SAMPLE EXAM -- feel free to use this exam to practice for the second exam.

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Honor Code: I pledge on my honor that I have neither given nor received aid on this examination.

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Multiple choice (65 points; 1 point each) Choose the best answer for each of the following. Mark your answers on the scantron sheet provided. Use a #2 pencil only.

1. The basic processes involved in memory are

a. rehearsal, organization, and interference.
b. encoding, storage, and retrieval.
c. retrograde and anterograde.
d. primacy and recency.

2. The view that intelligence needs to be understood by analyzing internal mental processes is most consistent with

a. the cognitive approach to intelligence.
b. the psychometric approach to intelligence.
c. the theory of multiple intelligences.
d. the triarchic theory of intelligence.

3. The ability to rearrange incoming information into meaningful or familiar patterns often depends on how much the individual knows about the material that needs to be remembered. One piece of research evidence that supports this conclusion is the finding that, when short-term memory is compared in expert and novice chess players, the expert players can remember the positions of

a. more chess pieces when the pieces are placed randomly on the board than when a meaningful game is in progress.
b. at least 12 to 15 chess pieces, no matter how the pieces are arranged on the board.
c. only 5 to 9 chess pieces, but they can remember the positions for up to 30 minutes.
d. more chess pieces when a meaningful game is in progress than when the pieces are placed randomly on the board.

4. In part, the law of effect states that

a. if a response in a particular situation is followed by a pleasant consequence, it will be weakened.
b. pleasant consequences alter behavior while unpleasant consequences have no impact on behaior.
c. if a response in a particular situation is followed by a pleasant consequence, it will be strengthened.
d. unpleasant consequences alter behavior while pleasant consequences have no impact on behavior.

5. The fact that Steven is able to hear his son call him, over all the other playground noises, illustrates the psychological concept of

a. selective attention.
b. subliminal perception.
c. synesthesia.
d. hypermnesia.

6. Leon has learned to use an over-the-counter medication 30 minutes before he eats a meal as a way to prevent heartburn and indigestion. This is an example of

a. avoidance conditioning.
b. escape conditioning.
c. observational conditioning.
d. classical conditioning.

7. Researchers presented two groups of physicians with information regarding a surgical procedure. Half the physicians were told that on average 5 people out of 100 died as a result of the surgery; the remaining physicians were told that on average 95 people out of 100 survived the surgery. Based on the framing effect you should expect that

a. the first group of physicians would be more likely to recommend the surgical procedure to their patients.
b. both groups of physicians would recommend the surgical procedure to their patients.
c. neither group of physicians would recommend the surgical procedure to their patients.
d. the second group of physicians would be more likely to recommend the surgical procedure to their patients.

8. When 3-year-old Salena is coloring, she carefully picks a blue crayon for the sky, a green crayon for the grass, and a yellow crayon for the sun. When Salena is asked to name the colors of each of these items she confidently answers "red" every time. The fact that Salena can distinguish between the colors even though she can't yet accurately name them suggests that

a. the linguistic relativity hypothesis does not accurately reflect the link between thought and language.
b. the linguistic relativity hypothesis provides an accurate description of the link between thought and language.
c. the prototype theory of language development accurately describes the link between language and behavior.
d. the prototype theory of language development does not accurately describe the link between language and behavior.

9. Laurel remembered her new 6 digit PIN number for her ATM card by noting that the first two digits were the year she was born, the second two digits were the year her son was born, and the last two digits were the year she graduated high school. Creating connections of this type when storing information in long-term memory is an example of

a. the serial position effect.
b. elaboration.
c. transfer-appropriate processing.
d. overjustification

10. Walt is an artist who draws cartoon panels for motion pictures. Each panel shows a slight change in the position of the characters. When the individual panels are transferred to film and shown at the proper speed, the characters appear to move smoothly across the screen. The perception of movement results from the way in which

a. iconic memory works.
b. flashbulb memories are formed.
c. episodic memory is encoded.
d. rehearsal occurs in short-term memory.

11. The word "ffyngoedd" would be recognized as a foreign word by an English speaker because the word structure violates the rules of English

a. syntax.
b. phonology.
c. semantics.
d. pragmatics.

