Free Cognitive Psychology MCQs with Answers
552 Cognitive Psychology MCQs from Psychology, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.
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552 questions · page 21 of 28
- A. automatic processing
- B. rehearsal
- C. priming
- D. chunking
Explanation: Rehearsal is the conscious repetition of information, such as repeating a phone number to keep it active.
Correct answer: rehearsal- A. encoding
- B. storage
- C. retrieval
- D. all of the above
Explanation: Retroactive interference occurs when newer learning makes older information harder to recall, so it primarily disrupts retrieval of the…
Correct answer: retrieval- A. proactive facilitation
- B. proactive inhibition
- C. retroactive facilitation
- D. retroactive inhibition
Explanation: Retroactive inhibition is interference with earlier learning caused by learning a newer task.
Correct answer: retroactive inhibition- A. Loci
- B. visual imagery
- C. flashbulb
- D. peg-word
Explanation: The peg-word method pairs each item with a familiar rhyming peg, such as one-bun, two-shoe, and three-tree, creating easy retrieval cues.
Correct answer: peg-word- A. encoding
- B. storage
- C. retrieval
- D. working memory
Explanation: The tip-of-the-tongue state means the information is stored but temporarily inaccessible, so the difficulty is in retrieval.
Correct answer: retrieval- A. encoding
- B. relearning
- C. retrieval
- D. rehearsal
Explanation: Retrieval is the process of bringing stored information back into conscious awareness.
Correct answer: retrieval- A. the primary effect
- B. the recency effect
- C. a mnemonic
- D. a heuristic
Explanation: The method of loci uses organized mental cues to improve remembering, so it is a mnemonic technique.
Correct answer: a mnemonic- A. more difficult to learn
- B. easier to learn
- C. learned with equivalent ease
- D. more susceptible to the serial position effect
Explanation: Similar items are more difficult to learn because their overlapping features produce interference and make them harder to distinguish.
Correct answer: more difficult to learn- A. the persistence of learning over time
- B. the recall of information previously learned
- C. getting information into memory
- D. a clear memory of an emotionally significant event
Explanation: Encoding is the initial process of transforming information into a form that can enter memory.
Correct answer: getting information into memory- A. with the least digits/letters
- B. at the beginning of a long list
- C. in the middle of a long list
- D. at the end of a long list
Explanation: The serial position effect usually makes the first and last items easiest to remember, leaving items in the middle most vulnerable to…
Correct answer: in the middle of a long list- A. storage
- B. reasoning
- C. encoding
- D. retrieval
Explanation: Encoding includes attending to and processing a stimulus so that it can be represented in memory.
Correct answer: encoding- A. amnesia
- B. decay
- C. adaptation
- D. interference
Explanation: Decay is the weakening or loss of a memory trace as time passes, especially when it is not used.
Correct answer: decay413. The memory that holds information for the shortest period of time is known as __________________?
- A. sensory memory
- B. long term memory
- C. short term memory
- D. implicit memory
Explanation: Sensory memory retains incoming sights and sounds for the briefest interval, often only milliseconds to a few seconds.
Correct answer: sensory memory- A. short-term memory
- B. echoic memory
- C. tactile memory
- D. iconic memory
Explanation: Iconic memory is the visual form of sensory memory and typically fades in roughly 250 milliseconds.
Correct answer: iconic memory- A. Thorndike
- B. Pavlov
- C. Miller
- D. Ebbinghaus
Explanation: Hermann Ebbinghaus pioneered the experimental study of verbal learning and rote memory by memorizing lists of nonsense syllables.
Correct answer: Ebbinghaus- A. short-term store
- B. hippocampus
- C. long-term store
- D. sensory register
Explanation: Iconic memory is a rapidly fading visual trace held in the sensory register, usually for less than two seconds.
Correct answer: sensory register- A. decay
- B. interference
- C. consolidation
- D. psychodynamic
Explanation: Interference explains forgetting as competition between similar memories, with new or old information disrupting retrieval.
Correct answer: interference- A. serial learning
- B. repetition
- C. pairing
- D. rehearsal
Explanation: The alphabet is learned in a fixed order, so recalling each letter depends on its position in a sequence, which is serial learning.
Correct answer: serial learning- A. visual working memory
- B. auditory working memory
- C. visual short-term memory
- D. visual sensory memory
Explanation: Iconic memory is the brief visual store within sensory memory, such as the fading image left immediately after seeing something.
Correct answer: visual sensory memory- A. declarative rehearsal
- B. elaborative rehearsal
- C. maintenance rehearsal
- D. distributed practice
Explanation: Maintenance rehearsal keeps information active by repeating it without adding meaning or connections, as in rote memorization.
Correct answer: maintenance rehearsal