EPPP Cognitive-Affective Bases 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The 'mood congruency effect' in memory refers to the tendency to:
- Remember events that match one's current emotional state better (Correct answer)
- Forget negative events when in a positive mood
- Encode emotional memories in the amygdala exclusively
- Retrieve neutral information more accurately when anxious
Correct answer: Remember events that match one's current emotional state better
Mood congruency describes the advantage in encoding and retrieving material that matches one's current emotional state.
Question 2: Which model best describes Beck's cognitive triad in depression?
- Negative views of self, world, and future (Correct answer)
- Low arousal, negative affect, and behavioral withdrawal
- Learned helplessness, pessimism, and hopelessness
- Rumination, catastrophizing, and personalization
Correct answer: Negative views of self, world, and future
Beck's cognitive triad consists of negative automatic thoughts about oneself, the world (ongoing experiences), and the future.
Question 3: Dual-process theories of cognition distinguish between System 1 and System 2 thinking. Which pairing is correct?
- System 1 = slow, deliberate; System 2 = fast, automatic
- System 1 = fast, automatic; System 2 = slow, deliberate (Correct answer)
- System 1 = verbal; System 2 = visuospatial
- System 1 = conscious; System 2 = unconscious
Correct answer: System 1 = fast, automatic; System 2 = slow, deliberate
System 1 operates quickly and automatically with little effort, while System 2 allocates attention to effortful mental activities.
Question 4: The James-Lange theory of emotion proposes that emotions arise from:
- Cognitive appraisals that precede physiological change
- Simultaneous central and peripheral activation
- Perception of bodily changes following a stimulus (Correct answer)
- Thalamic signals sent simultaneously to cortex and body
Correct answer: Perception of bodily changes following a stimulus
James-Lange theory holds that people experience emotion as a result of perceiving their own physiological responses to stimuli (e.g., we feel fear because we tremble).
Question 5: Metacognition refers to:
- Unconscious processing of emotional stimuli
- Knowing about and regulating one's own cognitive processes (Correct answer)
- Automatic execution of overlearned behavioral sequences
- The capacity for episodic future thinking
Correct answer: Knowing about and regulating one's own cognitive processes
Metacognition encompasses awareness and control of one's own thinking, including planning, monitoring, and evaluating cognitive strategies.
Question 6: In emotion regulation, the strategy of 'situation selection' is best illustrated by:
- Reinterpreting a stressful meeting as a growth opportunity
- Leaving a party early to avoid social anxiety triggers (Correct answer)
- Deep breathing to reduce physiological arousal
- Suppressing outward signs of sadness during a difficult conversation
Correct answer: Leaving a party early to avoid social anxiety triggers
Situation selection involves choosing to enter or avoid environments based on their anticipated emotional impact.
Question 7: Which of the following best characterizes the concept of 'emotional granularity'?
- The intensity of emotional experience across different situations
- The ability to make fine-grained distinctions among one's emotional states (Correct answer)
- The speed with which emotions shift from positive to negative valence
- The tendency to blend emotional expressions in social contexts
Correct answer: The ability to make fine-grained distinctions among one's emotional states
Emotional granularity (or differentiation) refers to how specifically and precisely a person categorizes their emotional experiences.
EPPP Cognitive-Affective Bases 3
The 'mood congruency effect' in memory refers to the tendency to: