Attention, Perception, Learning and Memory Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The multi-store model belongs to Atkinson and Shiffrin (2), the neural network (connectionist) model to McClelland and Rumelhart (3), the levels of processing model to Craik and Lockhart (1), and the encoding specificity principle to Tulving (4). That gives p-2, q-3, r-1, s-4, which is code D. Code A pairs the multi-store model with Tulving, and code B pairs it with Craik and Lockhart; in both, at least one pair is wrong. Code C gives the neural network model to Tulving and the encoding specificity principle to Craik and Lockhart, which reverses two correct pairs.

Answer: A

Both statements are true and the reason explains the assertion. In signal detection theory, detecting a weak stimulus depends on the observer's sensitivity and also on the criterion adopted, and these shift with attention, motivation, fatigue and the noise in the sensory system. Because several fairly independent sources act on the observer's performance, the ability to detect a weak stimulus fluctuates from moment to moment. The reason therefore gives the cause of the variation stated in the assertion. Options B, C and D each deny either the truth of a statement or the explanatory link, so they do not fit.

Answer: B

Both statements are true but the reason is not the explanation. Transactionalists, such as Ames and Ittelson, hold that perception develops through learned interaction with the environment. Most contemporary psychologists do accept that some perceptual abilities are available soon after birth, as infant research shows. The second point, however, partly contradicts the learning emphasis rather than supporting it, so it does not explain the assertion. Each statement is a true fact in its own right, which is why the answer is option B. Option A would need the reason to explain the assertion.

Answer: B

The keyed answer is the second option, a presumed mode of attention that concerns the non-temporal information processing demands of a task. The other three options are plainly different ideas. Option A, the number of cycles completed in one second, is the definition of frequency (hertz). Option C, organising and interpreting sensation into meaningful experience, is the definition of perception. Option D, the relation between physical stimulation and subjective experience, is the definition of psychophysics. By elimination, option B is the one that deals with the processing of information, so it is the answer.

Answer: B

The Receiver Operating Characteristic curve plots the proportion of hits against the proportion of false alarms at a constant stimulus intensity as the observer's criterion changes. The curve shows sensitivity separately from response bias. Option A describes the difference threshold, or just noticeable difference. Option C describes Fechner's law, in which sensation grows as the logarithm of stimulus intensity. Option D describes Stevens' power law, in which sensory magnitude equals physical intensity raised to a power. Only option B fits the ROC curve.

Answer: A

The Premack principle is that a more preferred activity can serve as a reinforcer for a less preferred one (4). Maintenance rehearsal is keeping information in working memory by repeating it to oneself (3). The Pygmalion effect is exceptional performance by a student that results from high teacher expectations (1). Spreading activation is the retrieval of pieces of information through their relatedness to one another (2). The sequence is p-4, q-3, r-1, s-2, which is code A. Code B gives the Premack principle the Pygmalion description, and code C and D mismatch maintenance rehearsal and the Pygmalion effect.

Answer: B

When earlier learning interferes with the memory of later learning, it is called proactive interference. The older material acts forward in time and blocks the newer, as when an old phone number makes a new one hard to recall. Retroactive interference is the reverse, in which new learning interferes with the memory of earlier learning. Repression is the motivated forgetting of distressing material in psychoanalysis, and inhibition is a general term for the suppression of responses. Only proactive interference matches the direction of influence described.

Answer: A

The chocolates came after 20, then 14, then 22 pegs, so the number of responses needed for each reinforcement varied around an average. That is a variable-ratio schedule, in which reinforcement depends on the number of responses and the required number changes unpredictably. A fixed-ratio schedule would need the same number every time. Interval schedules depend on the passage of time, not on how many pegs are placed, so both the variable-interval and fixed-interval options are wrong.

Answer: C

In Skinner's classification, Type R (operant) conditioning shows its strength by the response rate, while Type S (classical) conditioning shows its strength by the magnitude of the conditioned response, for example the amount of salivation. That corresponds to the third option. The options that give time to solution as a measure belong to problem-solving or maze-learning studies and not to this contrast. The last option, magnitude of response rate, mixes the two measures and is not a recognised index.

Answer: D

The keyed pairing is p-Spence, q-Skinner, r-Amsel, s-Hull, which is code D. Spence is linked with the view that instrumental conditioning can occur independent of reinforcement. Skinner is the source of the study of reinforcement contingencies, that is, schedules of reinforcement. Amsel's frustration theory is the standard explanation of the partial reinforcement effect. In the keyed pairing, the fractional anticipatory reaction is credited to Hull. The other codes all pair Skinner with the anticipatory reaction or Hull with the schedules, which makes them less plausible than code D. The reviewer may wish to check the last pair.