BAPSY Cognitive Psychology and Processes 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory, losses are typically weighted how compared to equivalent gains?
- Equally
- Less heavily
- More heavily (Correct answer)
- Dependently on probability
Correct answer: More heavily
Prospect theory establishes loss aversion: losses loom larger than equivalent gains, typically by a factor of about 2:1.
Question 2: Neuroimaging studies consistently associate the hippocampus most strongly with which memory process?
- Procedural skill learning
- Priming effects
- Consolidation of new declarative memories (Correct answer)
- Working memory maintenance
Correct answer: Consolidation of new declarative memories
The hippocampus is critical for encoding and consolidating new explicit (declarative) memories, as evidenced by cases like H.M. following bilateral hippocampectomy.
Question 3: The Stroop effect demonstrates interference between which two cognitive processes?
- Attention and long-term memory
- Automatic word reading and controlled color naming (Correct answer)
- Phonological processing and semantic processing
- Perception and motor execution
Correct answer: Automatic word reading and controlled color naming
The Stroop task shows that automatic, overlearned word reading interferes with the more effortful, controlled process of naming ink color when they conflict.
Question 4: Spreading activation theory in semantic memory proposes that:
- Concepts are stored in separate, isolated modules
- Activating one concept automatically activates related concepts in a network (Correct answer)
- Only recently used concepts remain active
- Semantic categories are organized hierarchically by frequency
Correct answer: Activating one concept automatically activates related concepts in a network
Spreading activation theory posits that semantic concepts are nodes in a network, and activating one node sends activation to semantically linked nodes.
Question 5: Which problem-solving strategy guarantees finding the correct solution but is computationally expensive?
- Heuristic
- Algorithm (Correct answer)
- Analogy
- Means-end analysis
Correct answer: Algorithm
An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure that, when followed correctly, guarantees the correct solution, unlike heuristics which are shortcuts that may not always succeed.
Question 6: The concept of 'inattentional blindness' refers to:
- Failing to perceive an unexpected stimulus when attention is focused elsewhere (Correct answer)
- Blindness caused by damage to the visual attention network
- The inability to attend to more than one stimulus at a time
- Reduced visual acuity in peripheral vision
Correct answer: Failing to perceive an unexpected stimulus when attention is focused elsewhere
Inattentional blindness is the failure to notice an unexpected but fully visible object or event when attention is directed to something else, as shown in Simons and Chabris's gorilla experiment.
Question 7: Which stage of skill acquisition, according to Fitts and Posner's model, involves performance becoming fast, effortless, and automatic?
- Cognitive stage
- Associative stage
- Autonomous stage (Correct answer)
- Declarative stage
Correct answer: Autonomous stage
In the autonomous (procedural) stage, the skill requires minimal conscious attention and is executed rapidly and automatically after extensive practice.
BAPSY Cognitive Psychology and Processes 4
In Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory, losses are typically weighted how compared to equivalent gains?