Candidate Number
C8551
THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
BSc SECOND YEAR EXAMINATION
SAMPLE PAPER 2014-15
COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
DO NOT TURN OVER UNTIL INSTRUCTED
TO BY THE CHIEF INVIGILATOR
INSTRUCTIONS
Answer ALL parts of Section A and TWO further questions
from Section B.
Section A carries 40% and Section B carries 60% of the marks.
Do not remove the question paper, answer sheet or answer book,
used or unused, from the examination room; they will be collected
before you leave.
Time allowed: 2 hours
SECTION A
The answers to this section, one to each question, should be
marked on the answer sheet provided.
SECTION B
Answer TWO questions from this section in the answer books provided.
Please use a separate book for each answer.
(8 choices of essay question)
C8551 Cognitive Psychology – SAMPLE PAPER
1.
Which one of the senses is not processed via the thalamus?
a)
b)
c)
d)
2.
Touch
Smell
Vision
Hearing
The method of constant stimuli is:
a) Where you present the same stimuli on each psychophysical trial
b) Where you preselect stimulus levels and the participant responds yes or
no depending on whether they detected the stimulus
c) Where the stimulus levels on each trial are set by the participants
response and the participant responds as to whether they detected the
stimulus
d) Where stimuli are fixed and participants are asked to respond as to
whether they detected a difference.
3.
Which of these cells are found at the last stage in retinal processing and
provide signals to magnocellular layers of the LGN?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Parasol ganglion cells
Koniocellulalr cells
Extrastriate cells
Midget ganglion cells
4. What is top-down processing?
a)
b)
c)
d)
5.
What does the S-(L+M) colour vision channel signal?
a)
b)
c)
d)
6.
Where processing of an image starts with the top of the image
Where processing of an image starts at the bottom of the image
Where experience and knowledge influence processing
Where processing is based on features only
‘Red-green’ colour differences
Luminance differences
‘Blue-yellow’ colour differences
Colour in motion
What visual illusion demonstrates colour opponency in action?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Chromatic troxler effect
Colour aberration
Colour observation
Colour after-effect
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C8551 Cognitive Psychology – SAMPLE PAPER
7.
The frequency of a pure, periodic tone is:
a)
b)
c)
d)
8.
The main function of the middle ear is:
a)
b)
c)
d)
9.
The duration of each cycle
The amplitude of each cycle
The number of cycles per second
The speed at which it propagates in the air
Sound filtering
Frequency analysis
Impedance matching
Transduction
Two different vowels spoken at the same pitch have:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Different harmonic frequencies and amplitudes
Different harmonic amplitudes but the same harmonic frequencies
Different harmonic frequencies but the same harmonic amplitudes
The same harmonic frequencies and amplitudes
10. Men's voices generally differ from women's voices in having:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Higher formants and lower pitch
Lower formants and lower pitch
The same formants but lower pitch
Higher formants and higher pitch
11. The consonants in the syllables /ba/, /da/ and /ga/ differ by:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Their place of articulation only
Their place of articulation and their voice onset time
Their voice onset time only
None of the above
12. With respect to speech, categorical perception refers to:
a)
b)
c)
d)
A poor ability to distinguish speech sounds from the same category
Improved discrimination at phoneme boundaries
Discrimination that is predictable from categorisation
All of the above
[Note: if d is the correct answer no credit will be given for answering a, b, or c]
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C8551 Cognitive Psychology – SAMPLE PAPER
13. Which of these hypothesis cites sexual selection as one of the forces behind the
evolution of language:
a)
b)
c)
d)
The Social gossip hypothesis
The Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis
The Social brain hypothesis
The Scheherazade effect hypothesis
14. According to Michael Corballis’ gestural theory:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Gestural communication predates vocal communication in primates
Gestural communication is more efficient than vocal communication
Gestural communication is uniquely human
None of the above
15. The cocktail party phenomenon refers to:
a) The ability to filter out the effect of alcohol on attention
b) The ability to focus attention on a single source
c) The ability to attend to more than one channel based on the level of
intoxication
d) The ability to attend to an unattended channel depending on the content
of the information
16. Working memory interacts with the 'cocktail party effect' such that:
a) Individuals with low working memory capacity find it more difficult to block
irrelevant information
b) Individuals with high working memory capacity find it more difficult to block
irrelevant information
c) Individuals with low working memory capacity find it easier to block
irrelevant information
d) Individuals with high working memory capacity are completely successful
at blocking irrelevant information
17. Examples of selective attention include:
a) Reporting the color of ink in which a color name is written (Stroop effect)
b) Talking on a hands-free cell phone while driving
c) Ignorance of content of irrelevant message in a dichotic listening
experiment
d) a and c
[Note: if d is correct answer no credit will be given for answering a or c]
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C8551 Cognitive Psychology – SAMPLE PAPER
18. Covert attention refers to:
a)
b)
c)
d)
A shift of attention accompanied by an eye movement
A shift of attention in the absence an eye movement
The ability to focus attention on a single source of information
The ability to focus attention on more than one thing at the same time
19. During a very perceptually demanding task people are:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Less vulnerable to distraction
More vulnerable to distraction
More vulnerable to “inattentional blindness”
a and c
[Note: that if d is correct answer no credit will be given for answering a or c]
