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Psychology practice questions

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Question 1Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

Which structure is the main relay station that routes nearly all sensory information (except smell) toward the cerebral cortex?

  1. Thalamus Correct answer.
  2. Amygdala
  3. Hypothalamus
  4. Basal ganglia

Explanation

The thalamus sits at the center of the diencephalon and acts as a gateway, sending auditory, visual, and somatosensory signals onward to their cortical targets. Olfaction is the classic exception because it projects directly to the cortex. The hypothalamus and amygdala regulate motivation and emotion rather than serving as a general sensory relay.

Question 2Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

A neuron at rest has a membrane potential of about -70 mV. Which change would most directly depolarize this membrane toward threshold?

  1. Closing voltage-gated potassium channels that were already closed
  2. Opening ligand-gated sodium channels Correct answer.
  3. Opening ligand-gated chloride channels
  4. Increasing the activity of the sodium-potassium pump

Explanation

Sodium ions are far more concentrated outside the cell, so opening sodium channels lets positive charge flow inward and shifts the membrane toward zero. Chloride influx has the opposite, hyperpolarizing effect. The pump restores gradients over the long term but does not produce the fast depolarizing event that triggers an action potential.

Question 3Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

Damage to Broca's area in the left frontal lobe most typically produces which pattern of language impairment?

  1. Inability to read while writing remains intact
  2. Fluent speech with poor comprehension
  3. Effortful, nonfluent speech with relatively preserved comprehension Correct answer.
  4. Loss of the ability to recognize familiar faces

Explanation

Broca's area supports the motor production of speech, so lesions yield slow, telegraphic output with spared understanding of what others say. Fluent but meaningless speech with poor comprehension is the classic Wernicke's pattern. Face recognition depends on inferior temporal regions, not frontal language cortex.

Question 4Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

Which brain region is most consistently implicated in the formation of new declarative memories, as shown by the case of patient H.M.?

  1. Hippocampus Correct answer.
  2. Primary visual cortex
  3. Cerebellum
  4. Medulla oblongata

Explanation

Bilateral hippocampal damage leaves existing memories intact but blocks the consolidation of new facts and events, the pattern seen after H.M.'s surgery. The cerebellum contributes to procedural and motor learning instead. The medulla and primary visual cortex serve autonomic and perceptual functions unrelated to memory consolidation.

Question 5Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

A drug blocks reuptake transporters for serotonin in the synaptic cleft. What is the immediate consequence for postsynaptic signaling?

  1. Serotonin is degraded faster within the cleft
  2. Presynaptic vesicles release less serotonin per action potential
  3. Postsynaptic serotonin receptors are permanently destroyed
  4. Serotonin remains in the cleft longer, prolonging receptor stimulation Correct answer.

Explanation

Reuptake transporters normally clear neurotransmitter from the cleft; blocking them leaves more serotonin available to bind postsynaptic receptors for a longer time. This is the mechanism shared by SSRI antidepressants. Receptor destruction and reduced vesicular release are not direct consequences of transporter blockade.

Question 6Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

Which subdivision of the nervous system prepares the body for fight-or-flight responses such as increased heart rate and pupil dilation?

  1. Sympathetic division Correct answer.
  2. Parasympathetic division
  3. Enteric division
  4. Somatic sensory division

Explanation

The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system mobilizes energy and arousal during threat, raising heart rate and dilating pupils. The parasympathetic division promotes rest and digestion, opposing these effects. The somatic and enteric divisions handle voluntary sensation and gut regulation, respectively.

Question 7Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

In the visual system, what is the primary role of the optic chiasm?

  1. It routes axons from the nasal half of each retina to the opposite hemisphere Correct answer.
  2. It focuses light onto the fovea
  3. It converts photons into electrochemical signals
  4. It controls the size of the pupil

Explanation

At the optic chiasm, fibers from the nasal retina cross to the contralateral side while temporal fibers stay ipsilateral, so each hemisphere receives the contralateral visual field. Phototransduction occurs in the retina, and focusing and pupil size are handled by the lens and iris.

