PSYC 420 Exam 1 Complete Questions
With Verified Answers
\.Sternberg's contribution to the idea of cognition as information processing was important
because:
a. Sternberg manipulated the size of the memory set to discover how many items could be
maintained in working memory.
b. Sternberg was the first to use both letters and numbers as stimuli in a single experiment.
c. Sternberg was the first to include the use of "foils" as well as "targets" in cognitive psychology
experiments.
d. Sternberg provided a method for measuring individual processing steps by breaking down
total response time . - Answer-✔d. Sternberg provided a method for measuring individual
processing steps by breaking down total response time
\.When identifying nonword letter-strings that are presented very briefly, participants tend to
make specific kinds of errors. How would these errors be best described?
a. They are unable to identify any letters if the string is a nonword.
b. They identify many of the letters correctly but tend to incorrectly identify the vowels.
c. They tend to misidentify uncommmon letter combinations as more common letter
combinations.
d. They misidentify more common letter combinations as less common letter pairs. - Answer-
✔c. They tend to misidentify uncommmon letter combinations as more common letter
combinations.
,\.The tarsier has eyes packed with rod photoreceptors. What can you infer about tarsiers from
this?
a. Tarsiers depend on very specifically colored flowers for food.
b. Tarsiers are nocturnal.
c. Tarsiers are small.
d. Tarsiers see ultraviolet light. - Answer-✔b. Tarsiers are nocturnal.
\.Mike has damage to his hindbrain. He is likely to experience problems with which of the
following?
a. planned motor activity
b. perception and visual imagery
c. rhythm of breathing, level of alertness, and posture
d. complex thought and long-term memory - Answer-✔c. rhythm of breathing, level of
alertness, and posture
\.Which of the following is true?
a. fMRI indirectly measures brain activity by showing the signal given by blood cells consumed
by recently fired neurons
b. EEG is a measure of activity that shows the amount of hemoglobin in neurons that reach their
action potentials
c. fMRI directly measures brain activity by charting the electricity in neurons firing
d. EEG measures chemical activation in the subcortical structures of the brain - Answer-✔b. EEG
is a measure of activity that shows the amount of hemoglobin in neurons that reach their action
potentials
, \.The technical term for talking to yourself when rehearsing verbal material is
a. vocal memory.
b. schizophrenia.
c. subvocalization.
d. subconscious reading. - Answer-✔c. subvocalization.
\.Leila has an uninjured brain and eyes. Leila is wearing an eyepatch over her left eye, so she
cannot see anything out of that eye. Her right eye is open and can see clearly and is looking
straight ahead. The experimenter flashes an image of a dog into her left visual field. Where does
the visual signal containing the information about the dog go to from her eye?
a. It goes to both hemispheres simultaneously. The information is "shared" via her corpus
callosum.
b. It goes to her right hemisphere first. The information is "shared" with the left hemisphere via
her corpus callosum.
c. It goes to her right hemisphere first. She will be able to point to a dog to say what she saw,
but will not be able to verbalize that she saw a dog.
d. It goes to her left hemisphere first. The information is "shared" with the right hemisphere via
her corpus callosum. - Answer-✔b. It goes to her right hemisphere first. The information is
"shared" with the left hemisphere via her corpus callosum.
\.A neuron's initial, internal response to an incoming signal can vary in size. The ultimate,
external response of the cell, however, does not vary in size. If the signal is sent, it is always of
the same magnitude. This effect is called the
a. all-or-none law
b. whole-firing potential.
c. uniform response law.
With Verified Answers
\.Sternberg's contribution to the idea of cognition as information processing was important
because:
a. Sternberg manipulated the size of the memory set to discover how many items could be
maintained in working memory.
b. Sternberg was the first to use both letters and numbers as stimuli in a single experiment.
c. Sternberg was the first to include the use of "foils" as well as "targets" in cognitive psychology
experiments.
d. Sternberg provided a method for measuring individual processing steps by breaking down
total response time . - Answer-✔d. Sternberg provided a method for measuring individual
processing steps by breaking down total response time
\.When identifying nonword letter-strings that are presented very briefly, participants tend to
make specific kinds of errors. How would these errors be best described?
a. They are unable to identify any letters if the string is a nonword.
b. They identify many of the letters correctly but tend to incorrectly identify the vowels.
c. They tend to misidentify uncommmon letter combinations as more common letter
combinations.
d. They misidentify more common letter combinations as less common letter pairs. - Answer-
✔c. They tend to misidentify uncommmon letter combinations as more common letter
combinations.
,\.The tarsier has eyes packed with rod photoreceptors. What can you infer about tarsiers from
this?
a. Tarsiers depend on very specifically colored flowers for food.
b. Tarsiers are nocturnal.
c. Tarsiers are small.
d. Tarsiers see ultraviolet light. - Answer-✔b. Tarsiers are nocturnal.
\.Mike has damage to his hindbrain. He is likely to experience problems with which of the
following?
a. planned motor activity
b. perception and visual imagery
c. rhythm of breathing, level of alertness, and posture
d. complex thought and long-term memory - Answer-✔c. rhythm of breathing, level of
alertness, and posture
\.Which of the following is true?
a. fMRI indirectly measures brain activity by showing the signal given by blood cells consumed
by recently fired neurons
b. EEG is a measure of activity that shows the amount of hemoglobin in neurons that reach their
action potentials
c. fMRI directly measures brain activity by charting the electricity in neurons firing
d. EEG measures chemical activation in the subcortical structures of the brain - Answer-✔b. EEG
is a measure of activity that shows the amount of hemoglobin in neurons that reach their action
potentials
, \.The technical term for talking to yourself when rehearsing verbal material is
a. vocal memory.
b. schizophrenia.
c. subvocalization.
d. subconscious reading. - Answer-✔c. subvocalization.
\.Leila has an uninjured brain and eyes. Leila is wearing an eyepatch over her left eye, so she
cannot see anything out of that eye. Her right eye is open and can see clearly and is looking
straight ahead. The experimenter flashes an image of a dog into her left visual field. Where does
the visual signal containing the information about the dog go to from her eye?
a. It goes to both hemispheres simultaneously. The information is "shared" via her corpus
callosum.
b. It goes to her right hemisphere first. The information is "shared" with the left hemisphere via
her corpus callosum.
c. It goes to her right hemisphere first. She will be able to point to a dog to say what she saw,
but will not be able to verbalize that she saw a dog.
d. It goes to her left hemisphere first. The information is "shared" with the right hemisphere via
her corpus callosum. - Answer-✔b. It goes to her right hemisphere first. The information is
"shared" with the left hemisphere via her corpus callosum.
\.A neuron's initial, internal response to an incoming signal can vary in size. The ultimate,
external response of the cell, however, does not vary in size. If the signal is sent, it is always of
the same magnitude. This effect is called the
a. all-or-none law
b. whole-firing potential.
c. uniform response law.
