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GRE Psychology Subject Test study materials
GRE Psychology Subject Test study resources

GRE Psychology Subject Test practice questions

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Question 1Biological

A neuron's resting membrane potential of about -70 mV is maintained primarily by which mechanism?

  1. Continuous fusion of synaptic vesicles releasing neurotransmitter into the cleft
  2. Voltage-gated Ca2+ channels admitting calcium during the afterhyperpolarization
  3. The Na+/K+ pump exporting three Na+ ions for every two K+ ions it imports Correct answer.
  4. Myelin sheaths actively transporting chloride ions out of the axon

Explanation

The electrogenic Na+/K+ ATPase moves three sodium ions out and two potassium ions in, leaving the interior relatively negative while establishing the ion gradients that drive the resting potential. Passive potassium leak conductance then holds the membrane near the potassium equilibrium potential.

Question 2Biological

Damage to Broca's area in the dominant frontal lobe most typically produces which pattern of deficit?

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

Explanation

Broca's area supports speech production and motor sequencing of language, so lesions yield nonfluent, agrammatic output while comprehension of simple material remains largely intact. Fluent output with poor comprehension instead characterizes Wernicke's aphasia.

Question 3Biological

Which neurotransmitter is released at the neuromuscular junction to trigger skeletal muscle contraction?

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

Explanation

Motor neurons release acetylcholine onto nicotinic receptors on the muscle endplate, depolarizing the fiber and initiating excitation-contraction coupling. Acetylcholinesterase then terminates the signal.

Question 4Biological

The refractory period that follows an action potential is caused mainly by which combination of factors?

  1. Opening of voltage-gated Na+ channels plus closure of K+ channels
  2. Inactivation of voltage-gated Na+ channels plus persistent opening of K+ channels Correct answer.
  3. Desensitization of postsynaptic receptors plus reuptake of transmitter
  4. Saturation of the Na+/K+ pump plus depletion of intracellular calcium

Explanation

After the spike, sodium channels enter an inactivated state that cannot reopen immediately, while delayed-rectifier potassium channels remain open and keep the membrane hyperpolarized. Together these make the axon temporarily unexcitable.

Question 5Biological

In a classic split-brain preparation, a word flashed to the left visual field of a commissurotomy patient is typically handled how?

  1. It reaches the right hemisphere first, so the patient may be unable to name it verbally Correct answer.
  2. It is perceived only if the patient closes the right eye
  3. It cannot be perceived at all because the optic chiasm has been severed
  4. It is read aloud easily because the left hemisphere receives it directly

Explanation

Visual input from the left field crosses to the right hemisphere, which in most people lacks expressive language. The patient can often point to or select the object but cannot name it, revealing hemispheric specialization.

Question 6Biological

Repeated stimulation of a hippocampal pathway produces a long-lasting increase in synaptic strength. This phenomenon is best described as which of the following?

  1. Long-term depression resulting from AMPA receptor internalization
  2. Sensitization mediated by serotonin at the sensory neuron
  3. Long-term potentiation dependent on NMDA receptor activation Correct answer.
  4. Habituation caused by reduced presynaptic calcium influx

Explanation

High-frequency stimulation relieves the magnesium block of NMDA receptors, admitting calcium that triggers insertion of AMPA receptors and sustained strengthening. This long-term potentiation is a leading cellular model of memory storage.

Question 7Biological

A patient can name objects presented visually but cannot name the same objects when placed in the hand with eyes closed. This dissociation most likely reflects damage involving which pathway?

  1. The dorsal visual stream projecting to parietal cortex
  2. The primary somatosensory cortex in the postcentral gyrus Correct answer.
  3. The ventral visual stream projecting to inferior temporal cortex
  4. The auditory association cortex in the superior temporal gyrus

Explanation

Tactile naming depends on somatosensory input reaching association cortex; a lesion affecting the somatosensory pathway abolishes naming by touch while vision-based naming survives. This pattern is a modality-specific anomia or tactile agnosia.

Question 8Biological

Which structure serves as the main relay station routing sensory information (other than olfaction) to the cerebral cortex?

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

Explanation

Nearly all ascending sensory pathways synapse in the thalamus before reaching cortex, making it the key sensory relay. Olfaction is the notable exception, projecting directly to piriform cortex.

Question 9Biological

A drug that blocks reuptake of serotonin would be expected to have which immediate synaptic effect?