Question 8Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

A person can no longer perceive touch or temperature on the right side of the body after a stroke. Which cortical region is most likely damaged?

  1. Right cerebellum
  2. Right primary motor cortex
  3. Left primary somatosensory cortex Correct answer.
  4. Left primary auditory cortex

Explanation

Somatosensory cortex is organized contralaterally, so loss of right-sided touch and temperature points to the left postcentral gyrus. The primary motor cortex would produce weakness rather than sensory loss, and the auditory cortex and cerebellum serve different functions.

Question 9Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

According to signal detection theory, a hit occurs when a participant reports a signal that is present. What does a false alarm represent?

  1. Failing to report a signal that is absent
  2. Reporting a signal that is absent Correct answer.
  3. Reporting a signal that is present
  4. Failing to report a signal that is present

Explanation

Signal detection theory separates sensitivity from response bias by classifying four outcomes. A false alarm is reporting a signal when none was presented, which reflects a liberal criterion or noise mistaken for a signal. A miss is the opposite error of failing to detect a present signal.

Question 10Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

Weber's law predicts that the just-noticeable difference for a stimulus is proportional to which quantity?

  1. The magnitude of the original stimulus Correct answer.
  2. The duration of stimulus presentation
  3. The observer's response criterion
  4. The absolute threshold of the sense

Explanation

Weber's law states that the smallest detectable change is a constant fraction of the starting stimulus intensity, so louder or heavier stimuli require larger increments to be noticed. The absolute threshold and response criterion are separate concepts from the JND ratio.

Question 11Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

Which Gestalt principle explains why we perceive a row of evenly spaced dots as a continuous line rather than as separate points?

  1. Continuity Correct answer.
  2. Similarity
  3. Closure
  4. Proximity

Explanation

The principle of continuity leads observers to perceive smooth, uninterrupted paths across elements that align. Proximity groups items by nearness, closure fills in gaps to complete a shape, and similarity groups by shared features. The perception of a flowing line from aligned dots is the continuity case.

Question 12Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

In classical conditioning of fear, a tone is paired with shock until the tone alone elicits freezing. Damage to which structure would most specifically prevent this conditioned fear response?

  1. Hippocampus
  2. Amygdala Correct answer.
  3. Reticular formation
  4. Prefrontal cortex

Explanation

The amygdala, particularly the lateral and central nuclei, is essential for acquiring and expressing conditioned fear. Hippocampal lesions impair contextual memory but not the basic cue-shock association. Prefrontal regions modulate extinction, and the reticular formation governs arousal.

Question 13Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

Which theory holds that physiological arousal and cognitive labeling jointly determine the specific emotion experienced?

  1. Schachter-Singer two-factor theory Correct answer.
  2. Cannon-Bard theory
  3. James-Lange theory
  4. Facial feedback hypothesis

Explanation

The Schachter-Singer two-factor theory proposes that undifferentiated arousal plus a cognitive interpretation of the situation produces the labeled emotion. James-Lange and Cannon-Bard emphasize bodily responses and simultaneous cortical activation, respectively. The facial feedback hypothesis focuses on how facial expression shapes affective experience.

Question 14Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

Which hypothalamic drive is most directly signaled by the hormone leptin, which is released by adipose tissue?

  1. Satiety Correct answer.
  2. Sleep onset
  3. Thirst
  4. Sexual arousal

Explanation

Leptin is secreted by fat cells and signals the hypothalamus about long-term energy stores, promoting satiety and reducing food intake. Thirst is regulated by osmoreceptors and hormones such as angiotensin, while sexual arousal and sleep onset depend on other hypothalamic circuits.

Question 15Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

A rat with bilateral lesions of the suprachiasmatic nucleus is placed in constant light. What happens to its daily activity rhythm?

