WGU D570 COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY OA
ACTUAL EXAM PAPER 2026 QUESTIONS WITH
ANSWERS GRADED A+
● What is mental imagery? Answer: The ability to recreate sensory
information without physical stimuli
● What is a component of psychosocial development? Answer:
Personality
● A child reads the following incorrect sentence: "The car was traveling
down the hills were beautiful." Which cognitive process illustrates
casual inference? Answer: The child infers that the hills being beautiful
are caused by the motion of the moving car
● Which conversation between two students demonstrates the process of
entrainment? Answer: The students both start speaking loudly and
gesturing.
● Which cortex of the frontal lobe is activated when someone
determines whether another person appears to be physically attractive?
Answer: Frontal Cortex
,● What is the the electrical impulse fired down the axon of a neuron?
Answer: Action Potential
● Which part of a neuron transports an electrical signal? Answer: Axon
● Which types of tasks have revealed cognitive deficits in people with a
substance abuse disorder? Answer: Working Memory Tests
● Which example shows how sensory memory results in the persistence
of vision when watching fireworks? Answer: Fireworks appear as
falling trails of light due to iconic memories lasting fractions of a
second.
● Which explanation shows how multiple forms of memory would
contribute to effective execution of a mental math problem? Answer:
Numbers are held in short-term memory and manipulations are
conducted on the numbers in working memory when solving the math
problem.
● Which scenario exemplifies how the articulatory rehearsal process
contributes to a student's short-term memory for course lecture material,
according to Baddeley's model? Answer: The student repeats silently
what their instructor has said before writing it down.
● A person is trying to recall the names of a set of seven actors whose
pictures were briefly presented upside down. What explains how the
,episodic buffer enhances working memory in this scenario? Answer:
The episodic buffer connects with long-term memory of the actors' faces
and names, bringing content into working memory.
● How does activity-silent working memory help performance on
mental rotation problems? Answer: Strengthening of connections
between neurons helps performance on mental rotation problems
● How is the primacy effect related to attention for a set of words
presented sequentially? Answer: The first word presented receives the
persons full attention.
● Which example shows Westmacott and Moscovitch's concept of
autobiographically significant semantic memories? Answer: Person
recalls the name of the actor that they saw in the airport years ago.
● A person is studying a list of types of fish for a wildlife test that will
occur in one week. Which example illustrates the combined long-term
memory encoding strategies of visual imagery and organization?
Answer: The person imagines each fish on a tree structure corresponding
to categories of fish types.
● A person is studying a list of names of pastries for their new job at a
bakery. Which example shows the interaction between the deep
processing strategies of generation and self-reference? Answer: The
, person creates flashcards for the names of the pastries, pairing each with
an estimate of how appetizing the pastry appears.
● A person surprises themself in recalling the name of an artist most
have not heard of. Which process occurs when the person tries to
remember how they learned that fact? Answer: Source monitoring
● Researchers Robert Nash and Kimberley Wade ran an experiment in
which participants played a gambling game on a computer and were
later shown a modified video of themselves cheating. What did this
experiment reveal about false confessions? Answer: Participants
confessed to cheating after being shown the modified video, even though
they did not recall cheating indicating the power of suggestive
questioning and tactics
● Which example reflects the impact of the self-image hypothesis?
Answer: A person remembers graduating from law school
● What is a primary concern of behaviorism according to John Watson?
Answer: Identifying the relationship between environmental stimuli and
behavior
● Which concept supports the paired-associate learning results?
Answer: Conceptual peg hypothesis
ACTUAL EXAM PAPER 2026 QUESTIONS WITH
ANSWERS GRADED A+
● What is mental imagery? Answer: The ability to recreate sensory
information without physical stimuli
● What is a component of psychosocial development? Answer:
Personality
● A child reads the following incorrect sentence: "The car was traveling
down the hills were beautiful." Which cognitive process illustrates
casual inference? Answer: The child infers that the hills being beautiful
are caused by the motion of the moving car
● Which conversation between two students demonstrates the process of
entrainment? Answer: The students both start speaking loudly and
gesturing.
● Which cortex of the frontal lobe is activated when someone
determines whether another person appears to be physically attractive?
Answer: Frontal Cortex
,● What is the the electrical impulse fired down the axon of a neuron?
Answer: Action Potential
● Which part of a neuron transports an electrical signal? Answer: Axon
● Which types of tasks have revealed cognitive deficits in people with a
substance abuse disorder? Answer: Working Memory Tests
● Which example shows how sensory memory results in the persistence
of vision when watching fireworks? Answer: Fireworks appear as
falling trails of light due to iconic memories lasting fractions of a
second.
● Which explanation shows how multiple forms of memory would
contribute to effective execution of a mental math problem? Answer:
Numbers are held in short-term memory and manipulations are
conducted on the numbers in working memory when solving the math
problem.
● Which scenario exemplifies how the articulatory rehearsal process
contributes to a student's short-term memory for course lecture material,
according to Baddeley's model? Answer: The student repeats silently
what their instructor has said before writing it down.
● A person is trying to recall the names of a set of seven actors whose
pictures were briefly presented upside down. What explains how the
,episodic buffer enhances working memory in this scenario? Answer:
The episodic buffer connects with long-term memory of the actors' faces
and names, bringing content into working memory.
● How does activity-silent working memory help performance on
mental rotation problems? Answer: Strengthening of connections
between neurons helps performance on mental rotation problems
● How is the primacy effect related to attention for a set of words
presented sequentially? Answer: The first word presented receives the
persons full attention.
● Which example shows Westmacott and Moscovitch's concept of
autobiographically significant semantic memories? Answer: Person
recalls the name of the actor that they saw in the airport years ago.
● A person is studying a list of types of fish for a wildlife test that will
occur in one week. Which example illustrates the combined long-term
memory encoding strategies of visual imagery and organization?
Answer: The person imagines each fish on a tree structure corresponding
to categories of fish types.
● A person is studying a list of names of pastries for their new job at a
bakery. Which example shows the interaction between the deep
processing strategies of generation and self-reference? Answer: The
, person creates flashcards for the names of the pastries, pairing each with
an estimate of how appetizing the pastry appears.
● A person surprises themself in recalling the name of an artist most
have not heard of. Which process occurs when the person tries to
remember how they learned that fact? Answer: Source monitoring
● Researchers Robert Nash and Kimberley Wade ran an experiment in
which participants played a gambling game on a computer and were
later shown a modified video of themselves cheating. What did this
experiment reveal about false confessions? Answer: Participants
confessed to cheating after being shown the modified video, even though
they did not recall cheating indicating the power of suggestive
questioning and tactics
● Which example reflects the impact of the self-image hypothesis?
Answer: A person remembers graduating from law school
● What is a primary concern of behaviorism according to John Watson?
Answer: Identifying the relationship between environmental stimuli and
behavior
● Which concept supports the paired-associate learning results?
Answer: Conceptual peg hypothesis
