WGU D570 Cognitive Psychology –
Foundations of Cognitive Psychology
1. What is the primary focus of cognitive psychology?
A. Observable behavior only
B. Mental processes involved in acquiring and using information
C. The treatment of neurological disorders
D. The study of social institutions
Correct Answer: B – Mental processes involved in acquiring and using information
2. Which mental process is most directly concerned with selecting information for
further processing?
A. Attention
B. Conditioning
C. Reflex action
D. Motor coordination
Correct Answer: A – Attention
3. Cognitive psychology is most broadly concerned with how people:
A. Grow physically
B. Process, store, and use information
C. Develop muscle strength
D. Respond only to rewards
Correct Answer: B – Process, store, and use information
4. Which of the following is an example of a cognitive process?
A. Digesting food
,B. Remembering a phone number
C. Pumping blood
D. Sweating
Correct Answer: B – Remembering a phone number
5. The scope of cognitive psychology includes the study of:
A. Only memory
B. Only perception
C. Mental processes such as attention, memory, language, and reasoning
D. Only observable motor behavior
Correct Answer: C – Mental processes such as attention, memory, language, and
reasoning
6. A researcher studying how people recognize familiar faces is primarily
investigating:
A. Cognition
B. Classical conditioning
C. Homeostasis
D. Muscle physiology
Correct Answer: A – Cognition
7. Which question would be most appropriate for a cognitive psychologist?
A. How does the heart regulate blood pressure?
B. How do people encode and retrieve memories?
C. How do bones repair themselves?
D. How does digestion begin?
Correct Answer: B – How do people encode and retrieve memories
8. Cognitive psychology differs from many purely biological approaches because it
emphasizes:
, A. Mental representations and information processing
B. Blood chemistry alone
C. Reflexes alone
D. Physical growth alone
Correct Answer: A – Mental representations and information processing
9. Which area is generally considered part of cognitive psychology?
A. Problem solving
B. Bone formation
C. Kidney filtration
D. Hormone secretion
Correct Answer: A – Problem solving
10. A cognitive psychologist interested in language would most likely examine:
A. How people understand and produce words
B. How lungs exchange gases
C. How muscles contract
D. How the liver stores glycogen
Correct Answer: A – How people understand and produce words
11. Which statement best describes the historical roots of cognitive psychology?
A. It developed entirely without influence from earlier disciplines
B. It drew on philosophy, experimental psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience
C. It originated exclusively in medicine
D. It began only after the invention of computers
Correct Answer: B – It drew on philosophy, experimental psychology, linguistics, and
neuroscience
12. Before the cognitive revolution, which approach dominated American
psychology for much of the early 20th century?
Foundations of Cognitive Psychology
1. What is the primary focus of cognitive psychology?
A. Observable behavior only
B. Mental processes involved in acquiring and using information
C. The treatment of neurological disorders
D. The study of social institutions
Correct Answer: B – Mental processes involved in acquiring and using information
2. Which mental process is most directly concerned with selecting information for
further processing?
A. Attention
B. Conditioning
C. Reflex action
D. Motor coordination
Correct Answer: A – Attention
3. Cognitive psychology is most broadly concerned with how people:
A. Grow physically
B. Process, store, and use information
C. Develop muscle strength
D. Respond only to rewards
Correct Answer: B – Process, store, and use information
4. Which of the following is an example of a cognitive process?
A. Digesting food
,B. Remembering a phone number
C. Pumping blood
D. Sweating
Correct Answer: B – Remembering a phone number
5. The scope of cognitive psychology includes the study of:
A. Only memory
B. Only perception
C. Mental processes such as attention, memory, language, and reasoning
D. Only observable motor behavior
Correct Answer: C – Mental processes such as attention, memory, language, and
reasoning
6. A researcher studying how people recognize familiar faces is primarily
investigating:
A. Cognition
B. Classical conditioning
C. Homeostasis
D. Muscle physiology
Correct Answer: A – Cognition
7. Which question would be most appropriate for a cognitive psychologist?
A. How does the heart regulate blood pressure?
B. How do people encode and retrieve memories?
C. How do bones repair themselves?
D. How does digestion begin?
Correct Answer: B – How do people encode and retrieve memories
8. Cognitive psychology differs from many purely biological approaches because it
emphasizes:
, A. Mental representations and information processing
B. Blood chemistry alone
C. Reflexes alone
D. Physical growth alone
Correct Answer: A – Mental representations and information processing
9. Which area is generally considered part of cognitive psychology?
A. Problem solving
B. Bone formation
C. Kidney filtration
D. Hormone secretion
Correct Answer: A – Problem solving
10. A cognitive psychologist interested in language would most likely examine:
A. How people understand and produce words
B. How lungs exchange gases
C. How muscles contract
D. How the liver stores glycogen
Correct Answer: A – How people understand and produce words
11. Which statement best describes the historical roots of cognitive psychology?
A. It developed entirely without influence from earlier disciplines
B. It drew on philosophy, experimental psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience
C. It originated exclusively in medicine
D. It began only after the invention of computers
Correct Answer: B – It drew on philosophy, experimental psychology, linguistics, and
neuroscience
12. Before the cognitive revolution, which approach dominated American
psychology for much of the early 20th century?
