Cognitive Psychology Flashcards
6 cards from real APA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Cognitive Psychology flashcards as text
The 'misinformation effect' demonstrated by Loftus refers to:
Answer: Post-event information altering one's memory of an original event
Loftus showed that exposure to misleading post-event information (e.g., in leading questions) can alter people's memories of the original event.
What is the 'representativeness heuristic'?
Answer: Judging probability by how closely something matches a prototype or stereotype
The representativeness heuristic leads people to judge the probability of an event by how similar it is to a typical case, ignoring base rates.
Which phenomenon occurs when information learned prior to an event disrupts memory for that event?
Answer: Proactive interference
Proactive interference occurs when older, previously learned information interferes with the retention of newer information.
What is 'functional fixedness' in problem solving?
Answer: A mental set that prevents seeing objects as having uses beyond their typical function
Functional fixedness is a cognitive bias that limits a person to using objects only in the way they are traditionally used, blocking creative problem-solving.
Which brain structure is most critically associated with the consolidation of explicit long-term memories?
Answer: Hippocampus
The hippocampus is essential for consolidating new explicit (declarative) memories; damage to it (as in patient H.M.) causes profound anterograde amnesia.
Spreading activation in semantic memory models explains why reading 'nurse' makes it easier to subsequently recognize:
Answer: Related concepts like 'doctor' or 'hospital'
Spreading activation models propose that activating a concept (e.g., 'nurse') automatically spreads activation to semantically related nodes, making them more accessible.