  1. Reduced serotonin release because autoreceptors are blocked presynaptically
  2. Prolonged presence of serotonin in the cleft and extended postsynaptic receptor stimulation Correct answer.
  3. Increased degradation of serotonin by monoamine oxidase inside the terminal
  4. Direct activation of postsynaptic dopamine receptors

Explanation

Reuptake inhibitors leave more serotonin in the synaptic cleft, so postsynaptic receptors stay activated longer. Clinical effects lag because downstream adaptive changes follow the acute increase.

Question 10Biological

Which brain region is most closely associated with consolidation of declarative memories, as shown by the case of patient H.M.?

  1. Medulla oblongata
  2. Amygdala
  3. Hippocampus Correct answer.
  4. Superior colliculus

Explanation

Bilateral medial temporal damage including the hippocampus left H.M. unable to form new declarative memories while procedural learning and short-term memory remained. The hippocampus is therefore central to declarative consolidation.

Question 11Biological

The knee-jerk reflex is mediated by which circuit arrangement?

  1. A descending cortical pathway that bypasses the spinal cord
  2. A monosynaptic pathway in which Ia afferents excite extensor motor neurons Correct answer.
  3. A polysynaptic pathway in which nociceptors excite flexor motor neurons
  4. An autonomic pathway involving preganglionic and postganglionic fibers

Explanation

Muscle spindle Ia afferents synapse directly on alpha motor neurons supplying the stretched extensor, producing a monosynaptic stretch reflex. Reciprocal inhibition of the antagonist is handled by an interneuron.

Question 12Biological

Which technique measures electrical activity of the brain with millisecond temporal resolution by averaging responses time-locked to a stimulus?

  1. Transcranial magnetic stimulation
  2. Event-related potentials Correct answer.
  3. Positron emission tomography
  4. Functional MRI

Explanation

ERP recordings average EEG segments locked to stimulus onset, giving excellent temporal resolution of neural processing. Spatial resolution is comparatively poor because scalp electrodes sum activity from broad regions.

Question 13Biological

A lesion of the right parietal cortex commonly produces which clinical sign?

  1. Inability to form new declarative memories
  2. Right-sided homonymous hemianopia
  3. Left-sided hemispatial neglect Correct answer.
  4. Fluent aphasia with impaired repetition

Explanation

Right posterior parietal damage often causes neglect of the contralateral left side of space and the body. Because the right hemisphere attends to both sides, its loss leaves left space unattended.

Question 14Biological

In the context of the autonomic nervous system, activation of beta-adrenergic receptors in the heart produces which effect?

  1. Increased gastric acid secretion
  2. Increased heart rate and contractility Correct answer.
  3. Constriction of the pupils
  4. Decreased heart rate through vagal potentiation

Explanation

Beta-adrenergic receptors respond to sympathetic norepinephrine and circulating epinephrine, raising heart rate and contractile force. Beta blockers oppose these effects clinically.

Question 15Biological

Which of the following best describes the function of the corpus callosum?

  1. It connects the hypothalamus to the posterior pituitary
  2. It connects the two cerebral hemispheres and transfers information between them Correct answer.
  3. It links the cerebellum to the medulla and regulates breathing
  4. It carries visual information from the retina to the thalamus

Explanation

The corpus callosum is the largest commissure, carrying fibers that allow the hemispheres to share information. Its surgical section produces the classic disconnection syndromes.

Question 16Biological

A researcher finds that stimulating a specific hypothalamic nucleus causes an animal to eat voraciously. Which nucleus was most likely stimulated?

  1. Ventromedial hypothalamus
  2. Lateral hypothalamus Correct answer.
  3. Suprachiasmatic nucleus
  4. Paraventricular nucleus

Explanation

The lateral hypothalamus is classically described as a feeding center whose stimulation elicits eating, whereas lesions there cause anorexia. The ventromedial region is associated with satiety.

Question 17Biological

During the absolute refractory period, why can no stimulus of any intensity trigger a second action potential?

  1. The axon has been fully myelinated
  2. Voltage-gated Na+ channels are inactivated and cannot be reopened Correct answer.
  3. K+ channels are closed and the membrane cannot depolarize
  4. Neurotransmitter stores in the terminal are exhausted

Explanation

Inactivation gates on sodium channels remain shut until the membrane repolarizes sufficiently, so no depolarization can regenerate a spike. This defines the absolute refractory period regardless of stimulus strength.

Question 18Biological

Which cortical area is the primary receiving zone for auditory information?