12. You are watching a pigeon pecking a key for food reinforcement. The pigeon pecks the key at a very high, steady rate and does not stop, even when the food is delivered. In this example the reinforcement schedule that is in place is most likely

a. a variable-ratio schedule of reinforcement.
b. a fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement.
c. a fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement.
d. a variable-interval schedule of reinforcement.

13. A decline in the tendency to respond to an event following repeated exposure to the event is called

a. sensitization.
b. second-order conditioning.
c. habituation.
d. negative reinforcement.

14. Preston had brain surgery to remove a small tumor from his temporal lobe. After the surgery Preston appeared to be fine, and he was able to talk about events from his childhood, and events just prior to the surgery. However, he can't remember anything that has happened since the surgery, and he doesn't seem to be able to form any new memories. Preston's memory difficulties are consistent with

a. anterograde amnesia.
b. retrograde amnesia.
c. proactive amnesia.
d. cryptomnesia.

15. Which of the following is a component of each of the definitions of intelligence presented in class?

a. the ability to act purposively
b. the ability to categorize by function
c. the ability to speak fluently
d. the ability to adapt to the environment

16. The sentence "Heroically timid dreams danced off-key" is an example of a sentence in English that has

a. correct phonology but incorrect morphology.
b. correct semantics but incorrect syntax.
c. correct syntax but incorrect semantics.
d. correct pragmatics but incorrect phonology.

17. During the Viet Nam War Perry volunteered for the Marines. He wanted to go to war because he thought he might become a hero and win a medal. Perry's reasons for going to war reflect

a. preconventional moral reasoning.
b. conventional moral reasoning.
c. postconventional moral reasoning.
d. autonomous moral reasoning.

18. One of the criticisms that has been raised concerning Piaget's theory is

a. his focus on social context as the primary force behind cognitive development.
b. his focus on schooling as one of the primary factors underlying cognitive development.
c. the fact his theory describes the cognitive development of males more accurately than the cognitive development of females.
d. his notion of sharp, distinct transitions between different stages of cognitive development.

19. Achievement tests are designed to measure a person's

a. current level of knowledge or competence in a particular subject.
b. ability to acquire the knowledge needed for success in a given area.
c. ability to think in new and creative ways.
d. ability to understand and assimilate new information.

20. In concept hierarchies the subordinate levels of a category

a. contain a great deal of information about very specific features.
b. are not very descriptive and contain only a few general features.
c. provide a balance between the amount of information contained in the basic level and the intermediate levels of the category.
d. are the category levels that children first learn to use.

21. In lecture, we learned that the primary cause of forgetting is

a. ambiguous elaboration
b. decay
c. interference
d. poor encoding

22. During the Apollo 13 mission the ground engineers had to devise a new way of cleaning the capsule air supply using only the materials the astronauts had on board the space capsule. They were able to come up with a creative solution that helped the astronauts make it back safely. In solving this problem, the engineers

a. were able to overcome functional fixedness.
b. showed high levels of functional fixedness.
c. demonstrated effective use of the availability heuristic.
d. relied on anchoring and adjustment.

23. When Clayton's PC computer program "hangs up" he asks Gil to help him figure out what to do. Although Gil has never used the specific program that Clayton is using, he has used similar programs. He tries some of the things that have worked for him in the past when similar "hang ups" have occurred. In this case, Gil's method of solving the problem is consistent with the problem-solving heuristic known as

a. means-ends analysis.
b. working backward.
c. searching for analogies.
d. availability.

24. When we form connections between new information and information already in memory, we are using

a. transfer-appropriate processing.
b. iconic encoding.
c. bilateral processing.
d. elaboration.

25. Miranda used to take one aspirin to relieve her headaches. Now she finds that a single tablet is seldom adequate and she usually needs to take two tablets before her headache disappears. This would suggest that Miranda

a. has developed a drug dependency on aspirin.
b. is experiencing the effects of drug withdrawal.
c. has developed a drug tolerance for aspirin.
d. will probably develop an allergic reaction to aspirin.

26. Which type of memory allows us to continue extracting information from a stimulus once sensory stimulation is over?

a. sensory memory
b. short-term memory
c. long-term memory
d. implicit memory

27. According to Robert Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence, someone who is efficient at processing information and who performs well on conventional tests designed to measure reasoning and logical-mathematical abilities, should score high in

a. creative intelligence.
b. practical intelligence.
c. analytic intelligence.
d. all three areas of intelligence.

