WGU D570 Cognitive Psychology EXAM | 2026
EDITION | CORRECT ANSWERS | DETAILED
SOLUTIONS
• 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
• Which component of Broadbent's flow diagram of the mind blocks unattended
messages? -✓✓ANSWER: Filter
• Which evidence disproves Aristotle's assertion that "thought is impossible
without an image"? -✓✓ANSWER: People who cannot visualize images are still
capable of thinking
• Which stage of Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory does an individual begin
to understand mathematical reasoning? -✓✓ANSWER: Concrete Operational
• Which term describes a child's tendency to fixate on just one aspect of a
problem or object according to Piaget? -✓✓ANSWER: Centration
• Which stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development is represented by a
child's ability to mentally represent objects and events with words and images? -
✓✓ANSWER: Preoperational
EDITION | CORRECT ANSWERS | DETAILED
SOLUTIONS
• 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
• Which component of Broadbent's flow diagram of the mind blocks unattended
messages? -✓✓ANSWER: Filter
• Which evidence disproves Aristotle's assertion that "thought is impossible
without an image"? -✓✓ANSWER: People who cannot visualize images are still
capable of thinking
• Which stage of Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory does an individual begin
to understand mathematical reasoning? -✓✓ANSWER: Concrete Operational
• Which term describes a child's tendency to fixate on just one aspect of a
problem or object according to Piaget? -✓✓ANSWER: Centration
• Which stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development is represented by a
child's ability to mentally represent objects and events with words and images? -
✓✓ANSWER: Preoperational