20. Which of the following is NOT true of the Logogen model?
a) The more information that is consistent with a word the greater the
activation of the logogen
b) A logogen accumulates evidence until its threshold level is reached, then
the word is recognized
c) Recently read words/associates have higher thresholds
d) Non-words are rejected if no logogen has fired by a certain deadline
21. What are morphemes?
a)
b)
c)
d)
The smallest units of sound in a language that change meaning
The smallest units of meaning in a language that change sound
The smallest pronounceable units of a language
The smallest units of meaning in a language
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C8551 Cognitive Psychology – SAMPLE PAPER
22. In linguistics, pragmatics is:
a) The study of the meanings that sentences and utterances actually convey
when used in context
b) The study of the literal meanings that sentences and utterances have
c) The study of what would be the most sensible basis on which to construct
a grammar
d) The study of the related set of meanings that a single word can have
23. Why do we need concepts?
a) Concepts enable us to generalise from past experiences to a new
instance
b) Concepts enable us to make predictions about other instances of a
category
c) Conceptual hierarchies provide economy of representation
d) All of the above
[Note: if d is the correct answer no credit will be given for answering a, b, or c]
24. Elaborative inferences are made:
a) During reading
b) To link up ideas from different sentences
c) Only when they depend on information that is “readily available” in
memory
d) Only when reading difficult material
25. The set of properties that an object must have to be a member of a particular
class of things is termed its:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Superordinate
Attributes
Intension
Extension
26. Which are the two components of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Probabilistic determinism and linguistic relativity
Linguistic determinism and social relativity
Linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity
Probabilistic determination and social relativity
6
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C8551 Cognitive Psychology – SAMPLE PAPER
27. Which of the following is defined as a temporary storage system that can hold
and integrate information from other structures in working memory?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Visuo-spatial sketchpad
Episodic buffer
Central executive
Phonological loop
28. Essay questions tend to be more difficult than multiple choice because with an
essay question:
a)
b)
c)
d)
There are more cues to stimulate memory
Recall is required rather than recognition
There is more proactive inhibition
There is more interference
29. Memories of historical facts are to __________ memory, as memories of your
breakfast this morning are to __________ memory:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Episodic; procedural
Procedural; semantic
Semantic; episodic
Long-term; short-term
30. The storage capacity of long-term memory is best described as:
a)
b)
c)
d)
A single item
About seven items
About seven “chunks”
Limitless
31. Remembering the first and last items of a list better than items in the middle is
due to:
a)
b)
c)
d)
The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
Levels of processing effect
The serial position effect
The pseudo-memory effect
32. An area of the brain of particular importance for encoding long-term memories:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Hippocampus
Parietal lobe
Habenula
Medulla
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C8551 Cognitive Psychology – SAMPLE PAPER
33. The image that persists for about one-half second after being seen is a(n):
a)
b)
c)
d)
Sensation
Echo
Icon
Illusion
34. SEU stands for:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Subjected expected utility
Subjective experiential utility
Subjective expected utility
Subjected experiential utility
35. Which of the following is NOT one of the Kahneman and Tversky heuristics?
a) Representativeness
b) Availability
c) Anchoring and adjustment
d) Take the best
36. When using the anchoring and adjustment heuristic, people:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Overadjust from poor initial anchors
Fail to adjust sufficiently from poor initial anchors
May under- or overadjust depending on the initial anchor
Often fail to adjust from an initial anchor
37. According to Prospect Theory:
a)
b)
c)
d)
The status quo is ignored
Very small probabilities are accurately assessed
Losses loom larger in people’s minds than equivalent gains
Anticipated regret is the major influence on decision making
38. Which of the following experiences are people most likely to volunteer to repeat
after the event?
a) 60 seconds with one hand immersed in water at 14°C
b) 90 seconds with one hand immersed in water at 14°C
c) 60 seconds with one hand immersed in water at 16 °C followed by 30
seconds with the same hand immersed in water at 14 °C
d) 60 seconds with one hand immersed in water at 14°C followed by 30
seconds with the same hand immersed in water at 16 °C
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C8551 Cognitive Psychology – SAMPLE PAPER
39. To say that people are loss averse means:
a) They do not like losing things
b) They dislike losing goods of a certain value more than they like gaining
goods of the same value
c) They are risk seeking in the domain of losses
d) They are risk averse in the domain of losses
40. I begin a major project which is rather different from projects I have undertaken
before, though other people have undertaken such projects and completed
them in about 5 years, I am likely to:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Predict I will take 3 years to complete the project and actually take 5
Predict I will take 5 years to complete the project and actually take 3
Predict I will take 3 years to complete the project and actually take 3
Predict I will take 5 years to complete the project and actually take 5
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C8551 Cognitive Psychology – SAMPLE PAPER
SECTION B
41.
How does experience influence perception?
42.
Explain how the main acoustic components of the human voice are
produced and how they are perceived.
43.
To what extent is the categorisation of speech sounds innately or
culturally determined?
44.
How might individual differences in perceptual processing capacity or
working memory capacity be expected to affect attention?
45.
What is the Dual-Route model of word reading, and how can different
types of acquired dyslexia be accounted for in this model?
46.
Outline one model of text comprehension and the evidence that supports
it.
47.
How different is episodic memory from semantic memory?
48.
What are the main facts that a psychological theory of decision making
has to explain and why does utility theory not give a good account of
these facts?
End of Paper
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C8551 Cognitive Psychology – SAMPLE PAPER
CORRECT ANSWERS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
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16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
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27
28
29
30
31
32
33
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35
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40
B
B
A
C
C
D
C
C
B
B
A
D
D
D
B
A
D
B
D
C
D
A
D
C
C
C
B
B
C
D
C
A
C
C
D
B
C
D
B
A
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