28. The restoration or repair theory of sleep suggests that the purpose of sleep is to

a. allow problem-solving and memory consolidation to occur.
b. protect us from danger when we are most vulnerable.
c. provide a time for activities such as digestion, that can't occur when we are awake.
d. allow time for the body and mind to recover from the activities of the day.

29. In terms of intelligence, "g" refers to

a. an individual factor that is unique to a particular type of test.
b. acquired knowledge and abilities.
c. an underlying intelligence factor that applies to all types of test performance.
d. the ability to understand spatial relationships and think in three dimensions.

30. According to the exemplar model of categorization, a new object is categorized by

a. consulting implicit memory.
b. comparing it to the existing members of the category.
c. determining whether it possesses a particular set of critical features.
d. comparing it to the ideal member of the category.

31. Six-year-old Barry thought all dogs were big like his dog until he saw his friend's new Chihuahua. The change in Barry's understanding of dogs illustrates the process that Piaget referred to as

a. accommodation.
b. assimilation.
c. object permanence.
d. centration.

32. People told, prior to hypnosis, that hypnosis causes rigidity of the arms are likely to show this symptom while hypnotized, even if the hypnotist never suggests rigidity. This supports the view that hypnosis is

a. a dissociation of consciousness.
b. due to an increase in alpha wave activity.
c. a result of an acetylcholine (ACh) imbalance.
d. a kind of social role playing.

33. If you were to compare adult speech with the speech of infants under 8 months of age you should expect to find that

a. infants produce more phonemes than adults.
b. adults are capable of producing more phonemes than infants.
c. adults and infants both use the same number of phonemes.
d. infants produce more morphemes than adults.

34. Instrumental conditioning differs from classical conditioning because

a. in instrumental conditioning an organism is learning something, but in classical conditioning no learning occurs.
b. in instrumental conditioning the principles apply only to animals, but in classical conditioning the principles also apply to humans.
c. in instrumental conditioning discrimination and generalization do not occur, but in classical conditioning they do.
d. in instrumental conditioning an organism learns that its own behavior signals outcomes, but in classical conditioning an organism learns the relations between events.

35. It would be better to use a heuristic, rather than an algorithm, to solve a problem

a. when there are an infinite number of possible solutions.
b. when it is necessary to produce an answer that is extremely precise.
c. when there are no time constraints for finding a solution to the problem.
d. when the problem involves mathematical calculations.

36. von Frisch's experiment showed that the communication system of honeybees does not have the property of being

a. communicative
b. symbolic
c. hierarchical
d. dynamic

37. Jannel never used to worry about driving in the snow until she skidded off the highway one morning during a heavy snowfall. As the back end of the car started to fishtail Jannel's heart started to race and she became terrified. Now she finds that just getting into her car when there is snow falling causes her to become extremely agitated. In this example, the car sliding on the icy roadway is

a. an unconditioned response.
b. a conditioned stimulus.
c. an unconditioned stimulus.
d. a conditioned response.

38. Dr. Marcos has had 35 students repeat her statistics class over the past five years. Each time, the grade the student attained the second time was nearly identical to the grade received the first time the course was attempted. This leads Dr. Marcos to conclude that her testing procedures in statistics

a. provide valid measures of student ability.
b. provide reliable measures of student ability.
c. are well standardized.
d. are able to measure crystallized intelligence.

39. Research by Tulving and Pearlstone showed that participants recalled twice as many words in the cued-recall condition than in the free-recall condition. This result suggests that most instances of forgetting result from

a. poor initial encoding strategies.
b. decay of the stored information over time.
c. a failure to access the right type of retrieval cues.
d. lack of motivation or attention at the time of recall.

40. Stimulus generalization occurs when

a. a novel stimulus produces a response that is similar to the response produced by a conditioned stimulus.
b. a novel stimulus produces a response that is different from the response produced by a conditioned stimulus.
c. a conditioned response develops that is opposite in direction to the unconditioned response.
d. an unconditioned response develops that is opposite in direction to the conditioned response.

41. Tamera is playing with her father and he hides her bottle under a blanket. Tamera quickly retrieves the bottle that has been hidden. This suggests that Tamera has developed

a. the ability to solve conservation problems.
b. a strong attachment for her father.
c. an understanding of reversibility.
d. an understanding of object permanence.

