someone's strengths and weaknesses. It can be used with people who do not understand English. It can be used with people who are blind. It directly measures the efficiency of each brain area. What provides the main evidence for a genetic influence on intelligence? SHOW ANSWER Comparison of the chromosomes of people differing in intelligence Measurements of changes in IQ scores as people grow older Similarity of IQ scores between parents and children Studies of twins and adopted children In addition to schooling, which of the following is known to improve cognitive performance for many low-performing children? SHOW ANSWER Better nutrition Sensitivity to a child's learning style Longer vacations from school Starting school at a later age In what way do human brains exceed those of all other species? SHOW ANSWER Humans have the largest neurons. Humans have the largest brain volume. Humans have the largest number of neurons. Humans have the largest ratio of axons to cell bodies. On average, how do males and females compare in IQ? SHOW ANSWER On average, males have a higher IQ. On average, females have a higher IQ. On average, males and females are equal on all subtests and on overall IQ. On average, males and females differ on certain subscores, but are equal on overall IQ. Which of the following is an accepted explanation for the Flynn effect? SHOW ANSWER More recent generations have better health and nutrition. Revisions of the IQ tests have made them easier. Richer people have more children than poorer people do. Today's schools teach the material on the tests. If people get approximately the same scores on a test and a retest, what if anything can we conclude about the test's reliability and validity? SHOW ANSWER Its reliability is high. We do not know about its validity. Its reliability and validity are both high. Its validity is high. We do not know about its reliability. We do not know about either reliability or validity. A measurement of a test's validity for predicting college grades will be low under which of these conditions? SHOW ANSWER If the reliability of the test is high If the college admits students with a wide range of scores on the test If the college admits only students with high scores on the test If the test takes more than an hour to administer Because measurements of athletic performance have less than perfect reliability, what if anything can we predict about changes in performance over time? SHOW ANSWER Most athletes who are near average at first will improve over time. Most athletes who are near average at first will decline over time. Most athletes who are at the top at first will decline over time. We can make none of these predictions. What evidence would demonstrate that a test is biased against some group? SHOW ANSWER Members of that group get lower than average scores on the test. The authors of the test were all from some other group. Members of that group perform worse than the scores predict. Members of that group perform better than the scores predict. The idea of stereotype threat implies that which of the following impairs performance? SHOW ANSWER Lack of familiarity with the content of the test Poor health and nutrition Other people's low expectations for your success Your parents' lack of education