Learning
Four-year-old Craig understands that birds build nests in trees. In his front yard, Craig notices an unusually large nest. He is scared to go near it, fearing that some large bird may attack him. Craig’s father explains to him that squirrels also build nests and that the nest in the front yard is that of a squirrel. Craig changes his thinking to now include the fact that squirrels build nests. Jean Piaget would say that Craig’s new way of thinking about nests is an example of
(A) insight
(B) accommodation
(C) an algorithm
(D) a heuristic
(B) accommodation
A basic assumption underlying short-term memory is that it is
(A) limited in capacity
(B) unlimited in capacity
(C) not under conscious control
(D) resistant to decay
(A) limited in capacity
A student who obtained a percentile rank of 75 on an achievement test is best characterized as having
(A) ranked 75th from the top in a group of 100 test takers
(B) answered 75% of the test questions correctly
(C) scored higher than 75% of the test takers
(D) scored 75% higher than the average test taker
(C) scored higher than 75% of the test takers
When confronted with the sequence “__N __” at the end of a word in a crossword puzzle, Tony inserts the letters “I” and “G” in the two blanks because that procedure has often led to the correct answer in previous puzzles. This example illustrates the use of
(A) elaborative rehearsal
(B) a heuristic
(C) a prototype
(D) a syllogism
(B) a heuristic
A prototype is best defined as
(A) an example of bottom-up processing
(B) the equivalent of feature abstraction
(C) the hypothetical "most typical" instance of a category
(D) an essential element of category membership
(C) the hypothetical "most typical" instance of a category
Melissa is a math teacher who teaches her students to solve certain types of problems by applying a formula in a systematic, step-by-step process. If a student skips steps in the process, they are more likely to solve the problem incorrectly. Which of the following strategies best reflects Melissa’s approach?
(A) Priming
(B) An algorithm
(C) The spacing effect
(D) The availability heuristic
(B) An algorithm
Barclay is excited about all they will learn in AP Psychology when school starts next week. According to the multi-store model of memory, the first stage in memory processing involves which of the following?
(A) Retrieval
(B) Storage
(C) Rehearsal
(D) Encoding
(D) Encoding
A test that measures a student’s potential ability is
(A) an achievement test
(B) an aptitude test
(C) an intelligence test
(D) a personality inventor
(B) an aptitude test
According to research on levels of processing, which of the following would most improve the ability to recall the word “umbrella”?
(A) Counting the number of syllables in the word “umbrella”
(B) Deciding whether an umbrella would be useful to pack for a trip
(C) Writing the word “umbrella”
(D) Deciding whether the word “umbrella” rhymes with the word “banana”
(B) Deciding whether an umbrella would be useful to pack for a trip
Bailey and Marcus packed everything they thought they would need for a weekend camping trip. When it rained and they realized they had not brought rain gear, Bailey said, “I knew we should have packed raincoats!” Bailey’s thinking illustrates which of the following concepts?
(A) Functional fixedness
(B) Hindsight bias
(C) The representativeness heuristic
(D) Prospective memory
(B) Hindsight bias
Which of the following scenarios involves using cued recall?
(A) Letitia uses a mnemonic device to help her remember the names of all the lobes of the brain.
(B) Steven studies a list of word pairs and is later given the first word of each pair and asked to recall the second word in the pair.
(C) To help her remember what she needs from the grocery store, Marjorie imagines walking through her kitchen and visualizing what is missing.
(D) Kumail scores well on a multiple-choice quiz because he recognizes all of the correct answers when he sees them.
(B) Steven studies a list of word pairs and is later given the first word of each pair and asked to recall the second word in the pair.
When Amy was seven years of age, she had a babysitter from France. During this time Amy learned to speak a little French. Years later, when Amy got to college, she signed up for a beginning French class. Amy learned the material in her French class much more quickly than her classmates did. Amy’s rapid learning was most likely due to
(A) implicit memory
(B) episodic memory
(C) spontaneous recovery
(D) fluid intelligenc
(A) implicit memory
A test that is labeled an achievement test is most likely to be given to
(A) predict an individual’s ability to succeed in a particular job
(B) allow a student to be exempted from a college course
(C) assess the mental age of a gifted eight-year-old
(D) investigate an individual’s cognitive styl
(B) allow a student to be exempted from a college course
When Cory is given a logic problem to solve, he systematically tries every possible solution until he finds the correct answer. Cory’s strategy is to use
(A) an algorithm
(B) a heuristic
(C) cognitive restructuring
(D) insight
(A) an algorithm
Clive Wearing is an individual involved in a well-known case study examining anterograde amnesia. Clive experienced a high fever which led to damage to the hippocampus nearly 40 years ago. Since that time, Clive has not been able to encode new memories and, by some estimations, can only hold a thought for 7 to 9 seconds. Which of the following is an ethical consideration regarding the case of Clive Wearing?