42. The Stroop effect demonstrates that

a. automatic processes do not interfere with controlled processes
b. reading words (for most adults) is a controlled process
c. reading words (for most adults) is an automatic process
d. perceiving color is a controlled process

43. In the wild, newly weaned rats acquire their eating habits by eating only what they have seen older rats eat. This is an example of

a. latent learning.
b. observational learning.
c. classical conditioning.
d. operant conditioning.

44. Jenn had a dream in which she fell from an airplane and landed on a cloud that turned into a sandy beach by an orange lake. According to he activation-synthesis hypothesis of dreaming, the sudden, bizarre changes in settings that took place in Jenn's dream represent

a. the manifest content of the dream.
b. an interpretation of random neural activity in the hindbrain.
c. the latent content of the dream.
d. a psychic premonition of future events.

45. The reaction range view of intellectual development suggests that

a. the environment sets certain limits on intelligence, and genetics determine where individuals fall within those limits.
b. genetics sets certain limits on intelligence, and environmental factors determine where individuals fall within those limits.
c. everyone has the same genetic potential but environmental differences produce the final score.
d. in supportive environments there are no genetic bounds on intellectual ability.

46. Every time Harriet cried her mother would immediately pick her up. Now Harriet is a real crybaby. In this case, picking up the infant was

a. a negative reinforcer for crying.
b. a conditioned stimulus for crying.
c. an unconditioned stimulus for crying.
d. a positive reinforcer for crying.

47. The serial position effect suggests that individuals will

a. be more likely to forget items in the middle of a memorized list.
b. be more likely to remember items in the middle of a memorized list.
c. recall more information if repetitions of the to-be-remembered material are spaced over time.
d. recall more information if there are no breaks between subsequent presentations of the to-be-remembered material.

48. Information should be learned using processes that will be used in testing. In other words, learners should use

a. transfer appropriate processing.
b. widely distributed practice.
c. visual imagery mnemonic techniques.
d. implicit memory, not explicit memory.

49. Gick & Holyoak found that subjects were largely unable to solve Duncker's radiation problem using the solution of an analagous problem they had seen earlier (unless they were made aware of the similarity). This finding illustrates the phenomenon of

a. inert knowledge
b. sporadic knowledge
c. encoding specificity
d. representativeness

50. Heritability is a mathematical index that represents

a. the predicted IQ score for a child, based on the scores attained by both parents.
b. the extent to which genetic factors account for IQ differences within a population.
c. the predicted IQ score for an infant, based on the scores attained by older siblings.
d. the proportion of each person's IQ score that can be traced to genetic factors.

51. Sperling's experiments on sensory memory showed that

a. visual sensory memory lasts about 30 seconds.
b. visual sensory memory is semantically organized.
c. visual sensory memory contains perceptually processed information.
d. visual sensory memory has a very large capacity.

52. Imagine that an infant hears the sound "ba" over and over, until the infant loses interest and stops listening. If the sound now changes to "pa", but the infant still shows no interest, researchers may infer that the infant

a. is able to perceive the difference between the two sounds.
b. cannot perceive the difference between the two sounds.
c. prefers sounds that start with "b" to sounds that start with "p.
d. prefers sounds that start with "p" to sounds that start with "b.

53. The problem of extracting the ping-pong ball from the pipe was used to illustrate which of the following impediments to problem solving?

a. hidden representations
b. set effects
c. closed communication
d. cultural blocks

54. Classical conditioning will be most effective when the conditioned stimulus

a. is paired with another stimulus that is already an effective signal for the unconditioned stimulus.
b. occurs with a wide variety of other stimuli.
c. provides new information about the occurrence of the unconditioned stimulus.
d. is presented on its own, with no unconditioned stimulus.

55. Research studies that have investigated the role of natural predispositions in the learning process teach us that

a. innate biological tendencies can assist or enhance some types of learning.
b. operant conditioning is not affected by biology, but classical conditioning can be.
c. classical conditioning is not affected by biology, but operant conditioning can be.
d. innate biological tendencies have very little impact on learning.

56. The availability heuristic implies that people will tend to

a. overestimate the frequency of events that are difficult to recall.
b. make accurate estimates when events are easier to recall.
c. underestimate the frequency of events that are easy to recall.
d. overestimate the frequency of events that are easy to recall.