  1. Superior temporal gyrus Correct answer.
  2. Calcarine fissure
  3. Postcentral gyrus
  4. Precentral gyrus

Explanation

Auditory radiations terminate in Heschl's gyrus and surrounding superior temporal cortex, the primary auditory area. The other listed regions serve somatosensory, visual, and motor functions respectively.

Question 19Biological

A person's circadian rhythm becomes desynchronized after damage to which structure?

  1. Substantia nigra
  2. Suprachiasmatic nucleus Correct answer.
  3. Pineal gland
  4. Inferior colliculus

Explanation

The suprachiasmatic nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus is the master circadian pacemaker, entrained by light via the retinohypothalamic tract. Its destruction abolishes normal free-running rhythms.

Question 20Biological

Which statement about the difference between ionotropic and metabotropic receptors is accurate?

  1. Metabotropic receptors respond only to steroids, whereas ionotropic receptors respond only to amines
  2. Ionotropic receptors produce slower responses than metabotropic receptors in all cases
  3. Ionotropic receptors open channels directly, whereas metabotropic receptors act through second messengers Correct answer.
  4. Ionotropic receptors require G proteins, whereas metabotropic receptors form ligand-gated pores

Explanation

Ionotropic receptors are ligand-gated channels whose pore opens immediately upon binding, giving fast transmission. Metabotropic receptors couple to G proteins and produce slower, longer-lasting effects via second messengers.

Question 21Biological

A drug that mimics acetylcholine at muscarinic receptors would be expected to produce which set of effects?

  1. Reduced gastric motility and urinary retention
  2. Dry mouth, dilated pupils, and increased heart rate
  3. Increased salivation, pupillary constriction, and slowed heart rate Correct answer.
  4. Muscle paralysis at the neuromuscular junction

Explanation

Muscarinic agonists reproduce parasympathetic effects: salivation, miosis, bradycardia, and increased secretion and motility. These actions oppose the sympathetic picture of dry mouth and tachycardia.

Question 22Biological

Which pattern of results would support a double dissociation between two brain regions?

  1. Lesion A impairs task 1 only, and lesion B impairs task 2 only Correct answer.
  2. Lesion A impairs task 1, and lesion B also impairs task 1 only
  3. Neither lesion affects either task, showing intact function
  4. Lesion A and lesion B each impair both tasks equally

Explanation

A double dissociation requires each lesion to impair a different function while sparing the other, showing the regions make distinct contributions. Equal impairment of both tasks would instead suggest a shared substrate.

Question 23Biological

In the visual system, which pathway is most associated with the perception of motion?

  1. Koniocellular pathway to the amygdala
  2. Parvocellular pathway to the ventral stream
  3. Magnocellular pathway to the dorsal stream Correct answer.
  4. Retinohypothalamic tract to the suprachiasmatic nucleus

Explanation

Magnocellular ganglion cells have large receptive fields and fast conduction, feeding dorsal-stream areas such as MT that analyze motion. Parvocellular input supports fine detail and color in the ventral stream.

Question 24Biological

A patient shows impaired recognition of objects despite intact visual acuity and can describe their features but cannot identify them. This condition is best characterized as which of the following?

  1. Hemianopia
  2. Associative agnosia Correct answer.
  3. Optic ataxia
  4. Apperceptive agnosia

Explanation

In associative agnosia, perception is adequate enough to copy or describe a shape, but the link to stored semantic knowledge about the object is broken. Apperceptive agnosia instead involves failure to form a coherent percept.

Question 25Biological

Which finding would most directly support the claim that a brain region is necessary for a specific cognitive function?

  1. The region shows greater metabolic activity while the task is performed
  2. The region is larger in experts than in novices
  3. Reversible inactivation of the region disrupts task performance and recovery restores it Correct answer.
  4. The region is connected to many other cortical areas

Explanation

Reversible, temporary disruption with corresponding recovery provides causal evidence that the region is required for the function, controlling for permanent compensatory reorganization. Correlational activity alone cannot establish necessity.

Question 26Biological

A neuron is at its resting membrane potential. Which change would most directly depolarize the cell?

  1. Closing voltage-gated potassium channels
  2. Opening ligand-gated chloride channels
  3. Increasing extracellular potassium concentration
  4. Opening ligand-gated sodium channels Correct answer.

