PYC3703/201/1/2023

Tutorial Letter 201/1/2023

PYC3703

Cognition: Memory, Thinking and

Problem Solving

Semester 1

Department of Psychology

Feedback – Assignment 01

BARCODE
Dear Student

In this tutorial letter, we provide the correct answers to Assignment 01, with short explanations of why a
particular alternative is correct. Note that the ordering may not correspond to the ordering you received
on the online platform on MyUnisa as the questions were randomised. If you answered a question
incorrectly, please read the explanation in conjunction with the discussion in the prescribed book. Use
the page references given or the index in the prescribed textbook to locate the appropriate page in the
book where the topic is discussed. In the comments below, CP stands for the currently available edition
of the prescribed book: Goldstein, E.B. and Van Hooff, J.C (2021). Cognitive Psychology (2st EMEA
edition).

The assignment is compulsory, and you must submit it to get admission to the examination.

This assignment is based on chapters 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the prescribed book: Cognitive Psychology
(2021).

Please note that this assignment contributes to your final mark. The two assignments together count for
20% of your final mark, and the online examination makes up 80%. Your final mark for the module will
consist of your year mark (20%, the average of the two assignments) for the two assignments
(Assignment 01 and 02) plus your examination mark (maximum of 80%).

Select the most appropriate option in cases where you think that more than one could be correct.

Your PYC3703 teaching team

Assignment 01
Semester 1 Closing date: 15/03/2023 Unique Code: 520107

NB Please note that your total out of 30 will be converted to a percentage mark. This percentage mark is
the credit you obtain for the assignment.

QUESTION 1

Donders (1868) was able to determine how long it takes to - - - - - by measuring reaction time, or how
long it takes to respond to the presentation of a stimulus.

a. perceive the stimulus

b. process the stimulus
c. attend to the stimulus
d. make a decision

Option d is correct. Donders was interested in determining how long it takes for a person to make a
decision. He determined this by measuring reaction time—that is, how long it takes to respond to the
presentation of a stimulus (a stimulus is a sound, a light, a touch, a smell, etc). He used two measures of
reaction time. First, he measured simple reaction time by asking his participants to push a button as
rapidly as possible when they saw a light go on (see CP, p. 4, Figure 1.2a). In addition, he measured
choice reaction time by using two lights and asking his participants to push the left button when they saw
the left light go on, and the right button when they saw the right light go on (see CP, p. 5, Figure 1.2b).

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QUESTION 2

For a project in his cognitive psychology class, Bruno is working on a 3D model of the human brain, he
gives each main structure a unique colour, and creates a “map” that illustrates which brain structures are
responsible for which functions. Bruno's project is working from a(n) - - - - - model of cognitive
psychology.

a. analytic
b. structural
c. consolidative
d. process

Option b is correct. Structural models are representations of a physical structure. A model can mimic the
appearance of an object, 3D models such as the one in Figure 1.12 (CP, p. 15) have been used to
illustrate the locations of different structures of the brain. Structures can also be represented by
diagrams that don’t resemble the structure itself but instead indicate how different areas of the brain are
connected.

QUESTION 3

Which of the following statements about analytical introspection is incorrect?

a. It infers mental processes based on objective data.

b. It is a technique in which trained participants describe their sensations, feelings and thought
processes in response to stimuli.
c. It requires participants to describe their experience
d. It requires no training.

Option d is correct. Analytic introspection (intro = inside, spectare = to look) requires extensive training
because it is difficult to describe an experience in terms of basic, fundamental elements (CP, p. 6).

QUESTION 4

According to an early concept of memory, new incoming information is first processed by “sensory
memory,” then transferred to “short-term memory,” and eventually stored in “long-term memory.” This
model was proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) and is an example of a(n) - - - - - model.

a. process
b. nomothetic
c. structural
d. ideographic

Option a is correct. Process models represent the processes that are involved in cognitive mechanisms,
with boxes usually representing specific processes and arrows indicating connections between
processes. Sensory memory holds incoming information for a fraction of a second and then passes a
selection of this information to short-term memory, which has a limited capacity and holds information
only for seconds (like an address you are trying to remember until you can write it down). Subsequently,
some of the information in short-term memory can be transferred to long-term memory, a high-capacity
system that can hold much more information for longer periods of time (like your memory of what you did
last weekend or the names of important cognitive psychologists) (see CP, pp. 15-16, Figure 1.13).

