PSY 316 Cognitive Psychology
Combined Midterm Exam
Review
Q1: Who is credited with conducting the first cognitive psychology experiment
using reaction time to measure mental processes?
A) Hermann Ebbinghaus
B) Wilhelm Wundt
C) Franciscus Donders
D) B.F. Skinner
Answer: C) Franciscus Donders
Rationale: Donders (1868) used the subtraction method—comparing simple RT to
choice RT—to infer the time it took to make a decision. Ebbinghaus studied
memory (A), Wundt founded structuralism (B), and Skinner was a behaviorist (D).
Q2: Ebbinghaus's "forgetting curve" demonstrates that:
A) Forgetting occurs at a constant rate over time.
B) Most forgetting occurs very rapidly after learning, then levels off.
C) Forgetting is entirely due to retroactive interference.
D) Memory improves with repeated testing.
Answer: B) Most forgetting occurs very rapidly after learning, then levels off.
Rationale: Ebbinghaus found a steep initial drop in retention within the first hour,
followed by a gradual leveling out. A is wrong because it is not constant; C is
wrong because forgetting has multiple causes; D describes the testing effect, not
Ebbinghaus's curve.
,Q3: The "Cognitive Revolution" was largely a reaction against which school of
thought?
A) Structuralism
B) Functionalism
C) Psychoanalysis
D) Behaviorism
Answer: D) Behaviorism
Rationale: Cognitivists rejected behaviorism's strict focus on observable Stimulus-
Response (S-R) relationships and argued that internal mental processes (the "black
box") must be studied. Structuralism (A) and functionalism (B) were earlier
schools that did use mentalistic terms.
Q4: Chomsky's critique of Skinner's "Verbal Behavior" argued that:
A) Language is learned purely through reinforcement.
B) Children cannot produce novel sentences.
C) Language acquisition cannot be explained by reinforcement alone.
D) Animals can acquire human language.
Answer: C) Language acquisition cannot be explained by reinforcement alone.
Rationale: Chomsky pointed out that children generate entirely novel sentences
they have never heard before, proving an innate cognitive mechanism. A is what
Skinner argued; B is false (children do produce novel sentences); D is irrelevant.
Q5: In the computer metaphor for cognition, the "hardware" refers to the:
A) Cognitive processes
B) Brain
C) Sensory input
D) Behavioral output
Answer: B) Brain
Rationale: The brain is the biological structure (hardware), while cognitive
,processes like memory and attention are the "software" (A). Sensory input (C) is
the input, and behavior (D) is the output.
Q6: Who used "nonsense syllables" (e.g., ZIF, QAX) to study memory?
A) Donders
B) Ebbinghaus
C) Tolman
D) Treisman
Answer: B) Ebbinghaus
Rationale: Ebbinghaus created nonsense syllables to control for prior knowledge
and study pure memory. Donders (A) studied RT; Tolman (C) studied cognitive
maps in rats; Treisman (D) studied attention.
Q7: Tolman's rat maze experiment demonstrated the concept of a:
A) Reinforcement schedule
B) Cognitive map
C) Conditioned response
D) Feature detector
Answer: B) Cognitive map
Rationale: Rats that learned a maze took alternative routes when blocked, proving
they had an internal mental representation (cognitive map), not just a sequence of
motor responses. A and C are behaviorist concepts; D is related to visual
perception.
Q8: The method of "introspection," used by Titchener, involved:
A) Measuring reaction times to stimuli.
B) Observing one's own conscious experiences.
C) Recording neural activity in the brain.
D) Observing animal behavior in mazes.
, Answer: B) Observing one's own conscious experiences.
Rationale: Titchener and Wundt used trained introspection to break down
conscious experience. A is Donders's method; C is modern neuroscience; D is
behaviorist.
Q9: Donders' subtraction method revealed that choice reaction time is
__________ than simple reaction time because:
A) Faster; it requires less attention.
B) Slower; it involves a decision-making process.
C) Faster; it uses automatic processing.
D) Slower; it involves sensory memory.
Answer: B) Slower; it involves a decision-making process.
Rationale: Choice RT (deciding which button to press) is slower than simple RT
(pressing a button when any light appears). The difference in time represents the
duration of the decision process. A and C are opposite; D is unrelated.
Q10: Which of the following is a core assumption of the Information Processing
Approach?
A) Mental processes cannot be studied scientifically.
B) The mind operates in stages between stimulus and response.
C) All behavior is determined by reinforcement history.
D) Consciousness is the only valid subject of study.
Answer: B) The mind operates in stages between stimulus and response.
Rationale: The IP approach views cognition as a sequence of processing stages
(e.g., input → perception → memory → output). A is false; C is behaviorism; D is
structuralism.
