Midterm Exam 1 ** Form A **

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1 File = D:\p355\mid1a.a-key.p355.spr18.docm 1 John Miyamoto ( jmiyamot@uw.edu) Psych 355: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology Spring 2018 Course website: Midterm Exam 1 ** Form A ** 1. The most important difference between modern cognitive psychology and behaviorist psychology is: a) behaviorists study animal behavior; cognitive psychologists study human behavior. b) behaviorists study learning; cognitive psychologists study perception, memory and reasoning. c) behaviorists study reflexes; cognitive psychologists study voluntary actions. d) behaviorists avoid hypotheses about unobserved mental processes; cognitive psychologists develop and investigate hypotheses about unobserved mental processes. 2. Which time period is most closely associated with a renewed interest in cognitive psychological research? a) b) c) d) In Donder's method of subtraction, the simple response time is subtracted from the choice response time. If you accept the assumptions of the method of subtraction, what is estimated by this difference in response times? a) The difference measures the time it takes to perceive the location of the stimulus. b) The difference measures the time it takes to decide which response is correct (push the left button or push the right button). c) The difference measures the time it takes to prepare a response (program the muscular patterns that are needed to push the appropriate button). d) The difference measures the time it takes to produce the response (the time it takes to actually contract the appropriate muscles). 4. Franciscus Donders studies of simple response time and choice response time (mental chronometry) were significant for the field of cognitive psychology because: a) he discovered a method for inferring characteristics of an unobservable mental process from observable behavior. b) his experiments were the first to directly measure brain activity while the subject performed an experimental task. c) he showed how methods that had previously been used in the study of non-human animals could also be applied to the study of human cognition. d) he showed how to combine behavioral and physiological measures to test hypotheses about cognitive processes. 5. Helmholtz's idea of "unconscious inference" was important for the development of cognitive psychology because... a) it emphasized that human actions are driven by many motives of which we are unaware.

2 File = D:\p355\mid1a.a-key.p355.spr18.docm 2 b) it emphasized that our perception of an external world requires many inferences that go beyond the information that is directly available to our sense organs. c) it emphasized that people can answer questions about experiences for which they have no conscious memory. d) it emphasized that scientists could measure the duration of inferential processes that cannot be directly observed. 6. Figure 1 displays an fmri image of a human brain. The head is facing up. The slice is in the horizontal plane, i.e., the slice would be parallel to the ground if the person were standing up. Often you will see fmri images presented in color, with areas of higher activity indicated by distinctive colors like yellow, red or green. The image on this exam is displayed in shades of grey because we didn't print this exam on a color printer. In the lower right side of the head, you will see a black arrow. This arrow points to an area in the visual cortex that is active while processing visual stimuli. You can see the outline of this area which is traced in white, with much darker areas inside of the whitish boundary. The question is, how is fmri used to pick out a brain area that is Figure 1 especially active when processing a particular mental task. For example, what aspects of the measurements made by fmri indicate that the area pointed to by the black arrow in Figure 1 is distinctive from the surrounding brain tissue? [The answer choices will refer to the distinctive area as the "target area."] a) fmri measures the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin in the target area and in the surrounding brain areas. A target area is displayed in a distinctive color when the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin is greater in the target area than in the surrounding brain areas. b) fmri measures the rate of neural firing in the target area and in surrounding brain areas. The target area is displayed in a distinctive color when neural firing rates in the target area are higher than in surrounding brain areas. c) fmri measures the rate of neural firing in the target area, first, while performing a particular mental task like viewing an image, and second, while performing a control task like viewing a blank screen 1. The target area is displayed with distinctive colors or shading if neural firing rates are significantly greater while performing the mental task than when performing the control task. d) The fmri measurements are taken, first, while performing a particular mental task like viewing an image, and second, while performing a control task like viewing a blank screen 2. A brain area is displayed with distinctive colors or shading if the concentration of oxygenated blood is significantly greater while performing the mental task than when performing the control task. 7. Which sensory coding hypothesis proposes that every stimulus is represented by a specific pattern of firing among a small group of neurons: a) Specificity coding b) Pattern coding c) Sparse coding 1 2 The control task might also be to view a different kind of image. The control task might also be to view a different kind of image.