57. Dolphins' ability to respond correctly to phrases such as "WATER TOSS" illustrates their capacity for

a. classical conditioning
b. pragmatics
c. observational learning
d. creativity

58. Mrs. Weston asks Jon if he wants his sandwich in one piece, or cut into two pieces. Jon asks her to keep it in one piece, because he isn't hungry enough to eat two pieces. Jon's answer suggests that he

a. cannot assimilate changes in his sandwich.
b. cannot accommodate changes in his sandwich.
c. does not yet understand conservation.
d. has mastered the concept of conservation.

59. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of effective punishment?

a. It should be inescapable.
b. It should be immediate.
c. It should be as severe as possible.
d. It should be combined with reinforcement of a desired behavior.

60. Alcohol, barbiturates and tranquilizers are all examples of

a. stimulants.
b. narcotics.
c. depressants.
d. hallucinogens.

61. The LANA (Language Analog) studies, in which chimpanzees are taught to use an artificial language called Yerkish, have found that

a. chimps cannot use Yerkish creatively.
b. chimps can teach each other Yerkish.
c. chimps are unable to use old concepts in new situations.
d. chimps can acquire a fully-developed syntax.

62. Molly is trying out for a play next week. She asks you if she should study the lines a little bit each night, or in one intense session the day before the tryouts. Based on what memory research has shown regarding distributed versus massed practice, you should tell Molly to

a. spend one intense study session early in the week, and then relax.
b. space her study sessions out over the full week.
c. spend one intense study session the night before the tryouts.
d. only read the play through once before the tryouts, to reduce interference.

63. The loss of responding that results from the repeated presentation of a conditioned stimulus without an unconditioned stimulus is called

a. spontaneous recovery.
b. conditioned inhibition.
c. extinction.
d. second-order conditioning.

64. Wayne and Sally are telling their friends about all the interesting things they did on their recent trip. In describing their trip Wayne and Sally are largely relying on their

a. episodic memory.
b. semantic memory.
c. procedural memory.
d. sensory memory.

65. Eugene was autistic and wouldn't speak to anyone. A therapist who was working with Eugene initially gave him a cookie every time he made any sound at all. This switched to only giving cookies when Eugene said a complete word, and eventually only for complete sentences. In this example the therapist developed Eugene's speech skills using

a. negative reinforcement.
b. shaping.
c. classical conditioning.
d. modeling.

Completion (15 points; 1 point each blank) Complete each of the following statements with the appropriate answer(s). Write your answers in the spaces provided.

66. In Pavlov's experiments, a dog was trained to salivate to the sound of a bell that had been struck just before food was delivered. In this example, salivation to the sound of the bell is the __Conditioned Response____________.

67. Krystal is visiting her friend Hillary. Hillary's mom gives each of the children a can of juice and a glass. Krystal's glass is a short, fat glass, and when she pours her juice into the glass she is convinced that Hillary has more juice. According to Piaget, the latest stage of cognitive development that Krystal could be in is the ______preoperational___________ stage.

68. A physical or psychological need for the continued use of a specific drug is called ________drug dependency______________.

69. Removal of a negative stimulus resulting in the increased likelihood of repeating a response is called __negative reinforcement________________.

70. Applying the solution of a previous problem to a new problem even when an easier solution is available is known as the __set____ effect.

71. Hippocampal damage causes deficits in _____explicit _________ memory but not ___implicit______ memory.

72. Dreaming normally occurs in the _____REM_____________ stage of sleep.

73. The extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure is called ______construct validity_____.

74. Environmental agents (e.g. disease organisms or drugs) that can potentially damage the developing embryo or fetus are called ______teratogens______.

75. The claim that speakers of different languages think in different ways is called the ___Sapir-Whorf (or linguistic relativity)______ hypothesis.

76. Bandura's Bobo doll experiment illustrates the process of ____Observational____ learning.

77. When previously learned material interferes with new material, the interference is called ____Proactive________.

78. In Vygotsy's theory of cognitive development, the range of ability between a child's observable level of performance and his or her potential, latent level of performance is called the ____Zone of Proximal Development______.

79. A primary function of _____short term_____ memory is to allow the integration of serially-presented information.