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QUESTION 5

George Miller (1956) presented a paper at an American Symposium on Information Theory. His study
suggested that - - - - -.

a. the human ability to process information is unlimited

b. people can hold only about seven items simultaneously in their mind or “immediate memory”
c. intelligent machines can be successfully created
d. memory consolidation is enhanced by REM sleep

Option b is correct. An important paper appeared by George Miller in 1956 disclosing stringent
limitations to the processing capacity of the human mind. More specifically, the experiments in his paper
showed that people can hold only about seven items simultaneously in their mind or “immediate
memory”; a finding we still like to quote today. In his research, Miller focused on basic perceptual skills
and inspired by computational science, he started using the term “bits.” Moreover, because perceptual
judgements can represent just a few “bits,” Miller reasoned that, to enable further processing, memory
processes must actively recode the information that is carried in complex stimuli into smaller units. In
other words, memory is not just a passive store of sensory information. Miller’s approach represented a
new way of thinking, leading to the fact that “the mind as a computer metaphor” became very popular in
psychology. Furthermore, the notion that many of our cognitive functions have a limited capacity
became, and still is, a central theme in modern cognitive psychology (CP, p. 13).

QUESTION 6

Who originated the flow diagram to illustrate mental processes?

a. Donald Broadbent
b. Colin Cherry
c. Newell and Simon
d. Wilhelm Wundt

Option a is correct. Donald Broadbent (1958) was the first person to propose the first flow diagram of the
mind (see CP, p. 12, Figure 1.10b).

QUESTION 7

Using - - - - - as their inspiration, some psychologists proposed the information-processing approach to

studying the mind.

a. the information-processing approach

b. analytic introspection
c. Skinner boxes
d. computers

Option a is correct. The information-processing approach to studying the mind is an approach that traces
sequences of mental operations involved in cognition. According to the information-processing approach,
the operation of the mind can be described as occurring in a number of stages. Applying this stage
approach to the mind led psychologists to ask new questions and to frame their answers to these
questions in new ways (CP, p. 12).

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QUESTION 8

Broca and Wernicke thus identified one area for - - - - - language (Broca’s area) and one area for - - - - -
language (Wernicke’s area).

a. producing; speaking
b. comprehending; channelling
c. producing; comprehending
d. localisation; comprehending

Option c is correct. Broca and Wernicke respectively identified one area for producing language (Broca’s
area) and one area for comprehending language (Wernicke’s area). Although this straightforward
categoriszation in terms of production and comprehension has been modified by the results of more
current research, the idea that these two areas of the brain serve different functions is still valid today. In
addition, their results formed a major impetus to further explore the idea of localization of function (CP, p.
37).

QUESTION 9

Kevin is trying to talk to his wife, but he speaks very slowly, laboriously, and frequently uses garbled
sentences. It’s possible that Kevin's - - - - - is damaged.

a. Broca’s area
b. Parahippocampal place area (PPA)
c. Extrastriate body area (EBA)
d. Wernicke’s area

Option a is correct. Broca’s area, is specialised for speech, and damage to the area results in difficulty
with speech production but not language comprehension (CP, pp. 36-39, Figure 2.13).

QUESTION 10

When - - - - - reach the synapse at the end of the axon, a chemical called a neurotransmitter is released.

a. nerve impulses
b. neural representation
c. feature detectors
d. action potentials

Option d is correct. When the action potentials reach the synapse at the end of the axon, a chemical
called a neurotransmitter is released. This neurotransmitter makes it possible for the signal to be
transmitted across the gap that separates the end of the axon from the dendrite or cell body of another
neuron (see CP, p. 28, Figure 2.4b).