  1. The rhythm shortens to exactly 12 hours
  2. The rhythm remains entrained to a 24-hour cycle
  3. The rhythm becomes erratic and loses its regular circadian periodicity Correct answer.
  4. The rhythm becomes free-running with a period set by the light cycle

Explanation

The suprachiasmatic nucleus is the master circadian clock that maintains endogenous rhythmicity and entrains it to light. Without it, animals show fragmented, arrhythmic activity patterns. Light cannot entrain a clock that has been removed, so the rhythm does not stay locked to 24 hours.

Question 16Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

Which technique measures electrical activity of the brain with excellent temporal resolution but relatively poor spatial resolution?

  1. Electroencephalography (EEG) Correct answer.
  2. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
  3. Positron emission tomography (PET)
  4. Computed tomography (CT)

Explanation

EEG records summed postsynaptic potentials at the scalp, capturing events on a millisecond scale but localizing their sources poorly because of volume conduction. fMRI offers good spatial resolution with slower hemodynamic timing. PET tracks metabolism with radioactive tracers, and CT images structure rather than ongoing activity.

Question 17Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

Repeated stimulation of a presynaptic neuron strengthens a synapse through long-term potentiation. Which cellular event is most central to this change?

  1. Loss of dendritic spines
  2. Hyperpolarization of the postsynaptic cell
  3. Reduced calcium entry into the presynaptic terminal
  4. Increased insertion of AMPA receptors at the postsynaptic membrane Correct answer.

Explanation

Long-term potentiation involves NMDA receptor activation, calcium influx, and the trafficking of additional AMPA receptors to the postsynaptic membrane, strengthening the response to glutamate. Reduced calcium entry and hyperpolarization would weaken rather than strengthen transmission, and LTP typically promotes spine growth.

Question 18Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

A split-brain patient is shown an object in the left visual field only. Why can the patient usually pick up the correct object with the left hand but cannot name it?

  1. The right hemisphere receives the input but the speaking left hemisphere does not Correct answer.
  2. The left hemisphere controls the left hand and lacks language
  3. The object is not processed by either hemisphere
  4. Naming requires the cerebellum, which is disconnected

Explanation

Information from the left visual field crosses to the right hemisphere, which in most people has limited language capacity; the severed corpus callosum prevents transfer to the speaking left hemisphere. The right hemisphere can still guide the left hand, which it controls. This dissociation between recognition and verbal report is the hallmark of split-brain findings.

Question 19Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

Which neurotransmitter is most closely associated with the brain's reward circuitry and is the target of drugs that block its reuptake, such as cocaine?

  1. Acetylcholine
  2. GABA
  3. Glutamate
  4. Dopamine Correct answer.

Explanation

Dopamine projections from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex support reward learning and motivation. Cocaine blocks dopamine reuptake, amplifying this signal. GABA and glutamate are the main inhibitory and excitatory transmitters broadly, and acetylcholine serves neuromuscular and attentional functions.

Question 20Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

A patient reports that food now tastes bland and shows reduced olfactory sensitivity after a head injury. Which cranial nerve is most likely damaged?

  1. Trigeminal nerve (CN V)
  2. Vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII)
  3. Olfactory nerve (CN I) Correct answer.
  4. Optic nerve (CN II)

Explanation

The olfactory nerve carries smell from the nasal epithelium to the olfactory bulb, and its damage produces anosmia and reduced flavor perception because retronasal smell contributes heavily to taste. The optic nerve serves vision, the trigeminal carries facial sensation, and CN VIII serves hearing and balance.

Question 21Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

According to place theory of pitch perception, what determines the pitch we hear?

  1. The location along the basilar membrane that vibrates most Correct answer.
  2. The phase of the sound wave reaching each ear
  3. The number of auditory nerve fibers recruited
  4. The rate at which the entire basilar membrane vibrates

Explanation

Place theory holds that different frequencies peak at different positions along the basilar membrane, with high frequencies near the base and low frequencies near the apex. Rate-based accounts rely on firing frequency rather than location, and phase differences support sound localization rather than pitch.

