PSYC 355- Cognition Exam UPDATED
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
How is Dichotic Listening studied? - CORRECT ANSWER by asking people to wear
earphones; one message is presented to the left ear, and a different message is presented to the right
ear.
Summarize Kosslyn's classic research on distances in mental images and scanning times. Summarize
Paivio's research using mental clocks and the angles formed by the two clock hands. Do these
findings support the analog position or the propositional position? - CORRECT ANSWER
Kosslyn
-seems like ppl use analog code for simple figures, and propositional for more complex
-since storage for visual imagery is limited, its maybe easier to store verbal descriptions of complex
figures
-observers can locate similar, unanticipated shapes in their mental images
Research showed that ppl take a long time to scan between two widely separated points on a mental
image of a map that they had created, and quickly scanned btwn two close by points
-linear relationship between point distance and time to scan
Paivio did the same type of research, but with hands of a clock and how the distance btwn the 2 hands
affects the ability to scan btwn them
-participants also did standardized testing on their visual imagery ability... High imagery ppl
performed better on clock task
-this supports analog, not propositional
Shape of objects mentally are similar to physical shapes
Summarize the gender differences in spatial ability. What is a meta-analysis? - CORRECT ANSWER
most gender differences in cognitive abilities are small
Meta-analysis: statistical method for combining numerous studies on a single topic. Researchers begin
by locating all appropriate studies on a topic such as gender comparisons in verbal ability. Then they
perform a meta-analysis that combines the results of all these studies.
Meta-analyses of cognitive abilities by gender
-no significant diff in math or verbal ability
,-small diff in spatial ability
Spatial ability has many moving parts
1. Spatial visualization (small gender Diff here)
2. Spatial perception (moderate diff)
3. Mental rotation (mod-large diff)
Mental rotation is the only cognitive skill where men are more likely to perform better than women
but some studies also say theres no diff
-diff may be due to boys experience w toys and sports
-this one area of cognitive gender differences can be reduced by providing girls with experience and
training in spatial activities
Summarize the research findings on whether visual images interfere with visual perception and what
this finding means. Do these findings support the analog position or the propositional position? What
are demand characteristics, and how were they ruled out as an explanation of findings? - CORRECT
ANSWER -mental image can interfere w physical one
Visual imagery can interfere w visual perception
Ex. You can't picture a grilled cheese at the same time as you read the textbook
Study
-told ppl to picture a tree and then put a blue arrow in front of them to see if they would detect its
physical presence
-when making a mental image the participants had trouble picking up the physical one
-when told to come up with a sound in their head they had no trouble spotting the arrow
Study
-told participants to create a visual image of a set of narrow parallel lines. Next, they were instructed
to rotate their mental image of this set of lines, so that the lines were in a diagonal orientation.
Meanwhile, the researchers presented a physical stimulus, a small segment of a line. The participants
were told to judge whether this line segment had an exactly vertical orientation. The results showed
that the imagined set of lines and the real set of lines produced similar distortions in the participants'
judgments about the orientation of that line segment
-research in visual perception shows that ppl see a stim better if its surrounded by vertical lines around
it and for some reason the same thing works for mental imagery... ("masking effect")
-demand characteristics: all the cues that might give away the experimenter's hypothesis to the
participants
,-demand characteristics cannot account for the masking effect with mental images bc you wouldn't
expect it to be a thing
-people have especially good acuity for mental images that are visualized in the center of the retina,
rather than in the periphery; visual perception operates the same way
Do Demonstration 7.4. Define "cognitive maps" and "spatial cognition." Explain how the two terms
are related. What are heuristics, and how are they related to cognitive maps?
Comment: To appreciate the mental processes associated with cognitive maps, it is useful to create or
draw your own map. Use your current dwelling and the place where you work (or go to school) as the
two end points on your map. Then record as best you can the roads and landmarks that fall between
these two end points. When you are done, consult an actual map of the area in question, and note the
accuracies and inaccuracies in your map. - CORRECT ANSWER cognitive map: mental
representation of geographic information, including the environment that surrounds us
-looks at relationships between different objects
-we create a cognitive map by integrating the information that we have acquired from many
successive views
Emphasis on real world settings, research has high eco validity
Spatial cognition: primarily refers to three cognitive activities: (1) our thoughts about cognitive maps;
(2) how we remember the world we navigate; and (3) how we keep track of objects in a spatial array
Individual differences in spatial-cognition skills are quite large. However, people tend to be accurate
in judging their ability to find their way to unfamiliar locations ...your metacognition about your
spatial ability may be reasonably correct.