QUESTION 11

The problem of neural representation for the senses has been called - - - - -.

a. population coding
b. the problem of sensory coding
c. sparse coding
d. hierarchical processing

Option b is correct. The problem of neural representation for the senses has been called the problem of
sensory coding, where the sensory code refers to how neurons represent various characteristics of the
environment. The idea that an object could be represented by the firing of a specialised neuron that
responds only to that object is called specificity coding (CP, p. 34).

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QUESTION 12

Kim has just been informed that she has a very severe type of stomach cancer. Her oncologist wants to
find the most effective course of action for her so that the tumours can be removed. Her
gastroenterologist is concerned with treating her symptoms and returning her digestive system to
normal. Kim also sees a psychologist, whose aim is to assist her maintain her composure, ease, and
anxiousness while also boosting her mood. The idea of - - - - provided in your textbook is similar to how
these specialists are approaching Kim's issue with various objectives and viewpoints.

a. unitary explanations
b. idiographic evaluation
c. nomothetic examination
d. levels of analysis

Option d is correct. Levels of analysis refer to the idea that a topic can be studied in a number of
different ways, with each approach contributing its own dimension to our understanding (CP, p. 24).

QUESTION 13

- - - - - is the representation of a particular object by the pattern of firing of a large number of neurons.

a. Sensory coding
b. Specificity coding
c. Sparse coding
d. Population coding

Option d is correct. An advantage of population coding is that a large number of stimuli can be
represented, because large groups of neurons can create a huge number of different patterns. There is
good evidence for population coding in the senses and for other cognitive functions as well (CP, p.34).
Sensory coding refers to how neurons represent various characteristics of the environment. The idea
that an object could be represented by the firing of a specialized neuron that responds only to that object
is called specificity coding, while sparse coding refers to a particular object is represented by a pattern of
firing of only a small group of neurons, with the majority of neurons remaining silent.

QUESTION 14

Palmer (1975) demonstrated how - - - - - might influence perception in his experiment where he asked
participants to identify things in a kitchen.

a. illusory conjunctions
b. context
c. naming associations
d. attention

Option b is correct. In this experiment, Palmer (1975) first presented a context scene. When observers
were asked to identify the object in the target picture, they correctly identified an object like the loaf of
bread (which is appropriate to the kitchen scene) 80% of the time, but they correctly identified the
mailbox or the drum (two objects that don’t fit into the scene) only 40% of the time. Apparently, the
observers were using their scene schema for kitchens to help them perceive the briefly flashed loaf of
bread (CP, p. 67).

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QUESTION 15

The example in your textbook that asks you to picture scenarios like an office, a clothing section of a
department store, a lion, and a microscope frequently yields more details in the office or department
store scene than the lion or microscope scene. Due to the fact that most members of contemporary
society are less familiar with the - - - - - in those scenarios, the latter two tend to be less detailed.

a. physical regularities
b. semantic regularities
c. pragnanz
d. double dissociation

Option b is correct. One way to demonstrate that people are aware of semantic regularities is simply to
ask them to imagine a particular type of scene or object, as in the example in the question (CP, p. 67).

QUESTION 16

- - - - - is the idea that our assessment of the likelihood of a result is influenced by (1) our initial
assumption about the likelihood of the outcome and (2) the likelihood of the outcome.

a. Bayesian inference
b. The apparent likelihood principle
c. The law of semantic regularities
d. The Helmholtz principle

Option a is correct. Bayesian inference proposes that our estimate of the probability of an outcome is
determined by two factors: (1) the prior probability, or simply the prior, which is our initial belief about the
probability of an outcome, and (2) the extent to which the available evidence is consistent with the
outcome. This second factor is called the likelihood of the outcome (CP, p. 68).

QUESTION 17

According to - - - - -, pain occurs when receptors in the skin called nociceptors are stimulated and send
their signals in a direct pathway from the skin to the brain.

a. the top-down processing

b. the direct pathway model
c. bottom-up processing
d. viewpoint invariance

Option b is correct. The perception of pain is perhaps the best example of how top-down processing
influences perception. In the 1950s and early 1960s, pain was explained by the direct pathway model.
According to this model, pain occurs when receptors in the skin called nociceptors are stimulated and
send their signals in a direct pathway from the skin to the brain (CP, p. 61).

