Cognitive Psychology Sample Multiple Choice Questions 1. One brain center of interest to cognitive psychologists is the hippocampus, a center that: a. Plays a prominent role in motivation b. Controls intention and volition c. Processes abstract thoughts d. Appears to be crucial to the formation of memory 2. Which of the following was instrumental in producing the “cognitive revolution”? a. Broadbent’s work with pilots during WWII b. Noam Chomsky’s work in the field of linguistics c. The development of computers and artificial intelligence d. All of the above e. None of the above 3. Which approach is most consistent with the way the brain functions? a. Connectionist b. Information processing c. Evolutionary d. Ecological 4. This structure transmits information from the spinal cord to the brain, and regulates life support functions such as respiration: a. Hypothalamus b. Medulla c. Pons d. Cerebellum e. Hippocampus 5. Evolutionary structures in the _________ are the most primitive and handle very basic functions such as respiration. a. Hindbrain b. Thalamus c. Forebrain d. Midbrain e. Cerebral cortex 6. Muscle activity is coordinated, not initiated, in which primitive brain structure? a. Pons b. Cerebellum c. Medulla d. Thalamus e. Cortex 7. Which of the following is not regulated by the hypothalamus? a. Memory formation b. Body temperature c. Eating d. Drinking e. Sexual behavior 8. Which of the following subcortical structures of the brain serves as a relay station for sensory information? 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. a. Hypothalamus b. Hippocampus c. Basal ganglia d. Thalamus Evidence indicates that a. The left hemisphere is dominant for language processing while the right hemisphere is dominant for spatial processing. b. Both hemispheres handle the same tasks but in different ways c. The right brain is analytic while the left brain is perceptual-intuitive. d. The left brain has primitive language centers but the right brain is where the real language processing occurs. Following a stroke, a patient shows diminished sensitivity to touch in the right leg. The probable site of the lesion is the a. Left occipital lobe b. Left parietal lobe c. Right occipital lobe d. Right parietal lobe The reticular formation plays a role in a. Life-supporting functions such as breathing and heartbeat b. The fine-tuning of motor messages c. Coordinating and regulating motor movements d. Controlling levels of arousal, alertness, and sustained attention The school of psychology that emphasizes the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” and that emphasizes the tendency to integrate separate stimuli into meaningful patterns is the school of a. Behaviorism b. Gestalt Psychology c. Functionalism d. Structuralism If a patient had severe damage to the frontal lobe, you might predict she would have a. Impaired decision-making and problem-solving abilities as well as the inability to inhibit appropriate social behaviors b. Difficulty in identifying visually complex forms c. Difficulty in identifying objects by touch d. Difficulty in hearing sounds The occipital lobes are to ______ as the temporal lobes are to _____ a. Hearing; sensing movement b. Seeing; sensing touch c. Sensing pleasure; sensing pain d. Seeing; hearing The part of the cerebral cortex at the back of the head is called the _____ lobe. a. Frontal b. Parietal c. Occipital d. Temporal The left and right hemispheres are connected by the a. Medulla oblongata 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. b. Corpus Callosum c. Amygdala d. Limbic system Who originated the idea of localization of function? a. Franz Gall b. Wilhelm Wundt c. William James d. Paul Broca The idea that different mental abilities, such as reading and arithmetic, are independent functions carried out by different parts of the brain is known as a. Faculty psychology b. Gestalt psychology c. Phrenology d. Functionalism The major problem with phrenology was the assumption that a. Different parts of the brain controlled different functions b. The size of a portion of the brain corresponded to its relative power c. Different faculties were absolutely independent d. Both (b) and (c) are correct answers Disruption of language abilities is referred to as a. Aphasia b. Epilepsy c. Agnosia d. Anosmia Spatial orientation appears to be a function of the brain’s ______ hemisphere, which is also the hemisphere that specializes in face processing. a. Right b. Left c. Visual d. Temporal e. Central Which of the following is probably the best definition of perception? a. The process that provides for the response of the receptors to stimulation b. The process that provides for memories and cognition c. The process that provides for interpretation of information from the environment. d. The process that provides for the construction of an accurate replica of the stimuli as they exist in the world. The structural components of the neuron are a. Cell body, dendrites, and axon b. Synapse, terminal button, and glial cells c. Soma, synapse, and chemical transmitters d. Cell nucleus, axon, and transmitters Which of the following is not an example of a cognitive process a. Attention b. Perception c. Problem solving 25. 26. 27. 28. d. All of these are cognitive processes The most important processing unit of the brain is the a. Neurotransmitter b. Glial cell c. Neuron d. Synapse Cognitive psychology seeks to understand a. The characteristic of human knowledge and intellectual functioning b. How rational and irrational thoughts differ c. The difference between normal and abnormal thought d. All of these e. None of these A patient sustains a head injury which results in loss of ablity to breathe. Upon autopsy, neural damage will most likely be fond in the a. Hypothalamus b. Medulla c. Cerebellum d. Septum Which of the following is another name for bottom-up processing? a. Data-driven b. Conceptually driven c. Perception d. Direct perception