-individual differences in spatial cognition are correlated with people's scores on tests of the
visuospatial sketchpad
-people who are good at mental rotation are more skilled than others in using maps to find a particular
location
Our cognitive maps typically include survey knowledge, which is the relationship among locations
that we acquire by directly learning a map or by repeatedly exploring an environment
-Your cognitive map will be easier to judge and more accurate if you acquire spatial information from
a physical map that is oriented in the same direction that you are facing in your cognitive map.
, Cognitive maps represent 3 geographic attributes - shape, distance, relative position
-our cognitive maps are usually pretty accurate
-however, when mistakes are made they're due to rational strategy - mistakes reflect a tendency to
base our judgments on variables that are usually relevant. They also reflect a tendency to judge our
environment as being more well organized and orderly than it really is.
Heuristic: general problem-solving strategy
Describe the research of Barbara Tversky and her colleagues on the relative positions of geographical
locations. What is the rotation heuristic? What is the alignment heuristic? How are they different?
Comment: The concept of a heuristic, or processing strategy, is pervasive in cognitive psychology.
This concept is also dealt with in Chapter 12 when addressing decision-making. The idea of a
heuristic can be understood by contrasting it with an algorithm, which is a processing strategy
consisting of a sequence of steps that are guaranteed to produce the correct solution if followed
carefully. Algorithms are accurate, but they often consume much time and effort. Heuristics sacrifice
accuracy for speed. In other words, heuristics are generally faster than algorithms, but they are not as
accurate as algorithms. Why would people prefer speed over accuracy? One suggested explanation is
that we are "cognitive misers." That - CORRECT ANSWER Tversky
-we use heuristics when we represent relative positions in our mental maps, just like in real ones
-these heuristics involve 2 types of errors:
1. We remember a slightly tilted geographic structure as being either more vertical or more horizontal
than it really is (the rotation heuristic)
2. We remember a series of geographic structures as being arranged in a straighter line than they really
are (the alignment heuristic)
The rotation heuristic:
Ex. We look at Cali on a map and rotate it in our head to make it slightly more vertical than it really is
-you then may conclude that Reno is west of San Deigo since you see all of cali as being west of Reno
(see map for this ex to make more sense)
--69% of the students at a Bay Area university showed evidence of the rotation heuristic
Ex. You see all of Canada as being north of the US, even though there are some dips
The alignment heuristic:
We see geo locations as more lined up than they really are
Ex. Rome is N of Philadelphia but we might think the opposite
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
How is Dichotic Listening studied? - CORRECT ANSWER by asking people to wear
earphones; one message is presented to the left ear, and a different message is presented to the right
ear.
Summarize Kosslyn's classic research on distances in mental images and scanning times. Summarize
Paivio's research using mental clocks and the angles formed by the two clock hands. Do these
findings support the analog position or the propositional position? - CORRECT ANSWER
Kosslyn
-seems like ppl use analog code for simple figures, and propositional for more complex
-since storage for visual imagery is limited, its maybe easier to store verbal descriptions of complex
figures
-observers can locate similar, unanticipated shapes in their mental images
Research showed that ppl take a long time to scan between two widely separated points on a mental
image of a map that they had created, and quickly scanned btwn two close by points
-linear relationship between point distance and time to scan
Paivio did the same type of research, but with hands of a clock and how the distance btwn the 2 hands
affects the ability to scan btwn them
-participants also did standardized testing on their visual imagery ability... High imagery ppl
performed better on clock task
-this supports analog, not propositional
Shape of objects mentally are similar to physical shapes
Summarize the gender differences in spatial ability. What is a meta-analysis? - CORRECT ANSWER
most gender differences in cognitive abilities are small
Meta-analysis: statistical method for combining numerous studies on a single topic. Researchers begin
by locating all appropriate studies on a topic such as gender comparisons in verbal ability. Then they
perform a meta-analysis that combines the results of all these studies.
Meta-analyses of cognitive abilities by gender
-no significant diff in math or verbal ability
,-small diff in spatial ability
Spatial ability has many moving parts
1. Spatial visualization (small gender Diff here)
2. Spatial perception (moderate diff)
3. Mental rotation (mod-large diff)
Mental rotation is the only cognitive skill where men are more likely to perform better than women
but some studies also say theres no diff
-diff may be due to boys experience w toys and sports
-this one area of cognitive gender differences can be reduced by providing girls with experience and
training in spatial activities
Summarize the research findings on whether visual images interfere with visual perception and what
this finding means. Do these findings support the analog position or the propositional position? What
are demand characteristics, and how were they ruled out as an explanation of findings? - CORRECT
ANSWER -mental image can interfere w physical one
Visual imagery can interfere w visual perception
Ex. You can't picture a grilled cheese at the same time as you read the textbook
Study
-told ppl to picture a tree and then put a blue arrow in front of them to see if they would detect its
physical presence
-when making a mental image the participants had trouble picking up the physical one
-when told to come up with a sound in their head they had no trouble spotting the arrow
Study
-told participants to create a visual image of a set of narrow parallel lines. Next, they were instructed
to rotate their mental image of this set of lines, so that the lines were in a diagonal orientation.