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QUESTION 18

You are attending a ceremony in which several ensembles are participating. The ensembles that are all
wearing the same outfits appear to be clustered together to you. One band is represented by the red
uniforms, another by the green ones, and so on. Due to the law of - - - - -, you have this perception.

a. simplicity
b. similarity
c. pragnanz
d. familiarity

Option c is correct. The law of pragnanz, also called the principle of good figure or the principle of
simplicity, states that “the perceptual field and objects within it will take on the simplest and most
encompassing (ausgezeichnet) structure permitted by the given conditions”, in the example provided in
the question, the ensembles are clustered according to their colour (CP, p. 64).

QUESTION 19

- - - - - states that we perceive the object that is most likely to have caused the pattern of stimuli we have
received.

a. The likelihood principle

b. Unconscious bias
c. Top-down processing
d. The direct pathway model

Option a is correct. The likelihood principle states that we perceive the object that is most likely to have
caused the pattern of stimuli we have received. According to Helmholtz, this judgment of what is most
likely occurs by a process called unconscious inference, in which our perceptions are the result of
unconscious assumptions, or inferences, that we make about the environment (CP, p. 62).

QUESTION 20

What is the name of the pathway that connects the striate cortex to the temporal lobe?

a. What pathway
b. Where pathway
c. Landmark pathway
d. Action pathway

Option a is correct. In a lesioning part of an experiment, part of the temporal lobe was removed in some
monkeys. Behavioural testing showed that the object discrimination problem became very difficult for the
monkeys when their temporal lobes were removed. This result indicates that the neural pathway that
reaches the temporal lobes is responsible for determining an object’s identity. Ungerleider and Mishkin
therefore called the pathway leading from the striate cortex to the temporal lobe the what pathway (see
CP, pp. 77-78, Figure 3.30 and Figure 3.31).

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QUESTION 21

Siko and Milani are having a competition to see who has the best memory. Their older brother reads out
5 sentences and then adds in an unrelated word at the end of each sentence. After the last sentence,
Siko and Milani must recall all the unrelated words. The number of correct words that they are able to
recall is regarded as their - - - - - memory.

a. iconic
b. photographic
c. working memory
d. sensory

Option c is correct. Information is rapidly lost in working memory which is a type of short-term memory.
Short-term memory can only hold a limited number of items. A person’s short-term memory can be
tested by seeing how many items can be stored in their working memory. The number of correct words
that Siko and Milani can remember indicates the number of items that they are able to store in their
working memory giving an indication of the capacity of their short-term memory (CP, pp. 134-135).

QUESTION 22

Viha is in grade R. She is having difficulty remembering her mum’s cell phone number. Viha’s teacher
suggests instead of learning the number as 0794797639 that Viha should learn the number as 079 479
7639. This is an example of - - - - -.

a. chunking
b. truncating
c. mnemonics
d. working memory

Option a is correct. Viha’s teacher recommends that she should break the 10-digit number into smaller
bits so she can remember easily. This is an example of chunking, which is a technique used in everyday
life to expand the capacity of long-term memory (CP, p. 135).

QUESTION 23

Francis decides to test his student’s short-term memory by presenting them with a sequence of triangles
that are presented in different colours. Francis believes that this is a better test of short-term memory
capacity because - - - - -.

a. colours and shapes can be coded using verbalised reasoning

b. colours and shapes are unbiased
c. colours and shapes cannot be rehearsed
d. colours and shapes can be synthesised

Option c is correct. Luck and Vogel (1997) measure short-term capacity using change detection (shapes
and differing colours) to eliminate a person’s ability to use other cognitive processes such as control
processes or long-term memory that could be accessed during a digit span test of short-term memory,
for example (CP, p. 136).