Explanation

Depolarization occurs when the membrane potential becomes less negative, typically due to an influx of positive charge. Sodium ions are more concentrated outside the cell, so opening sodium channels allows Na+ to enter and depolarize the membrane. Chloride influx or potassium efflux would hyperpolarize the cell.

Question 27Biological

A drug that binds to and activates a presynaptic autoreceptor on a dopaminergic terminal would most likely produce which effect on dopamine release?

  1. No change in dopamine release because autoreceptors are only postsynaptic
  2. Increased dopamine release due to positive feedback
  3. Decreased dopamine release due to negative feedback Correct answer.
  4. Increased dopamine synthesis without affecting release

Explanation

Autoreceptors are presynaptic receptors that respond to the neuron's own neurotransmitter. Activation of these receptors typically inhibits further neurotransmitter release through negative feedback. Therefore, a drug that activates them would reduce dopamine release.

Question 28Biological

In the auditory system, which structure is responsible for the initial analysis of sound frequency (pitch) through its tonotopic organization?

  1. Inferior colliculus
  2. Medial geniculate nucleus
  3. Primary auditory cortex
  4. Cochlear nucleus Correct answer.

Explanation

The cochlear nucleus is the first brainstem relay in the auditory pathway and receives tonotopically organized input from the cochlea. It begins the analysis of frequency by preserving the place code established in the basilar membrane. Higher centers also have tonotopy, but the initial analysis occurs at the cochlear nucleus.

Question 29Biological

A patient with damage to the basal ganglia would most likely have difficulty with which aspect of movement?

  1. Initiating and scaling the amplitude of voluntary movements Correct answer.
  2. Generating the force needed to lift a heavy object
  3. Coordinating rapid alternating movements such as finger tapping
  4. Maintaining balance while standing still

Explanation

The basal ganglia are crucial for the initiation and regulation of movement amplitude, particularly for voluntary movements. Damage often leads to hypokinesia or hyperkinesia, as seen in Parkinson's disease or Huntington's disease. Force generation and coordination are more associated with the motor cortex and cerebellum, respectively.

Question 30Biological

A woman suddenly develops a fear of spiders after being startled by a loud noise while looking at a spider. This is an example of which type of learning?

  1. Classical conditioning Correct answer.
  2. Habituation
  3. Observational learning
  4. Operant conditioning

Explanation

Classical conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus (spider) becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus (loud noise) that elicits a response (fear). After pairing, the spider alone can elicit fear. This is a classic example of fear conditioning, a form of classical conditioning.

Question 31Biological

Which statement best describes the role of the hippocampus in memory?

  1. It is the primary storage site for procedural memories.
  2. It stores all long-term declarative memories permanently.
  3. It is responsible for the retrieval of implicit memories.
  4. It is essential for the consolidation of new declarative memories but not for their long-term storage. Correct answer.

Explanation

The hippocampus is critical for the formation and consolidation of new declarative memories, as evidenced by patient H.M. However, long-term storage of declarative memories occurs in the neocortex; the hippocampus is not the permanent store. Procedural memories and implicit memories are generally independent of the hippocampus.

Question 32Biological

A researcher records from a single neuron in the visual cortex and finds that it responds best to a bar of light at a specific orientation. This cell is most likely located in which area?

  1. Inferotemporal cortex
  2. Retina
  3. Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN)
  4. Primary visual cortex (V1) Correct answer.

Explanation

Orientation-selective neurons were first discovered in the primary visual cortex (V1) by Hubel and Wiesel. Retinal ganglion cells and LGN cells have center-surround receptive fields and do not show strong orientation tuning. Inferotemporal cortex neurons respond to complex objects, not simple oriented bars.

Question 33Biological

A split-brain patient is shown a picture of an object in the left visual field. Which of the following is most likely to occur?

  1. The patient can verbally name the object easily.
  2. The patient cannot verbally name the object but can pick it out with the left hand. Correct answer.
  3. The patient can verbally name the object only if allowed to touch it.
  4. The patient cannot verbally name the object and cannot pick it out with either hand.

Explanation

In split-brain patients, information from the left visual field is processed by the right hemisphere, which is disconnected from the left hemisphere's speech areas. Thus, the patient cannot name the object verbally. However, the right hemisphere can guide the left hand to identify the object nonverbally.

Question 34Biological

Which of the following best explains why damage to the left hemisphere often results in language deficits, while damage to the right hemisphere does not?