Meanwhile, the researchers presented a physical stimulus, a small segment of a line. The participants
were told to judge whether this line segment had an exactly vertical orientation. The results showed
that the imagined set of lines and the real set of lines produced similar distortions in the participants'
judgments about the orientation of that line segment
-research in visual perception shows that ppl see a stim better if its surrounded by vertical lines around
it and for some reason the same thing works for mental imagery... ("masking effect")
-demand characteristics: all the cues that might give away the experimenter's hypothesis to the
participants
,-demand characteristics cannot account for the masking effect with mental images bc you wouldn't
expect it to be a thing
-people have especially good acuity for mental images that are visualized in the center of the retina,
rather than in the periphery; visual perception operates the same way
Do Demonstration 7.4. Define "cognitive maps" and "spatial cognition." Explain how the two terms
are related. What are heuristics, and how are they related to cognitive maps?
Comment: To appreciate the mental processes associated with cognitive maps, it is useful to create or
draw your own map. Use your current dwelling and the place where you work (or go to school) as the
two end points on your map. Then record as best you can the roads and landmarks that fall between
these two end points. When you are done, consult an actual map of the area in question, and note the
accuracies and inaccuracies in your map. - CORRECT ANSWER cognitive map: mental
representation of geographic information, including the environment that surrounds us
-looks at relationships between different objects
-we create a cognitive map by integrating the information that we have acquired from many
successive views
Emphasis on real world settings, research has high eco validity
Spatial cognition: primarily refers to three cognitive activities: (1) our thoughts about cognitive maps;
(2) how we remember the world we navigate; and (3) how we keep track of objects in a spatial array
Individual differences in spatial-cognition skills are quite large. However, people tend to be accurate
in judging their ability to find their way to unfamiliar locations ...your metacognition about your
spatial ability may be reasonably correct.
-individual differences in spatial cognition are correlated with people's scores on tests of the
visuospatial sketchpad
-people who are good at mental rotation are more skilled than others in using maps to find a particular
location
Our cognitive maps typically include survey knowledge, which is the relationship among locations
that we acquire by directly learning a map or by repeatedly exploring an environment
-Your cognitive map will be easier to judge and more accurate if you acquire spatial information from
a physical map that is oriented in the same direction that you are facing in your cognitive map.
, Cognitive maps represent 3 geographic attributes - shape, distance, relative position
-our cognitive maps are usually pretty accurate
-however, when mistakes are made they're due to rational strategy - mistakes reflect a tendency to
base our judgments on variables that are usually relevant. They also reflect a tendency to judge our
environment as being more well organized and orderly than it really is.
Heuristic: general problem-solving strategy
Describe the research of Barbara Tversky and her colleagues on the relative positions of geographical
locations. What is the rotation heuristic? What is the alignment heuristic? How are they different?
Comment: The concept of a heuristic, or processing strategy, is pervasive in cognitive psychology.
This concept is also dealt with in Chapter 12 when addressing decision-making. The idea of a
heuristic can be understood by contrasting it with an algorithm, which is a processing strategy
consisting of a sequence of steps that are guaranteed to produce the correct solution if followed
carefully. Algorithms are accurate, but they often consume much time and effort. Heuristics sacrifice
accuracy for speed. In other words, heuristics are generally faster than algorithms, but they are not as
accurate as algorithms. Why would people prefer speed over accuracy? One suggested explanation is
that we are "cognitive misers." That - CORRECT ANSWER Tversky
-we use heuristics when we represent relative positions in our mental maps, just like in real ones
-these heuristics involve 2 types of errors:
1. We remember a slightly tilted geographic structure as being either more vertical or more horizontal
than it really is (the rotation heuristic)
2. We remember a series of geographic structures as being arranged in a straighter line than they really
are (the alignment heuristic)
The rotation heuristic:
Ex. We look at Cali on a map and rotate it in our head to make it slightly more vertical than it really is
-you then may conclude that Reno is west of San Deigo since you see all of cali as being west of Reno
(see map for this ex to make more sense)
--69% of the students at a Bay Area university showed evidence of the rotation heuristic
Ex. You see all of Canada as being north of the US, even though there are some dips
The alignment heuristic:
We see geo locations as more lined up than they really are
Ex. Rome is N of Philadelphia but we might think the opposite