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QUESTION 24

Catherine is on her way to the grocery store. She quickly memorises her grocery list and remembers
every item on the list when she goes to the grocery store the same day. However, when she goes back
to the grocery store two weeks later, she is unable to remember if she bought honey on her last trip two
weeks ago. This is because Catherine stored the grocery list in her - - - - - memory during her initial visit
to the grocery store but not in her - - - - - memory.

a. short-term; long-term
b. sensory; short-term
c. working; sensory
d. short-term; sensory

Option a is correct. Short-term memory allows us to hold more items for a longer period of time than
sensory memory or working memory. Therefore, Catherine could remember the grocery list she
memorised on the same day. Any information that is not committed to long-term memory is lost or
replaced by other information in short-term. Catherine was unable to remember if she bought honey two-
weeks ago because she did not commit her grocery list to long-term memory (CP, p. 132).

QUESTION 25

Which one of the following statements about memory is incorrect?

a. Mediation can free up working memory capacity.

b. Working memory is affected by worrying and stress.
c. Verbal reasoning is minimally affected by an increased cognitive load.
d. Working memory involves the manipulation of information for complex tasks.

Option c is correct. Verbal reasoning uses working memory and is affected by an increased cognitive
load, such as worrying or stress (see CP, pp. 157-158).

QUESTION 26

Which one of the following brain structures has been shown to be the most important in working
memory?

a. Pre-frontal cortex
b. Parietal cortex
c. Cerebellum
d. Temporal lobe

Option a is correct. Research by Funahashi, Bruce, and Goldman-Rakic (1989) indicates that the pre-
frontal cortex is important in working memory (CP, pp. 153-154).

QUESTION 27

- - - - - memory and - - - - - memory allow brief memories to be stored.

a. Working; sensor
b. Procedural; working
c. Sensory; procedural
d. Short-term; procedural

Option a is correct. Working memory has a limited span that is used for temporary storage and
manipulation of information involved in higher order tasks. Sensory memory also lasts briefly and allows
a person to register a large amount of sensory information around them after the original stimulus is
inactive. (CP, pp. 129-138).

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QUESTION 28

Levato is watching the fireworks during the New Year’s Eve. He closes he eyes but can still “see” the
fireworks. This can be attributed to his - - - - - memory.

a. semantic
b. iconic memory
c. procedural memory
d. working

Option b is correct. Iconic memory is part of the visual memory system. It temporarily stores visual
information from visual stimuli (CP, p. 131).

QUESTION 29

You go shopping at your local supermarket. You are aware that they changed the layout of the store 3
months ago, but you still go to the incorrect aisle to get cereal after several visits to the store. This is an
example of how - - - - - has interfered with your ability to remember the new store layout.

a. decay
b. proactive interference
c. retroactive interference
d. digit span

Option b is correct. Your previously learned knowledge of the supermarket layout affects your ability to
unlearn this old knowledge and to relearn the new supermarket layout easily. Therefore, the information
that you previously learned about the supermarket layout has affected your ability to remember new
information. Keppel and Underwood (1962) suggested that the drop-off in memory is due not to passive
decay of the memory trace over time, but to proactive interference—interference that occurs when
previously learned information interferes with learning new information. (CP, p. 133).

QUESTION 30

You are a music teacher that has to learn new songs to keep up with the current trends in music. Your
student asks you if you know the words of a particular song that was released 10 years ago. You
remember the tune of the song but not the words. You explain to your student that you have learned the
words of so many new songs since you first knew the words to that song from 10 years ago. This is an
example of how - - - - - has interfered with your ability to recall information that you had previously known
because of subsequent learning.

a. decay
b. proactive interference
c. retroactive interference
d. digit span

Option c is correct. The new songs that you have subsequently learned since learning the words of the
song from 10 years ago, has interfered with your ability to remember the words of that song that you
knew previously. Therefore, the recently learned information has affected your ability to remember old
information. Retroactive interference occurs when new learning interferes with remembering old learning
(CP, pp. 133-134, see Figure 5.8).

Total [30]

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