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PSYCH 240 Cognitive Psychology Study Guide | Exam 1 Practice Questions 2026/2027

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Ace your PSYCH 240 Cognitive Psychology Exam 1 preparation with this focused study guide designed to support effective review and strengthen your understanding of foundational cognitive psychology concepts. This resource provides structured practice questions covering the history and development of cognitive psychology, structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, introspection, memory, mental processes, information processing, and major psychological perspectives. Ideal for Delaware State University psychology students seeking an organized 2026/2027 learning resource to reinforce key concepts and prepare effectively for Exam 1.

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PSYCH 240 Exam 1 Questions & Answers
Long-term learning vs. short-term performance Long-Term Learning:
-Improvement that lasts
-Visible in any context

Short-Term Performance:
-Immediate improvement
-Visible in practice context


Simon & Bjork press experiment Key Patterns:
Group 1
-master and then move on

Group 2
-randomized practice

Result
-Group 1 had less errors in practice
-Group 1 predicted less errors in both practice and after
-Group 2 had less errors when tested later by a significant margin


Intuitions about what study strategies will be most effective wrong
are often _______



Is highlighting/underlining common? yes, it is very common




Fowler & Barker study & results Highlighting

Tested on article material

G1: Reads the article
G2: Reads and highlights the article
G3: Reads the highlighted article

Highlighting didn't help


Peterson study & results Highlighting

Tested on article material

G1:
Initially underline article
Review marked article

G2:
Initially underline article
Review clean article

G3:
Initially no underlining
Review clean article

Factual material:
all performed the same

Conceptual material:
Students who underlined did worse


2 reasons highlighting isn't effective 1. Highlighting may cause us to focus on ISOLATED FACTS and ignore bigger
connections

2. Students may struggle to distinguish CENTRAL ideas from PERIPHERAL
information


Is rereading common? Yes, it is extremely common

, PSYCH 240 Exam 1 Questions & Answers
Rothkopf study & results Rereading

Asked to fill in missing words of article

G1: never read before
G2: read once before
G3: read twice before
G4: read 4x before

after 2 exposures, no increase in comprehension as you read more


3 problem with rereading 1. Doesn't improve COMPREHENSION or performance on INFERENCE-BASED
questions

2. Rereading a SECOND OR THIRD time doesn't help

3. Can give students the MISTAKEN IMPRESSION that they've mastered the
material


How are people who use rereading deceived? Recall:
Who were the last three vice presidents?
1. ____________
2. ____________
3. ____________

Recognition:
Which of these were the last three vice presidents?
-Dick Cheney
-John McCain
-Elizabeth Warren
-Mike Pence
-Nancy Pelosi
-Mitt Romney
-Joe Biden


Generating explanations Coming up with explanations for why concepts are true, or how they relate to what
you already know



Presley study & results Generating explanations

The strong man carried a shovel. The toothless man wrote a check.

G1: NO explanation
G2: GIVEN explanation
G3: GENERATE explanation

The group who GENERATED their own explanations performed about twice as well
as the other groups


Interleaved practice Mix up problems and jump back and forth from one topic to another




Blocked practice Study one topic until you have mastered it and then move on to the next topic




Roher & Taylor study & results Interleaved practice

Learning volume formulas

Blocked group
vs
Interleaved group

-Blocked group was better in practice
-Interleaved group had better accuracy when tested at the end

, PSYCH 240 Exam 1 Questions & Answers
Distributed practice/spacing Spreading out your study over time with breaks




Bahrick study & results Distributed practice

G1: 6 sessions in 1 day
G2: 6 sessions in 6 days
G3: 6 sessions in 6 months

Final test one month from last study session

-G1 had best performance in practice, worst in final test
-G3 had best performance in final tes


Testing One of the most effective ways to learn




Butler study & results Testing

Phase 1: Study text passages
Phase 2:
-G1: Test on half of the passages
-G2: Re-study half of the passages
Phase 3: Test on all of the passages after a week

Practice Tests performed better in every category


Ways to use TESTING to study more effectively 1. Don't just REREAD
2. Have a FRIEND quiz you
3. Make FLASHCARDS
4. Use the CORNELL NOTE-TAKING SYSTEM


Low effectiveness study methods Highlighting & Rereading




Moderate effectiveness study methods Generating questions & Interleaved practice




High effectiveness study methods Distributed practice vs Testing




Desirable Difficulties -VARYING the conditions of learning
-INTERLEAVING instruction on separate topics
-SPACING study sessions on a given topic
-Using TESTS as study events


Varying the conditions of practice Children who practiced at varying distances throwing a ball were better when tested
at a random distance than children who practiced at one distance

Varying environmental setting in which studying happens


Spaced study/practice vs massed Spaced practice benefit long-term retention

Can produce good exam performance AND good long-term retention as opposed to
just maybe producing good exam performance


Seeming better vs actually being better People in Bjork's art differentiation study thought they did better after blocked
practice, when they actually did better after interleaved

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