WGU D570 Cognitive Psychology Exam — 2026/2027
Study Update
250 QUESTIONS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
# TOPIC
1 WGU D570 Cognitive Psychology Exam — 2026/2027 Study Update
,Q1
Which event is widely considered the founding moment of cognitive psychology as a distinct
discipline?
A) The publication of Skinner's "Verbal Behavior"
B) The 1956 MIT Symposium on Information Theory CORRECT
C) The publication of Watson's behaviorist manifesto
D) The founding of the American Psychological Association
Rationale
The 1956 MIT Symposium on Information Theory is widely regarded as the birth of cognitive psychology
because it brought together researchers like Miller, Chomsky, and Newell who presented foundational
work on memory, language, and problem-solving that shifted psychology away from behaviorism.
Q2
Who is credited with proposing the concept of the "magical number seven, plus or minus two" in
short-term memory?
A) Ulric Neisser
B) George Miller CORRECT
C) Herbert Simon
D) Noam Chomsky
Rationale
George Miller's 1956 paper "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two" established that short-term
memory capacity is limited to approximately seven items, a foundational concept in cognitive psychology.
Q3
The cognitive revolution was primarily a response to which dominant school of thought?
A) Psychoanalysis
B) Gestalt psychology
C) Behaviorism CORRECT
D) Humanism
2
,Rationale
The cognitive revolution emerged as a response to behaviorism's rejection of internal mental processes,
arguing that mental states and information processing could be studied scientifically.
Q4
Which of the following best describes the information-processing approach in cognitive
psychology?
A) The mind is a blank slate shaped by reinforcement
B) The mind is analogous to a computer that encodes, stores, and retrieves CORRECT
information
C) The mind is driven primarily by unconscious desires
D) The mind cannot be studied scientifically
Rationale
The information-processing approach models the mind as a system that takes in input, processes it
through various stages (encoding, storage, retrieval), and produces output, similar to a computer.
Q5
Who proposed the concept of the "cognitive map" through studies of rat maze learning?
A) B.F. Skinner
B) Edward Tolman CORRECT
C) John Watson
D) Clark Hull
Rationale
Edward Tolman demonstrated that rats develop internal mental representations (cognitive maps) of their
environment, providing early evidence against strict behaviorist explanations.
3
, Q6
Which method did Donders use to study mental processes?
A) Introspection
B) Reaction time measurement CORRECT
C) Functional magnetic resonance imaging
D) Electroencephalography
Rationale
Franciscus Donders pioneered the use of reaction time measurement to infer the duration of mental
processes, demonstrating that mental events take measurable time and can be studied objectively.
Q7
What is the primary limitation of introspection as a research method?
A) It is too expensive
B) It lacks objectivity and verifiability CORRECT
C) It requires advanced technology
D) It cannot be used with human participants
Rationale
Introspection relies on participants' subjective reports of their own mental experiences, which cannot be
independently verified or replicated, making it unreliable as a scientific method.
Q8
Which of the following is a key assumption of the cognitive approach?
A) Mental processes cannot be studied scientifically
B) Mental processes can be inferred from observable behavior CORRECT
C) Only observable behavior should be studied
D) Unconscious conflicts drive all behavior
4
Study Update
250 QUESTIONS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
# TOPIC
1 WGU D570 Cognitive Psychology Exam — 2026/2027 Study Update
,Q1
Which event is widely considered the founding moment of cognitive psychology as a distinct
discipline?
A) The publication of Skinner's "Verbal Behavior"
B) The 1956 MIT Symposium on Information Theory CORRECT
C) The publication of Watson's behaviorist manifesto
D) The founding of the American Psychological Association
Rationale
The 1956 MIT Symposium on Information Theory is widely regarded as the birth of cognitive psychology
because it brought together researchers like Miller, Chomsky, and Newell who presented foundational
work on memory, language, and problem-solving that shifted psychology away from behaviorism.
Q2
Who is credited with proposing the concept of the "magical number seven, plus or minus two" in
short-term memory?
A) Ulric Neisser
B) George Miller CORRECT
C) Herbert Simon
D) Noam Chomsky
Rationale
George Miller's 1956 paper "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two" established that short-term
memory capacity is limited to approximately seven items, a foundational concept in cognitive psychology.
Q3
The cognitive revolution was primarily a response to which dominant school of thought?
A) Psychoanalysis
B) Gestalt psychology
C) Behaviorism CORRECT
D) Humanism
2
,Rationale
The cognitive revolution emerged as a response to behaviorism's rejection of internal mental processes,
arguing that mental states and information processing could be studied scientifically.
Q4
Which of the following best describes the information-processing approach in cognitive
psychology?
A) The mind is a blank slate shaped by reinforcement
B) The mind is analogous to a computer that encodes, stores, and retrieves CORRECT
information
C) The mind is driven primarily by unconscious desires
D) The mind cannot be studied scientifically
Rationale
The information-processing approach models the mind as a system that takes in input, processes it
through various stages (encoding, storage, retrieval), and produces output, similar to a computer.
Q5
Who proposed the concept of the "cognitive map" through studies of rat maze learning?
A) B.F. Skinner
B) Edward Tolman CORRECT
C) John Watson
D) Clark Hull
Rationale
Edward Tolman demonstrated that rats develop internal mental representations (cognitive maps) of their
environment, providing early evidence against strict behaviorist explanations.
3
, Q6
Which method did Donders use to study mental processes?
A) Introspection
B) Reaction time measurement CORRECT
C) Functional magnetic resonance imaging
D) Electroencephalography
Rationale
Franciscus Donders pioneered the use of reaction time measurement to infer the duration of mental
processes, demonstrating that mental events take measurable time and can be studied objectively.
Q7
What is the primary limitation of introspection as a research method?
A) It is too expensive
B) It lacks objectivity and verifiability CORRECT
C) It requires advanced technology
D) It cannot be used with human participants
Rationale
Introspection relies on participants' subjective reports of their own mental experiences, which cannot be
independently verified or replicated, making it unreliable as a scientific method.
Q8
Which of the following is a key assumption of the cognitive approach?
A) Mental processes cannot be studied scientifically
B) Mental processes can be inferred from observable behavior CORRECT
C) Only observable behavior should be studied
D) Unconscious conflicts drive all behavior
4
