Cognition 2

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____ 51. Cognitive psychologists are most directly concerned with the study of
a. emotion.
b. genetics.
c. the unconscious.
d. brain chemistry.
e. thinking.
____ 52. In the process of classifying objects, people are especially likely to make use of
a. algorithms.
b. phonemes.
c. prototypes.
d. mental sets.
e. heuristics.
____ 53. When we use the term Hispanic to refer to a category of people, we are using this word as a(n)
a. concept.
b. heuristic.
c. algorithm.
d. prototype.
e. mental set.
____ 54. To promote cognitive efficiency, concepts are often organized into
a. critical periods.
b. algorithms.
c. neural networks.
d. category hierarchies.
e. syntax.
____ 55. Scientists are trained to carefully observe and record any research outcomes that are inconsistent

with their hypotheses. This practice most directly serves to reduce

a. the framing effect.
b. functional fixedness.
c. confirmation bias.
d. algorithms.
e. heuristics.
____ 56. By encouraging people to imagine their homes being destroyed by a fire, insurance salespeople are

especially successful at selling large homeowners' policies. They are most clearly exploiting the
influence of
a. belief perseverance.
b. the representativeness heuristic.
c. overconfidence.
d. the availability heuristic.

e. functional fixedness.
____ 57. State lottery officials send residents a facsimile of a contest-winning check for over $5 million to

encourage them to imagine themselves as possible winners. The lottery promoters are most clearly
exploiting the influence of
a. functional fixedness.
b. belief perseverance.
c. mental set.
d. the availability heuristic.
e. the representativeness heuristic.
____ 58. Students routinely underestimate how much time it will take them to complete assigned course

projects. This best illustrates the impact of

a. framing.
b. functional fixedness.
c. the availability heuristic.
d. the representativeness heuristic.
e. overconfidence.
____ 59. On Monday, the meteorologist forecast a 20 percent chance of rain, so Sheryl took her umbrella to

work. On Friday, he reported an 80 percent chance that it would not rain, so Sheryl left her umbrella
at home. Sheryl's behavior illustrates the impact of
a. confirmation bias.
b. the belief perseverance phenomenon.
c. overconfidence.
d. the representativeness heuristic.
e. the framing effect.
____ 60. English words are constructed from about ________ different phonemes.
a. 5
b. 6
c. 26
d. 40
e. 200
____ 61. Mentally segmenting other's spoken sounds into individual words best illustrates a 7-month-old's

capacity for
telegraphic speech.
receptive language.
functional fixedness.
productive language.
babbling.

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

____ 62. The beginning of babies' receptive language development is best illustrated by their capacity to
a. recognize the distinctive sound of their own voice.
b. match another person's distinctive mouth movements with the appropriate sounds.
c. babble only sounds that are part of the household language.
d. comprehend the meaning of languages they have never experienced.

e. speak in short, telegraphic sentences.

____ 63. Having spent his childhood in the Middle East, Parviz did not begin speaking English until he was a

teenager. When he pronounces words such as mother, native English speakers hear a word that
sounds more like mudder. Which of the following is the best explanation for this phenomenon?
a. In Parviz' speech, consonant phonemes carry more information than do vowel
phonemes.
b. As an infant, Parviz lost the ability to produce sounds he never heard.
c. The rules for English syntax and semantics differ from what Parviz learned as a
child.
d. Non-English languages are typically more telegraphic, affecting Parviz' current
speech patterns.
e. Parviz' language acquisition device did not switch on, so he could produce
English phonemes correctly.
____ 64. Chomsky's theory of language development suggests that children have an inborn
a. algorithm.
b. category hierarchy.
c. linguistic prototype.
d. language acquisition device.
e. representativeness heuristic.
____ 65. Bilingual children, who inhibit one language while using the other, can better inhibit their attention

to irrelevant information. This has been called

a. linguistic determinism.
b. the language acquisition device.
c. the bilingual advantage.
d. process simulation.
e. the semantic effect.
____ 66. Psychologists use ________ to assess individuals' mental aptitudes and compare them with those of

others.
neural plasticity
reliability coefficients
intelligence tests
the g factor
achievement tests

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

____ 67. Psychological tests show that 18-year-old Isaiah has an intelligence score of 65. Nevertheless, Isaiah

can, with a few seconds of mental calculation, accurately tell the day of the week on which
Christmas falls for any year in this century. It would be fair to conclude that
a. the intelligence test Isaiah was given has no validity.
b. intelligence tests are generally good measures of verbal but not of mathematical
intelligence.
c. Isaiah is a person with savant syndrome.
d. Isaiah excels in inductive reasoning.
e. the intelligence test Isaiah was given has no reliability.