Question 22Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

In the gate control theory of pain, which manipulation should reduce the perceived intensity of pain from a minor injury?

  1. Removing all competing sensory input
  2. Rubbing the skin near the injury Correct answer.
  3. Focusing attention on the injured area
  4. Increasing sympathetic arousal

Explanation

Gate control theory proposes that large-diameter touch fibers can inhibit transmission of pain signals in the spinal cord, so rubbing the skin closes the gate. Attending to the injury or increasing arousal tends to open the gate and heighten pain. Removing competing input would not activate the inhibitory touch pathway.

Question 23Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

Which structure links the nervous and endocrine systems by releasing hormones that control the anterior pituitary?

  1. Thyroid gland
  2. Adrenal medulla
  3. Hypothalamus Correct answer.
  4. Pineal gland

Explanation

The hypothalamus secretes releasing and inhibiting hormones into the portal system, directing anterior pituitary output and thereby regulating the endocrine cascade. The pineal gland secretes melatonin, the adrenal medulla releases catecholamines, and the thyroid is a downstream target rather than a controller of the pituitary.

Question 24Biological bases of behavior (neuroscience, sensation, perception, motivation, emotion)

A researcher finds that participants with larger pupil dilation during a decision task also show greater activity in the locus coeruleus. Which interpretation best fits this finding?

  1. Pupil dilation reflects noradrenergic arousal linked to decision effort Correct answer.
  2. Pupil dilation reflects parasympathetic digestion
  3. Pupil dilation indicates occipital visual processing
  4. Pupil dilation measures hippocampal memory consolidation

Explanation

The locus coeruleus is the main source of norepinephrine in the brain, and pupil diameter tracks noradrenergic activity associated with arousal and effortful processing. Digestive parasympathetic activity, visual cortex function, and hippocampal consolidation are not the constructs measured by this pupil-arousal relationship.

Question 25Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

In Baddeley's working memory model, which component is responsible for rehearsing verbal material and is often described as the 'inner voice'?

  1. The central executive
  2. The visuospatial sketchpad
  3. The episodic buffer
  4. The phonological loop Correct answer.

Explanation

The phonological loop stores and rehearses speech-based information, which is why verbal rehearsal is described as an inner voice. The sketchpad handles visual and spatial images, the central executive allocates attention, and the episodic buffer integrates information across modalities.

Question 26Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A student studies a list of words and later recalls the first few items far better than the middle items. This pattern is known as the primacy effect and is usually explained by which process?

  1. Spreading activation among semantically similar items
  2. Greater transfer of early items into long-term memory Correct answer.
  3. Release from proactive interference
  4. Enhanced sensory registration of the last items

Explanation

The primacy effect reflects that early list items receive more rehearsal and are transferred into long-term memory. The recency effect, by contrast, reflects items still available in short-term memory. Interference and semantic similarity shape recall but do not define the primacy pattern.

Question 27Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

In classical conditioning, presenting a tone repeatedly without the food that previously followed it causes the conditioned response to fade. This procedure is called:

  1. Blocking
  2. Generalization
  3. Spontaneous recovery
  4. Extinction Correct answer.

Explanation

Extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented alone, so the conditioned response weakens. Spontaneous recovery is the later return of a response after a rest period, generalization is responding to similar stimuli, and blocking is impaired learning of a new cue that adds no predictive information.

Question 28Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A rat presses a lever and receives a food pellet on average every 30 seconds, regardless of how many presses occur. Which reinforcement schedule is in effect?

  1. Fixed interval Correct answer.
  2. Fixed ratio
  3. Variable interval
  4. Variable ratio

Explanation

An interval schedule reinforces the first response after a set time has elapsed; a fixed interval uses a constant time value, here 30 seconds. Ratio schedules depend on the number of responses, and variable schedules change the requirement unpredictably.

Question 29Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A researcher finds that people remember more words from a list when they rate how well each word fits a sentence than when they rate the word's typeface. This advantage is best described as an effect of:

  1. Encoding specificity
  2. State-dependent retrieval
  3. Maintenance rehearsal
  4. Deep, semantic encoding Correct answer.

