FINAL EXAM- PSYC 355- COGNITION UPDATED ACTUAL
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Question:
How is Dichotic Listening studied?
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.
Question:
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?
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
Question:
Summarize the gender differences in spatial ability. What is a meta-analysis?
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
,Question:
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?
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
Question:
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?
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
Question:
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.
,Answer:
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 that
usually produces a correct solution ...but not always
-ppl often use heuristics when making judgements in cognitive maps + As a result, they tend to show
systematic distortions in distance, shape, and relative position.
Question:
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?
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
Question:
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 is, as
a general rule, we tend to conserve our resources and expend as little as possible in the pursuit of a goal
because we have limited cognitive resources. Since algorithms require more cognitive resources than we
can afford to spend, we therefore use heuristics to conserve resources.
, Answer:
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 78% judged Philadelphia to be north of Rome
-cities in Northern US vs Southern Europe so we assume Phillie is higher
the rotation heuristic requires rotating a single coastline, country, building, or other figure in a clockwise or
counterclockwise fashion so that its border is oriented in a nearly vertical or a nearly horizontal direction.
In contrast, the alignment heuristic requires lining up several separate countries, buildings, or other figures
in a straight row. Both heuristics are similar, however, because they encourage us to construct cognitive
maps that are more orderly and schematic than geographic reality.
-when our mental maps rely too strongly on these heuristics, we miss the important details that make each
stimulus unique. When our top-down cognitive processes are too active, we fail to pay enough attention to
bottom-up information. In fact, the angle at an intersection may really be 70 degrees.
Question:
Do Demonstration 12.1. Define the "propositional calculus." Given the statement, "If it is sunny, then it
must be hot," specify the following types of conditional reasoning situations. affirming the antecedent
affirming the consequent denying the antecedent denying the consequent
Answer:
propositional calculus: a system for categorizing the four kinds of reasoning used in analyzing propositions
or statements.
-antecedent: first proposition or statement; the antecedent is contained in the "if..." part of the sentence
-consequent: the proposition that comes second; it is the consequence. The consequent is contained in the
"then..." part of the sentence.
Question:
Which of the above will lead to a valid conclusion, and of those two, which is the most difficult to solve?
What is dual process theory?
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Question:
How is Dichotic Listening studied?
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.
Question:
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?
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
Question:
Summarize the gender differences in spatial ability. What is a meta-analysis?
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
,Question:
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?
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
Question:
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?
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
Question:
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.
,Answer:
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 that
usually produces a correct solution ...but not always
-ppl often use heuristics when making judgements in cognitive maps + As a result, they tend to show
systematic distortions in distance, shape, and relative position.
Question:
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?
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
Question:
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 is, as
a general rule, we tend to conserve our resources and expend as little as possible in the pursuit of a goal
because we have limited cognitive resources. Since algorithms require more cognitive resources than we
can afford to spend, we therefore use heuristics to conserve resources.
, Answer:
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 78% judged Philadelphia to be north of Rome
-cities in Northern US vs Southern Europe so we assume Phillie is higher
the rotation heuristic requires rotating a single coastline, country, building, or other figure in a clockwise or
counterclockwise fashion so that its border is oriented in a nearly vertical or a nearly horizontal direction.
In contrast, the alignment heuristic requires lining up several separate countries, buildings, or other figures
in a straight row. Both heuristics are similar, however, because they encourage us to construct cognitive
maps that are more orderly and schematic than geographic reality.
-when our mental maps rely too strongly on these heuristics, we miss the important details that make each
stimulus unique. When our top-down cognitive processes are too active, we fail to pay enough attention to
bottom-up information. In fact, the angle at an intersection may really be 70 degrees.
Question:
Do Demonstration 12.1. Define the "propositional calculus." Given the statement, "If it is sunny, then it
must be hot," specify the following types of conditional reasoning situations. affirming the antecedent
affirming the consequent denying the antecedent denying the consequent
Answer:
propositional calculus: a system for categorizing the four kinds of reasoning used in analyzing propositions
or statements.
-antecedent: first proposition or statement; the antecedent is contained in the "if..." part of the sentence
-consequent: the proposition that comes second; it is the consequence. The consequent is contained in the
"then..." part of the sentence.
Question:
Which of the above will lead to a valid conclusion, and of those two, which is the most difficult to solve?
What is dual process theory?