____ 68. The lower region of the ________ lobe is a center for processing mathematical and spatial

information.
frontal
parietal
occipital
temporal
ventral

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

____ 69. Which of the following observations provides the best evidence that intelligence test scores are

influenced by environment?
a. Fraternal twins are more similar in their intelligence scores than are ordinary

siblings.
b. The intelligence scores of children are positively correlated with those of their

parents.
c. Identical twins are more similar in their intelligence scores than are fraternal twins.
d. The intelligence scores of siblings reared together are positively correlated.
e. Different national groups have different average intelligence scores.
____ 70. Of the following, who best illustrates Sternberg's concept of analytical intelligence?
a. Trudy, a high school student who receives lower grades in physical education than

in any other course

b. Freda, a business executive who effectively motivates her sales staff
c. Wilma, a schoolteacher who refuses to pay taxes because they are used to develop

new weapons
d. Selma, a fifth-grader who solves complicated mathematical problems in record
time
e. Nicole, a teenager who completes the road test for her driver's license without a
single error
____ 71. Which of the following persons best illustrates Sternberg's concept of practical intelligence?
a. Jamal, a student who quickly recognizes the correct answers to multiple-choice test

questions
b. Gareth, a graduate student who generates many creative ideas
c. Shelley, a newspaper reporter who has established a large network of information

sources
d. Cindy, a young mother who prefers cleaning her house to supervising her children
e. Lola, who can instantly recognize and adapt to the emotional states of others
____ 72. Brain size (adjusted for body size) is ________ correlated with intelligence. The speed of taking in

perceptual information is ________ correlated with intelligence.

a. not; negatively
b. negatively; positively
c. positively; positively
d. negatively; not
e. negatively; negatively
____ 73. The original IQ formula would be LEAST appropriate for representing the intelligence test

performance of

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

preschool students.
kindergarten students.
grade school students.
middle school students.
college students.

____ 74. The WAIS consists of separate ________ subtests.

a. intelligence and creativity
b. aptitude and achievement
c. practical and analytic
d. verbal and performance
e. emotions and reasoning
____ 75. About ________ percent of WAIS scores fall between 70 and 130.
a. 10
b. 30
c. 60
d. 70
e. 95
____ 76. About ________ percent of WAIS scores fall between 85 and 115.
a. 0
b. 30
c. 50
d. 68
e. 100
____ 77. Sasha has a mild intellectual disability. She has achieved the equivalent of a fifth-grade education

and will soon begin vocational training so that she can earn a living. Sasha's intelligence score is
most likely between
a. 5 and 19.
b. 20 and 34.
c. 35 and 49.
d. 50 and 69.
e. 70 and 130.
____ 78. Hanan, a 22-year-old, has an intellectual disability. Although not fully self-supporting, she earns

some money by working in a sheltered workshop. She has been able to master basic skills equivalent
to those of a second-grader. Hanan's intelligence test score is most likely between
a. 5 and 19.
b. 20 and 34.
c. 35 and 49.
d. 50 and 69.
e. 70 and 130.
____ 79. With increasing age, adopted children's intelligence test scores become ________ correlated with

their adoptive parents' scores and ________ correlated with their biological parent's scores.
a. more positively; more negatively

b.
c.
d.
e.

less positively; less positively

more negatively; less positively
less positively; more positively
more positively; more positively

____ 80. Research indicates that Head Start programs

a. fail to produce even short-term improvements in participants' mental skills.
b. contribute to dramatic long-term gains in participants' intelligence test scores.
c. increase the school readiness of children from disadvantaged home environments.
d. are beneficial only to participants from very intellectually stimulating home

environments.
e. tend to benefit boys more than girls due to stereotype threat.
____ 81. The average difference in intellectual aptitude scores of White and Black college graduates has been

observed to be greatest when these individuals were

a. eighth graders.
b. high school juniors.
c. college sophomores.
d. college seniors.
e. graduate students.
____ 82. Intelligence tests are most likely to be considered culturally biased in terms of their
a. content validity.
b. predictive validity.
c. normal distribution.
d. reliability.
e. factor analysis.