3 File = D:\p355\mid1a.a-key.p355.spr18.docm 3 d) Neural network coding 8. Figure 2 is a schematic display of neural connectivity. The disks on the left represent five on-center/off-surround ganglion cells whose receptive fields are arranged in a straight line. On the right is a cell in visual cortex. The arrows represent excitatory neural connections between the ganglion cells and the cell in visual cortex. What does this diagram depict? a) It shows how a kind of feature detector, called a bar detector, could be the consequence of a specific pattern of neural connections between ganglion cells and cells in the visual cortex. b) It shows how perceptual features can be bound together into the perception of an object. c) It shows how the Gestalt principle of good continuation might be represented by connections in the nervous system. d) It shows how neural plasticity could promote pattern recognition in the brain. Figure 2 9. Figure 3 shows regions of the brain that are active during processing of perceptual stimuli. Region D in Figure 3 is: a) the auditory cortex b) the visual cortex c) the "where" visual pathway of the parietal cortex d) the "what" visual pathway of the temporal cortex Figure Suppose that neuron A provides input to neuron B at a synapse. Assuming that we can observe the firing of neurons A and B, what should we expect to observe if neuron A is excitatory with respect to neuron B? a) neuron B fires whenever neuron A fires. b) neurons A and B tend to fire in synchrony. c) increased firing of neuron A produces increased firing of neuron B. d) increased firing of neuron A produces decreased firing of neuron B. 11. Information is transmitted from one neuron to another neuron by what process? a) Chemicals called neurotransmitters are released by one neuron and absorbed by contiguous neurons at specialized neural structures called synapses. b) Neurons influence adjacent neurons by a process called lateral inhibition. c) Electricity is transmitted from one neuron to another at places where they touch each other. d) Electricity that is flowing through one neuron creates a magnetic field that induces an electrical current in adjacent neurons. 12. What is a major limitation of using single cell recordings to determine brain function?

4 File = D:\p355\mid1a.a-key.p355.spr18.docm 4 a) There is poor temporal resolution. b) There is poor spatial resolution. c) The recordings are not easily understood. d) Single cell recording can only observe the functioning of a small proportion of the neurons that respond to a stimulus. 13. What do event-related potentials (ERPs) refer to? a) Changes in the size of action potentials on specific axons in the brain. b) Patterns of electrical potential that are measured on the scalp while a person is exposed to a stimulus or is performing a cognitive task. c) Changes in the magnetic properties of neurons at different places within the brain. d) Changes in neurotransmitters within specific groups of neurons. 14. Suppose you want to discover what part of the human brain becomes active when the subject views particular types of stimuli, e.g., images of tools like hammers and saws, but you are less concerned with the time course of brain activity. In other words, you are very interested in the exact location of brain activity and you are less concerned to know the precise timing of the brain activity. Which method is best suited to your interests? a) The method of subtraction applied to response time data b) Event-related potentials (ERP) c) Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fmri) d) Single cell recordings 15. Which of the following neuropsychological methods has very good temporal resolution? a) fmri b) ERP c) administration of psychoactive drugs d) none of the above 16. Which Gestalt law can be expressed as follows: Every stimulus pattern is seen in such a way that the resulting structure is as simple as possible. a) similarity b) proximity (also called nearness) c) good figure (also called pragnanz) d) good continuation