SECTION 2: PERCEPTION & PATTERN RECOGNITION (Q11–Q25)
Combined Midterm Exam
Review
Q1: Who is credited with conducting the first cognitive psychology experiment
using reaction time to measure mental processes?
A) Hermann Ebbinghaus
B) Wilhelm Wundt
C) Franciscus Donders
D) B.F. Skinner
Answer: C) Franciscus Donders
Rationale: Donders (1868) used the subtraction method—comparing simple RT to
choice RT—to infer the time it took to make a decision. Ebbinghaus studied
memory (A), Wundt founded structuralism (B), and Skinner was a behaviorist (D).
Q2: Ebbinghaus's "forgetting curve" demonstrates that:
A) Forgetting occurs at a constant rate over time.
B) Most forgetting occurs very rapidly after learning, then levels off.
C) Forgetting is entirely due to retroactive interference.
D) Memory improves with repeated testing.
Answer: B) Most forgetting occurs very rapidly after learning, then levels off.
Rationale: Ebbinghaus found a steep initial drop in retention within the first hour,
followed by a gradual leveling out. A is wrong because it is not constant; C is
wrong because forgetting has multiple causes; D describes the testing effect, not
Ebbinghaus's curve.
,Q3: The "Cognitive Revolution" was largely a reaction against which school of
thought?
A) Structuralism
B) Functionalism
C) Psychoanalysis
D) Behaviorism
Answer: D) Behaviorism
Rationale: Cognitivists rejected behaviorism's strict focus on observable Stimulus-
Response (S-R) relationships and argued that internal mental processes (the "black
box") must be studied. Structuralism (A) and functionalism (B) were earlier
schools that did use mentalistic terms.
Q4: Chomsky's critique of Skinner's "Verbal Behavior" argued that:
A) Language is learned purely through reinforcement.
B) Children cannot produce novel sentences.
C) Language acquisition cannot be explained by reinforcement alone.
D) Animals can acquire human language.
Answer: C) Language acquisition cannot be explained by reinforcement alone.
Rationale: Chomsky pointed out that children generate entirely novel sentences
they have never heard before, proving an innate cognitive mechanism. A is what
Skinner argued; B is false (children do produce novel sentences); D is irrelevant.
Q5: In the computer metaphor for cognition, the "hardware" refers to the:
A) Cognitive processes
B) Brain
C) Sensory input
D) Behavioral output
Answer: B) Brain
Rationale: The brain is the biological structure (hardware), while cognitive
,processes like memory and attention are the "software" (A). Sensory input (C) is
the input, and behavior (D) is the output.
Q6: Who used "nonsense syllables" (e.g., ZIF, QAX) to study memory?
A) Donders
B) Ebbinghaus
C) Tolman
D) Treisman
Answer: B) Ebbinghaus
Rationale: Ebbinghaus created nonsense syllables to control for prior knowledge
and study pure memory. Donders (A) studied RT; Tolman (C) studied cognitive
maps in rats; Treisman (D) studied attention.
Q7: Tolman's rat maze experiment demonstrated the concept of a:
A) Reinforcement schedule
B) Cognitive map
C) Conditioned response
D) Feature detector
Answer: B) Cognitive map
Rationale: Rats that learned a maze took alternative routes when blocked, proving
they had an internal mental representation (cognitive map), not just a sequence of
motor responses. A and C are behaviorist concepts; D is related to visual
perception.
Q8: The method of "introspection," used by Titchener, involved:
A) Measuring reaction times to stimuli.
B) Observing one's own conscious experiences.
C) Recording neural activity in the brain.
D) Observing animal behavior in mazes.
, Answer: B) Observing one's own conscious experiences.
Rationale: Titchener and Wundt used trained introspection to break down
conscious experience. A is Donders's method; C is modern neuroscience; D is
behaviorist.
Q9: Donders' subtraction method revealed that choice reaction time is
__________ than simple reaction time because:
A) Faster; it requires less attention.
B) Slower; it involves a decision-making process.
C) Faster; it uses automatic processing.
D) Slower; it involves sensory memory.
Answer: B) Slower; it involves a decision-making process.
Rationale: Choice RT (deciding which button to press) is slower than simple RT
(pressing a button when any light appears). The difference in time represents the
duration of the decision process. A and C are opposite; D is unrelated.
Q10: Which of the following is a core assumption of the Information Processing
Approach?
A) Mental processes cannot be studied scientifically.
B) The mind operates in stages between stimulus and response.
C) All behavior is determined by reinforcement history.
D) Consciousness is the only valid subject of study.
Answer: B) The mind operates in stages between stimulus and response.
Rationale: The IP approach views cognition as a sequence of processing stages
(e.g., input → perception → memory → output). A is false; C is behaviorism; D is
structuralism.
SECTION 2: PERCEPTION & PATTERN RECOGNITION (Q11–Q25)