  1. Language functions are equally distributed but the right hemisphere compensates after left damage.
  2. The left hemisphere is responsible for all cognitive functions.
  3. The left hemisphere is dominant for language in most individuals. Correct answer.
  4. The right hemisphere lacks the ability to process any linguistic information.

Explanation

In the majority of people, the left hemisphere is specialized for language functions, including speech production and comprehension. Therefore, left hemisphere damage frequently causes aphasias. The right hemisphere contributes to aspects of language such as prosody but is not dominant for core linguistic abilities.

Question 35Cognitive

In Sperling's partial-report procedure, participants reported more letters when the tone cue followed the display almost immediately than when it was delayed by about a second. This result is best interpreted as evidence for which claim?

  1. Chunking increases the effective capacity of short-term memory
  2. A brief sensory store holds more information than can be reported before it decays Correct answer.
  3. Letters are rehearsed in short-term memory faster when the cue is auditory
  4. Recognition memory for letters is superior to recall memory for letters

Explanation

The advantage of immediate partial report shows that a large amount of information was briefly available after the display offset, but it faded within roughly a second. This decay pattern is the classic evidence for a high-capacity, fast-decaying iconic store.

Question 36Cognitive

Miller's classic paper on the magical number seven plus or minus two argued that the capacity limit applies to which unit?

  1. Phonemes in spoken language
  2. Individual letters or digits
  3. Chunks of meaningful information Correct answer.
  4. Features in visual search

Explanation

Miller emphasized that the limit is on the number of meaningful units, or chunks, rather than on raw sensory elements. Recoding items into larger chunks lets people hold far more raw information within the same span.

Question 37Cognitive

A researcher presents a word list in which the words are semantically related and finds that free recall is poorer than for an unrelated list. This outcome is most consistent with which explanation?

  1. Retrieval cue overload within a categorized list Correct answer.
  2. Proactive interference from prior lists
  3. Output interference from serial position effects
  4. Encoding specificity failure for the words

Explanation

When many items share the same semantic category, each category cue becomes associated with more targets, reducing its effectiveness as a retrieval cue. This cue-overload account explains poorer recall of categorized lists.

Question 38Cognitive

In Baddeley's working memory model, which component is responsible for allocating attention and coordinating among the other subsystems?

  1. Episodic buffer
  2. Visuospatial sketchpad
  3. Phonological loop
  4. Central executive Correct answer.

Explanation

The central executive is the attentional control component that directs resources and coordinates the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and episodic buffer. It performs no simple storage function of its own in the classic model.

Question 39Cognitive

Participants study a list and are later given either a free-recall test or a recognition test. Compared with free recall, a recognition test typically shows which pattern across serial positions?

  1. A reduced recency effect and a preserved or enhanced primacy effect Correct answer.
  2. Equal primacy and recency effects
  3. A larger recency effect and a smaller primacy effect
  4. A larger primacy effect and a smaller recency effect

Explanation

Recognition testing reduces the recency advantage seen in free recall because the last items are still available in short-term memory and benefit free recall disproportionately. The primacy effect, reflecting more rehearsal and stronger long-term storage, persists.

Question 40Cognitive

A participant is faster to judge that 'robin' is a bird than that 'penguin' is a bird. This finding is most directly explained by which concept?

  1. Levels-of-processing effects
  2. Semantic priming from related primes
  3. Spreading activation in lexical decision
  4. Typicality effects in semantic categorization Correct answer.

Explanation

Items that are more typical of a category are verified faster, which supports graded category structure rather than all-or-none membership. Typicality, not mere category membership, predicts the reaction-time difference.

Question 41Cognitive

In a lexical decision task, participants respond faster to 'doctor' after seeing 'nurse' than after seeing 'bread.' This facilitation is best described as which phenomenon?

  1. Orthographic priming
  2. Negative priming
  3. Repetition priming
  4. Semantic priming Correct answer.

Explanation

A preceding semantically related word speeds lexical decisions to the target, which is semantic priming. The effect is attributed to preactivation spreading through related concepts in the semantic network.

Question 42Cognitive

A patient can accurately describe how to make coffee but cannot recognize a coffee pot when asked to name it. This dissociation most likely reflects damage to which system?

  1. Semantic memory for object knowledge Correct answer.
  2. Working memory for spatial locations
  3. Episodic memory for personal events
  4. Procedural memory for motor skills

Explanation

Preserved action knowledge with impaired object identification points to a loss of semantic knowledge about objects, such as in category-specific agnosia. Procedural skill remains intact because it depends on a separate memory system.