(A) Neither Clive nor his wife can provide their informed consent to be studied because of his condition.
(B) The level of risk in studying Clive’s condition is too great.
(C) We should not know Clive’s identity, especially while he is still living.
(D) This information should only be published or publicly discussed after Clive’s death.
(C) We should not know Clive’s identity, especially while he is still living.
Erik is a student who has poor grades in his classes. He meets with his counselor and expresses frustration that he has tried everything and nothing has worked to improve his grades. The counselor suggests that Erik brainstorm different strategies that he could use to help him succeed in his classes. The counselor’s suggestion best reflects which of the following concepts?
(A) Divergent thinking
(B) Assimilation
(C) Phonemic processing
(D) Rationalizatio
(A) Divergent thinking
Agueda witnessed a theft from a clothing store. The police would like to interview her, but unfortunately, Agueda has anterograde amnesia. Which of the following characteristic memory issues is Agueda likely to experience?
(A) Remembering a crime she witnessed in childhood because there are too many similarities with this recent crime
(B) Recalling her name and home address when asked by a police officer
(C) Remembering the crime as something she saw on television instead of something she personally witnessed
(D) Recalling the details of the crime because she cannot transfer the information from short-term to long-term memory
(D) Recalling the details of the crime because she cannot transfer the information from short-term to long-term memory
Which of the following is the best example of an aptitude test?
(A) A teacher gives a test in class every three weeks to see what students learned.
(B) A company tests applicants for a personality trait that is linked to better job performance.
(C) A teenager must earn a passing score on a written test to get their driver’s license.
(D) A football coach compares each player's leg strength before and after implementing a new conditioning program.
(B) A company tests applicants for a personality trait that is linked to better job performance.
Corey has a list of things he needs from the grocery store but forgets his list at home. At the store, Corey struggles to remember the items on his list, but when he sees a display of oranges, he remembers that oranges were on his list. This is an example of
(A) recall
(B) recognition
(C) working memory
(D) sensory memory
(B) recognition
The difficulty many people have recalling the details of common objects such as pennies can best be explained by
(A) interference
(B) memory decay
(C) repression
(D) a lack of encoding
(D) a lack of encoding
Cesar is participating in a memory competition. He must memorize a long, novel string of numbers in 60 seconds, then try to recall them immediately without missing or misplacing any numbers. Which strategy should Cesar use?
(A) Fixed mindset
(B) Chunking
(C) Spacing
(D) Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
(B) Chunking
The brain scans of people with amnesia are most likely to show damage to the
(A) hippocampus
(B) hypothalamus
(C) medulla
(D) cerebellum
(A) hippocampus
Darnayia has been seeing a lot of social media ads about an exciting new sports simulation game. While several of her friends say that the game is their ideal example of a video game, others who have played the game complain that it was too expensive and not as fun as they expected. Darnayia buys the game. When her mother asks her why she chose that game, Darnayia only mentions the advice she heard about the game was the best one they’ve ever played. Which of the following cognitive processes explains why Darnayia can justify her purchase of the expensive game and ignore her concerns over the cost?
(A) Mental set
(B) Schemas
(C) Priming
(D) Confirmation bias
(D) Confirmation bias
When Rowan was six years old, his father took him to see a tennis match. Rowan enjoyed learning the rules of the game and watching the players hit the ball back and forth across the net with their tennis racquets. Five months later, Rowan’s aunt took him to a park to play pickleball, a game similar to tennis. He had a great afternoon learning to hit the ball back and forth with the pickleball paddle instead of a tennis racquet. That night, Rowan told his parents that he had a great time playing “tennis” with his aunt. Which of the following concepts relates to Rowan’s schema in this scenario?
(A) Accommodation
(B) Altruism
(C) Algorithms
(D) Assimilation
(d) Assimilation
Which of the following scenarios best demonstrates context-dependent memory?
(A) Carol performs betterin her recital when she practices in short sessions, several times a day.
(B) Edgar solves his jigsaw puzzlesfaster when he completes the edges first.
(C) Rosemarie shoots more accurately at her archery competition when other people are around.
(D) Jeannette does better on her exam when she takes it in the same room where she studies.
(D) Jeannette does better on her exam when she takes it in the same room where she studies.