Explanation

Judging how a word fits a sentence requires processing its meaning, which is deep semantic encoding and produces better memory than shallow perceptual judgments. Maintenance rehearsal repeats information without elaborating meaning, while encoding specificity and state dependence concern matching retrieval conditions to encoding conditions.

Question 30Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

Which of the following best characterizes a heuristic in problem solving?

  1. A deliberate search of every possible solution path
  2. A step-by-step procedure that always yields the correct answer
  3. A tendency to fixate on the first solution that comes to mind
  4. A fast strategy that often works but does not guarantee a correct solution Correct answer.

Explanation

Heuristics are mental shortcuts that reduce effort and often produce good solutions, but they lack the guaranteed correctness of an algorithm. Algorithms are exhaustive step-by-step procedures, and functional fixedness is a separate obstacle to problem solving.

Question 31Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A child says 'I goed to the store' even though the child has never heard that form from adults. This error most directly supports the idea that:

  1. Language acquisition depends entirely on operant reinforcement
  2. Children acquire language through a critical-period sensitive period
  3. Children extract and apply grammatical rules rather than only imitating Correct answer.
  4. Vocabulary size predicts later reading comprehension

Explanation

Overregularization errors such as 'goed' show that children apply a learned past-tense rule too broadly, which imitation cannot explain. Reinforcement theories predict imitation of correct forms, while critical periods and vocabulary growth concern different questions.

Question 32Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A test of spatial reasoning yields very similar scores when the same people take it on two occasions four weeks apart. This property of the test is:

  1. Construct validity
  2. Predictive validity
  3. Inter-rater reliability
  4. Test-retest reliability Correct answer.

Explanation

Test-retest reliability concerns the stability of scores across repeated administrations of the same test. Construct and predictive validity concern whether a test measures the intended attribute and forecasts relevant outcomes, while inter-rater reliability concerns agreement between scorers.

Question 33Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A memory task requires participants to recall a story after a delay. Participants systematically distort the story to fit their prior expectations. This finding illustrates:

  1. Schema-driven reconstruction during retrieval Correct answer.
  2. Flashbulb memory accuracy
  3. The phonological similarity effect
  4. Proactive interference from prior lists

Explanation

Bartlett-style findings show that schemas guide the reconstruction of remembered material, so details inconsistent with expectations are altered or omitted. Flashbulb memories concern vivid recall of surprising events, interference concerns competing material, and the phonological similarity effect concerns verbal short-term memory.

Question 34Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A participant is shown the word 'doctor' and later completes 'nur___' with 'nurse' faster than a control participant. This priming effect is best classified as:

  1. Procedural priming
  2. Repetition priming
  3. Perceptual priming
  4. Semantic priming Correct answer.

Explanation

Semantic priming occurs when prior exposure to a meaning-related concept speeds processing of a related word. Repetition priming requires prior presentation of the same item, perceptual priming depends on the physical form of the stimulus, and procedural priming concerns repeated task performance.

Question 35Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

In a dichotic listening task, a participant repeats aloud the message in one ear while ignoring the other. Which result best supports a late-selection model of attention?

  1. Participants notice their own name in the ignored channel Correct answer.
  2. Participants detect a change in the pitch of the ignored message
  3. Participants cannot report the semantic content of the ignored message
  4. Participants show longer reaction times when the attended message becomes complex

Explanation

Late-selection models hold that unattended input is processed through semantic analysis before filtering, so personally relevant content can break through. Failure to report ignored semantic content supports early selection, and pitch detection reflects low-level physical processing.

Question 36Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A student studies in a quiet room but is tested in a noisy room and performs worse than students who studied and were tested in similar environments. This outcome is best explained by:

  1. The generation effect
  2. Retroactive interference
  3. Encoding specificity and context-dependent memory Correct answer.
  4. The spacing effect

Explanation

Encoding specificity holds that retrieval is best when the cues available at test match those encoded with the material, including environmental context. The generation effect concerns self-produced information, spacing concerns distributed practice, and retroactive interference concerns new learning disrupting old memories.