Question 43Cognitive

In Posner's spatial cueing paradigm, a valid peripheral cue produces a benefit at short stimulus-onset asynchronies, whereas at longer asynchronies a cue that was previously valid can produce a cost. This later cost is known as which effect?

  1. Attentional blink
  2. Repetition blindness
  3. Change blindness
  4. Inhibition of return Correct answer.

Explanation

Inhibition of return is the slowing of responses to locations that were cued and then vacated, biasing attention toward novel locations. It appears at longer cue-target intervals after attention has been withdrawn from the cued location.

Question 44Cognitive

In the Stroop task, naming the ink color of a color word is slower when the word is incongruent with the ink. This interference is best explained by which account?

  1. Color naming requires more working memory capacity than reading
  2. Participants strategically slow responses to avoid errors
  3. Incongruent words disrupt visual acuity for the ink color
  4. Reading is highly automatic and competes with color naming Correct answer.

Explanation

Skilled reading proceeds automatically and generates the word's meaning even when the task requires color naming. The automatic word code competes with the controlled color-naming response, producing interference.

Question 45Cognitive

In Treisman's feature integration theory, searching for a target defined by a single feature produces a flat search slope, whereas searching for a conjunction of features typically produces a steep slope. What does this pattern suggest?

  1. Feature searches require focal attention for each item
  2. Single features are detected in parallel, while conjunctions require serial binding of features Correct answer.
  3. Both search types depend equally on attentional binding
  4. Conjunction searches are faster because they use fewer perceptual resources

Explanation

Feature searches are thought to proceed in parallel across the display, yielding little cost as set size grows. Conjunction searches require attention to bind features at each location, producing a steep set-size slope.

Question 46Cognitive

A participant reads a sentence with a temporarily ambiguous structure and shows longer reading times at the disambiguating word. According to garden-path models, this slowdown reflects which process?

  1. Difficulty retrieving the sentence's semantic content
  2. Failure of lexical access for the ambiguous word
  3. Reanalysis after the initial syntactic parse is disconfirmed Correct answer.
  4. Interference from phonological similarity among words

Explanation

Garden-path accounts hold that the parser initially commits to the most likely structure, so disconfirming evidence triggers costly reanalysis. The longer reading time indexes that repair process.

Question 47Cognitive

Which finding best supports the claim that speech perception is categorical rather than continuous?

  1. Listeners integrate auditory and visual speech information in perception
  2. Listeners' identification of syllables shifts after exposure to an ambiguous token
  3. Listeners identify sounds along a voice-onset-time continuum sharply at a category boundary Correct answer.
  4. Listeners can discriminate between two tokens that fall within the same phoneme category

Explanation

Categorical perception is shown by a sharp identification boundary along a continuous acoustic dimension. Discrimination is poor within a category and good across the boundary, indicating that perception follows phoneme categories.

Question 48Cognitive

A problem solver repeatedly applies a previously successful strategy to a new problem where it no longer works. This failure is best described as which phenomenon?

  1. Confirmation bias
  2. Belief bias
  3. Functional fixedness
  4. Mental set Correct answer.

Explanation

Mental set is the tendency to reuse a familiar solution strategy even when a better approach is available. It differs from functional fixedness, which concerns rigidity about an object's conventional use.

Question 49Cognitive

In the Wason selection task with abstract rules, performance improves markedly when the rule is framed as a social contract such as 'if you drink alcohol, you must be over 21.' Which interpretation is most consistent with this result?

  1. People reason better with concrete, familiar content than with abstract conditionals Correct answer.
  2. The improvement reflects a general increase in working memory capacity
  3. People cannot reason deductively about any conditional rules
  4. Performance improves because the rule becomes logically simpler

Explanation

The improvement with familiar social-contract content suggests that reasoning is facilitated by concrete, pragmatically meaningful material rather than by formal logic alone. This is central to domain-specific accounts of conditional reasoning.

Question 50Cognitive

According to Kahneman and Tversky's work on judgment under uncertainty, people often ignore base rates and instead rely on the similarity of a description to a stereotype. This tendency is called which heuristic?

  1. Representativeness heuristic Correct answer.
  2. Simulation heuristic
  3. Anchoring and adjustment
  4. Availability heuristic

Explanation

The representativeness heuristic judges probability by how well an instance matches a prototype or stereotype, often at the expense of base-rate information. The classic Linda problem illustrates this pattern.