Deck 2: The Cognitive Science Approach

Question 1

In response to a difficult question, the participant is likely to respond more slowly than if an easy question had been asked. In terms of the overall response times, the difficult question would yield:

A) Response times with lower numbers
B) Response times with higher numbers
C) Response times would not differ
D) Not enough information has been provided

Answer 1

Response times with higher numbers

Question 2

In cognition, STM is a central component of:

A) Parallel distributed processing
B) The process model of memory
C) Hebb's neuropsychological theory
D) The standard theory of memory

Answer 2

The standard theory of memory

Question 3

Your friend tells you he participated in a computerized experiment and had to respond to stimuli flashed on the screen. He was most likely participating in a(n) ________ experiment.

A) Information processing
B) Introspection
C) Conditioning
D) Behaviourist

Answer 3

Information processing

Question 4

A synapse is:

A) A type of neuron
B) A signal in the brain
C) The junction of two neurons
D) A type of neurotransmitter

Question 5

PDP stands for:

A) Pretty damn powerful
B) Processing dissociation process
C) Parallel distributed prototyping
D) Parallel distributed processing

Question 6

Which of the following is an assumption of a strict information-processing approach?

A) Independent and nonoverlapping stages
B) Automatic processing
C) Context effects
D) Parallel processing

Question 7

According to Kolb & Wishaw (1996), approximately how many cells are engaged in information processing in the typical human brain?

A) Eighty hundred thousand
B) Eight million
C) Eighty million
D) Eighty billion

Question 8

The act of taking in information and converting it to a usable mental form.

A) Channel capacity
B) Encoding
C) Parallel processing
D) Metacognition

Question 9

The cell that is specialized for receiving and transmitting a neural impulse.

A) Neurotransmitter
B) Axon
C) Neuron
D) Node

Question 10

Which of the following is found at the receiving end of neurons?

A) Dendrite
B) Myelin sheath
C) Axon
D) Nucleus

Question 11

A ________ model is a hypothesis about the specific mental processes that take place when a particular task is performed.

A) Parallel processing
B) Process
C) Synapse
D) Modal

Question 12

The region where the axon terminals of one neuron and the dendrites of another meet.

A) Synapse
B) Receptor
C) Effector
D) Interneuron

Question 13

A timed task in which people decide if letter strings are or are not English words.

A) Reaction time
B) Lexical decision
C) Mirror tracing
D) Mental encoding

Question 14

A synapse is:

A) The central portion of each neuron
B) A cell that connects directly to muscle fibres
C) The chemical substance that transmits messages
D) The space between neurons

Question 15

Which of the following best describes neurons communicating with each other?

A) A chemical process takes place at the synapse.
B) An electrical process takes place at the synapse.
C) The dendrite of one neuron fuses with the dendrite of another neuron.
D) A particular neuron makes both excitatory and inhibitory synapses on two other neurons.

Question 16

The brain area responsible for higher -level mental processes:

A) Type II neurons
B) Hypothalamus
C) Medulla
D) Neocortex

Question 17

Situated between the frontal and parietal lobes of the brain:

A) Lateral fissure
B) Central fissure
C) Cerebellum
D) Thalamus

Question 18

What should be true about reaction times if shapes are presented to the right hemisphere and words are presented to the left hemisphere?

A) They should be low
B) They should be high
C) It depends on whether the subject has a good memory
D) It is not possible to predict reaction times, only accuracy

Question 19

Information presented to the left visual field arrives first in the:

A) Frontal lobes
B) Left hemisphere
C) Right hemisphere
D) Both hemispheres simultaneously

Question 20

Face recognition is especially dependent on:

A) The frontal lobes
B) The corpus callosum
C) The right hemisphere
D) The left hemisphere

Question 21

Functional imaging techniques are useful because:

A) They show only the physical structure of the brain
B) These techniques are not useful because high risks are associated with them
C) They show the brain in action
D) They provide precise blood flow measurements

Question 22

This neuroinvestigative technique provides good "when" information but not very good "where" information.

A) ERP
B) CT scan
C) MRI
D) The Penfield technique

Question 23

Farah is participating in an experiment in which a musical passage is presented to her left ear. The melody is most likely being processed first in Farah's:

A) Occipital lobe
B) Left temporal lobe
C) Left parietal lobe
D) Right hemisphere

Question 24

The autobiographical memory of signing up for this course:

A) Procedural
B) Implicit
C) Explicit
D) Empirical

Question 25

Which of the following should produce the fastest reaction times in a lexical decision task?

A) Presenting a non-word followed by another non-word
B) Presenting a word followed by a non-related word
C) Presenting a number followed by a non-related word
D) Presenting a word followed by a related word

Question 26

The kind of processing that is heavily reliant on information from the environment:

A) Functionalist
B) Data-driven
C) Metacognitive
D) Conceptually-driven

Question 27

We respond fastest to words that appear frequently in the English language (e.g. THE) because:

A) They are easy to see
B) They are short words
C) They are easy to encode
D) Search times through memory are shorter

Question 28

Henri is participating in a lexical decision task. Which of the following would facilitate his performance?

A) The word "bread" followed by the word "leg"
B) The word "doctor" followed by the word "car"
C) The word "bread" followed by the word "butter"
D) The word "city" followed by the word "butter".

Question 29

For the majority of people, language ability is specialized in the left hemisphere.

Question 30

Information processing was the dominant approach in cognitive psychology until the mid 1970s.

Question 31

If I can name objects, but not faces; and somebody else can name objects and faces, this is sufficient to illustrate a double-dissociation.

Question 32

Sam is participating in an experiment in which electrodes are attached to his head. It is probably a PET experiment.

Question 33

It has been argued that observing people typing can reveal parallel processing.

Question 34

The cerebral cortex is wrinkled in order to increase the surface area.

Question 35

One reason cognitive psychologists moved away from the strict information-processing approach was the evidence that multiple mental processing can occur in parallel.

Question 36

Explain the concept being referred to when someone says "language is on the left".

Question 37

What is one advantage of computer-based theorizing?

Question 38

What are the two main difficulties with the strict information processing approach?

Question 39

How might ERP data reveal information relevant to understanding cognitive function?

Question 40

"The act of taking in information and converting it to a usable mental form": ________.

Question 41

The receptive and control centers for one side of the body are in the opposite hemisphere of the brain. This is referred to as ________.

Question 42

What are the two major assumptions of the strict information-processing approach?

Question 43

Draw a picture of a neuron. Label at least five of the important components.

Question 44

More recent developments within cognitive psychology have contributed to the development of the newly spawned discipline of cognitive science (which can be thought of as cognitive psychology from a more interdisciplinary perspective). Describe how the contributions of both neurophysiology and computer science have helped us to understand more about "how people think."

Question 45

Explain the concepts of simple and double dissociations.

Question 46

The Atkinson & Shiffrin model provides a useful summary of overall cognitive function. What does a
process model add to the description (i.e., what do we gain by using a process model)?

Question 47

(i) Explain the concept of hemispheric specialization. (ii) Name two abilities for each hemisphere. (iii) What is the corpus callosum?