Question 37Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A problem requires arranging six objects to satisfy several constraints. A solver who tries every possible arrangement until one works is using:

  1. Means-end analysis
  2. An algorithm Correct answer.
  3. A representativeness heuristic
  4. Functional fixedness

Explanation

Exhaustively testing arrangements is an algorithmic approach because it guarantees a solution when one exists, though it may be inefficient. Means-end analysis reduces differences between current and goal states, representativeness is a probability judgment shortcut, and functional fixedness is an obstacle involving object use.

Question 38Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

People consistently overestimate the frequency of vivid causes of death, such as plane crashes, relative to statistically more common causes. This bias is most consistent with:

  1. Base-rate neglect in the conjunction fallacy
  2. The availability heuristic Correct answer.
  3. Belief perseverance
  4. The anchoring heuristic

Explanation

The availability heuristic judges frequency by how easily examples come to mind, and vivid media coverage makes rare causes easy to retrieve. Anchoring involves adjustment from an initial value, the conjunction fallacy concerns probability ordering, and belief perseverance is resistance to revising beliefs after disconfirmation.

Question 39Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

In a typical false-belief task, a child who fails the task is most likely to be at which approximate age?

  1. Nine years old
  2. Three years old Correct answer.
  3. Twelve years old
  4. Six years old

Explanation

Children younger than about four typically fail standard false-belief tasks, attributing their own knowledge to another person. Performance improves markedly around four to five years, and older children and adults pass reliably.

Question 40Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A speaker says 'Can you pass the salt?' at dinner. The listener hands over the salt rather than answering yes or no. Understanding this request requires:

  1. Syntactic parsing of an embedded clause
  2. Pragmatic inference beyond the literal sentence meaning Correct answer.
  3. Phonological awareness of word boundaries
  4. Morphological decomposition of the verb

Explanation

Indirect speech acts require pragmatic inference: the listener infers the speaker's intended request from context rather than the literal question. Parsing, phonological awareness, and morphological decomposition concern form and structure, not intended meaning in context.

Question 41Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A patient can produce fluent speech with normal intonation but substitutes and invents words, and comprehension is impaired. This pattern is most consistent with:

  1. Anomia without comprehension loss
  2. Conduction aphasia
  3. Broca's aphasia
  4. Wernicke's aphasia Correct answer.

Explanation

Wernicke's aphasia follows damage to the posterior superior temporal region and yields fluent but meaningless speech with poor comprehension. Broca's aphasia is nonfluent with relatively preserved comprehension, conduction aphasia features impaired repetition, and anomia spares comprehension.

Question 42Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A test has a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. A person scoring 130 is at approximately which percentile?

  1. About 68th
  2. About 95th
  3. About 98th Correct answer.
  4. About 84th

Explanation

A score of 130 is two standard deviations above the mean, and roughly 97.7 percent of a normal distribution falls below plus two standard deviations, so the nearest option is about the 98th percentile. One standard deviation above the mean corresponds to about the 84th percentile.

Question 43Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A researcher finds that a vocabulary test and a reading comprehension test correlate strongly, and both correlate with a third test of verbal analogies. This pattern is most directly relevant to:

  1. Evidence for a general factor underlying diverse cognitive tasks Correct answer.
  2. Evidence that the tests lack reliability
  3. Evidence for the Flynn effect
  4. Evidence that intelligence is entirely environmental

Explanation

Positive correlations among diverse cognitive tests are the classic evidence for a general factor, often labeled g. The Flynn effect concerns generational rises in scores, and reliability concerns consistency rather than the pattern of correlations.

