Attention, Perception, Learning and Memory Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Assertion (A) is true: when a teacher embarrasses a student for asking a question, the behaviour of asking is followed by an unpleasant consequence, which is punishment, and it makes the behaviour less likely in future. Reason (R) is false, because negative reinforcement is the removal of an unpleasant stimulus after a response, and it increases, not reduces, the occurrence of the behaviour; it is punishment that reduces the behaviour. The answer is (A) is true, but (R) is false.

Answer: B

Learning is fastest, that is acquisition is quickest, with continuous reinforcement in which every response is rewarded. But partial (intermittent) reinforcement makes the learned response more resistant to extinction, because the learner is used to going without a reward for some responses, the partial reinforcement effect. The statement that partial reinforcement gives the fastest learning, or continuous gives the greatest resistance, reverses this. The answer is that learning is most rapid with continuous reinforcement but partial reinforcement gives the greatest resistance to extinction.

Answer: B

The phi phenomenon (two lights switched on in turn seem to move), stroboscopic motion (as in a film), induced motion (a stationary object seems to move because of its surroundings) and the autokinetic effect (a fixed spot of light in the dark seems to wander) are all examples of apparent motion, where no physical movement happens but it is perceived. Pictorial cues are the monocular depth cues in a picture, and double images and non-verbal cues are unrelated. In each case there is a stimulus that gives the illusion of motion, so the movement perceived is apparent, as against real motion where an object actually changes its position in space. The answer is apparent motion.

Answer: A

Learning by watching and imitating the behaviour of others is observational learning, also called social learning or modelling, and it is best known through the work of Albert Bandura, in the Bobo doll experiments. Pavlov studied classical conditioning, Watson studied behaviourism and emotional conditioning, and Skinner studied operant conditioning, so none of them is linked with 'observational' learning. 'Secondary' learning is not a recognized term here. In the Bobo doll study children who watched an adult hit the doll copied that behaviour, which shows that learning can take place without direct reinforcement. The answer is observational: Bandura.

Answer: B

Moving from bright light into a dark theatre, the eye at first sees almost nothing and then slowly gains sensitivity over some 5 to 10 minutes as the rods take over and rhodopsin regenerates; this is dark adaptation. Visual acuity is the sharpness of vision, saturation is the purity of a colour, and transduction is the conversion of light into neural signals. Full dark adaptation takes about 30 minutes, but the major part occurs in the first 10 minutes, as the cones adapt first and the more sensitive rods take over after that. The answer is dark adaptation.

Answer: B

Perception is determined by external factors such as the size and intensity of the stimulus, and internal factors such as the emotion and the motivation of the perceiver, which lead him to notice some things and ignore others. Intelligence and information are not the usual internal determinants listed in textbooks. So the correct pair is 2 and 3, emotion and motivation. The answer is 2 and 3 only.

Answer: A

The memory processes begin with attention, because information that is not attended to is not taken in; then the information is encoded into a memory code; it is then stored for some time; and last it is retrieved when needed. The sequence is therefore attention, encoding, storage, retrieval, that is 3, 1, 2, 4. The other orders put storage before encoding, which is impossible. The answer is 3, 1, 2, 4.

Answer: A

Relative size is explained by item 3, since of two objects of the same size the one with the smaller retinal image seems farther away. Linear perspective is item 1, in which straight lines such as railway lines seem to join as distance increases. Motion parallax is item 2, where objects shift on the retina as the head moves. Texture gradient is item 4, as the texture of a surface looks smoother as the distance increases. The code is p-3, q-1, r-2, s-4.

Answer: D

Assertion (A) is true: Biederman's recognition-by-components theory holds that objects can be broken into basic building blocks called geons, such as cylinders and cones. Reason (R) is false, because the theory says that geons are made up of features such as edges and corners, and the features are related to the geons that they define. So (R) contradicts the theory. The answer is (A) is true, but (R) is false.

Answer: C

Assertion (A) is false: memory is not a cold storage and retrieval of bits of data, as it is a constructive process. Reason (R) is true: psychologists, such as Bartlett and Loftus, show that people reconstruct their own version of the past, and distort it with their beliefs and later information. So the assertion is false while the reason is true. The answer is (A) is false, but (R) is true.