Question 44Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

In a category-learning study, participants first learn that small, red objects are called 'daxes.' They then classify a large, red object as a 'dax.' This response is best described as:

  1. Stimulus generalization along a shared dimension Correct answer.
  2. Negative transfer from prior learning
  3. Discrimination learning between categories
  4. Spontaneous recovery of an extinguished response

Explanation

Responding to a new stimulus that shares a relevant feature with a trained exemplar is stimulus generalization. Discrimination would require learning to respond differently to the two objects, and transfer and recovery concern different phenomena.

Question 45Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A student who has mastered multiplication facts can solve 7 x 8 quickly without conscious calculation. This performance is best described as:

  1. Incidental encoding of the problem
  2. Automatized retrieval from long-term memory Correct answer.
  3. Working memory capacity expansion
  4. Chunking in short-term memory

Explanation

Repeated practice builds strong memory traces so that arithmetic facts are retrieved automatically with little attentional load. Working memory capacity is not generally expanded by practice, and chunking and incidental encoding describe different memory phenomena.

Question 46Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A researcher wants to test whether a new study technique improves long-term retention rather than short-term performance. Which design best addresses this question?

  1. Measure study time required for each technique
  2. Ask participants to rate how much they learned with each technique
  3. Compare study techniques on a delayed test administered a week later Correct answer.
  4. Compare study techniques on an immediate test given right after study

Explanation

The distinction between short-term performance and long-term retention requires a delayed criterion test, since techniques that boost immediate performance can sometimes reduce later retention. Immediate tests, study time, and self-ratings do not directly index durable learning.

Question 47Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A classic finding is that people judge a conjunction such as 'Linda is a bank teller and active in the feminist movement' as more probable than 'Linda is a bank teller.' This judgment violates which principle?

  1. Base rates are irrelevant to category judgments
  2. The probability of a conjunction cannot exceed the probability of either constituent Correct answer.
  3. Sample size is unrelated to the stability of an estimate
  4. Prior probabilities should always equal posterior probabilities

Explanation

The conjunction rule states that P(A and B) cannot exceed P(A) or P(B), so the conjunction cannot be more probable than one of its components. The conjunction fallacy reflects reliance on representativeness rather than this logical constraint.

Question 48Cognitive psychology (learning, memory, thinking, language, intelligence)

A patient with dense anterograde amnesia performs better on a word-stem completion task for previously studied words than for new words, despite denying having seen the words. This dissociation indicates that:

  1. Recognition memory is superior to recall memory in amnesia
  2. Semantic memory is fully preserved in all amnesic patients
  3. Working memory is independent of long-term memory
  4. Implicit memory can be spared while explicit memory is impaired Correct answer.

Explanation

Preserved priming on stem completion alongside impaired explicit recollection is the classic implicit-explicit dissociation in amnesia. It does not establish working memory independence, recognition superiority, or complete preservation of semantic memory.

Question 49Developmental psychology (lifespan physical, cognitive, and social development)

According to Piaget, during which stage does a child first demonstrate object permanence, the understanding that an object continues to exist when hidden from view?

  1. Preoperational stage
  2. Concrete operational stage
  3. Formal operational stage
  4. Sensorimotor stage Correct answer.

Explanation

Object permanence emerges near the end of the sensorimotor period (roughly 8–12 months), when infants begin searching for hidden objects. In the preoperational stage, children already possess this understanding, so it cannot be the stage of first appearance. The concrete and formal operational stages occur later and concern reasoning rather than basic object knowledge.

Question 50Developmental psychology (lifespan physical, cognitive, and social development)

A researcher shows a 6-month-old the same picture repeatedly until looking time declines, then presents a new picture and observes renewed looking. This procedure is best described as a test of:

  1. Scaffolding
  2. Habituation and dishabituation Correct answer.
  3. Separation anxiety
  4. Conservation of number

Explanation

Repeated presentation produces habituation, reflected in declining attention, and a novel stimulus produces dishabituation, reflected in renewed attention. This paradigm exploits infants' sensitivity to novelty and is widely used to study early discrimination and memory. Conservation, scaffolding, and separation anxiety refer to different phenomena entirely.