5 File = D:\p355\mid1a.a-key.p355.spr18.docm What does the Gestalt Principle of Similarity predict that people will tend to see in Figure 4 to the right? a) People should notice the outline of the square. b) People should see that the letters are written in rows of text. c) People should notice that the letters are lined up in columns. d) People should notice that the same letter appears along diagonal lines from the upper left to the lower right side of the figure. s a = e $ g * i ~ k l # n % p _ + + s a = e $ g * i ~ k l # n % p + s a = e $ g * i ~ k l # n % p p _ + s a = e $ g * i ~ k l # n % % p _ + s a = e $ g * i ~ k l # n n % p _ + s a = e $ g * i ~ k l # # n % p _ + s a = e $ g * i ~ k l l # n % p _ + s a = e $ g * i ~ k k l # n % p _ + s a = e $ g * i ~ ~ k l # n % p _ + s a = e $ g * i i ~ k l # n % p _ + s a = e $ g * * i ~ k l # n % p _ + s a = e $ g g * i ~ k l # n % p _ + s a = e $ $ g * i ~ k l # n % p _ + s a = e Figure Which statement best summarizes the focus of the Gestalt psychologists? a) We must identify the sensations from which perceptions are constructed. b) We need to identify the information processing stages that occur during visual perception. c) We need to understand how patterns of visual elements cause us to see meaningful relationships among the elements. d) We need to identify the neurons that are active during the process of perception. 19. Which of the following provided the earliest evidence for feature detectors in human perception? ("Earliest" means the first evidence to be discovered.) a) Single-cell recordings found that individual cells in visual cortex are sensitive to such features as edges, bars, colors and directions of motion. b) fmri measurements found that areas of the brain become active when a person is presented with a stimulus that alternates between the presence and absence of a feature. c) Event-related potentials (ERP) were found to exhibit distinctive peaks when a subject is presented with particular shapes like a vertical bar. d) Drugs were developed which, if injected into an awake animal, could cause it to lose the ability to discriminate particular features, like the difference between vertical and horizontal motion. 20. When we view a disk that is shaded more lightly towards the top of the disk and more darkly towards the bottom of the disk, we perceive the disk to be a convex surface (pushing out towards us). Figure 5 shows an example of this. The perception that the disks are convex, has been attributed to: a) the Gestalt law of common fate b) the light-from-above assumption (a.k.a. the light-fromabove heuristic) c) feature detectors for convex disks d) illusory conjunctions Figure 5

6 File = D:\p355\mid1a.a-key.p355.spr18.docm Consider the hypothesis that perceptual processing of sensory information depends on detection and integration of perceptual features like edges and bars, color, and motion. Which of the following best describes current evidence for this hypothesis? a) The hypothesis is supported by neuropsychological evidence and behavioral evidence. b) The hypothesis is supported by neuropsychological evidence, but behavioral evidence for the hypothesis has not yet been found. c) The hypothesis is supported by behavioral evidence, but neuropsychological evidence for the hypothesis has not yet been found. d) The hypothesis is rather speculative - as yet, there is very little neuropsychological or behavioral evidence for the hypothesis. 22. The human perceptual system solves the inverse projection problem effortlessly and automatically. What does it mean to "solve the inverse projection problem"? a) The visual system is able to rapidly transmit information from the visual cortex in the back of the brain to the frontal brain areas where complex decisions are processed. b) The perceptual system is able to create a single mental image out of the slightly different images that are presented to the two eyes. c) The perceptual system is coordinated with the motor system to guide human actions in the world in addition to performing its function of constructing a perceptual representation of the world. d) The perceptual system is able to identify the three-dimensional reality that produced the twodimensional information that is available to the visual system. 23. Figure 6 shows a monkey brain as viewed from the left. The diagram shows that the monkey has damage to the left temporal lobe. How will this brain damage affect the behavior of the monkey? a) The monkey is likely to have difficulty with object discrimination because the damage is to the "what" pathway. b) The monkey is likely to have difficulty with landmark discrimination because the damage is to the "where" pathway. c) The monkey is likely to have difficulty reaching accurately for an object because the damage is to the "action" pathway. d) The monkey is likely to have difficulty perceiving objects in motion because the damage is to the "spatial" pathway. Figure 6. Monkey brain with damage to left temporal lobe Figure 7 to the right shows the neural response to face and place stimuli as measured by fmri. The top half of the graph displays the results for the fusiform face area (FFA) and the bottom half of the graph displays the results for the parahippocampal place area (PPA). Stimuli were displayed for 4 second periods that alternated between face stimuli and place stimuli. I stated in class that this graph displays a double dissociation between the responses of FFA and PPA to face and place stimuli. A double dissociation is more informative than a single dissociation in which only one of the two complementary response patterns has been observed. The following True/False questions ask you to imagine that researchers only obtained the results for the top half of the Figure 7 (only for Figure 7

7 File = D:\p355\mid1a.a-key.p355.spr18.docm 7 FFA, not for PPA). The top half of Figure 7 establishes a single dissociation in the response of FFA to face and place stimuli. The following questions ask you to state what we can still conclude, and what we cannot conclude, when we only have a single dissociation and not a double dissociation. 24. If we only had the results for FFA (top half) and not for PPA (bottom half), then the evidence would not support the claim that FFA is specialized for processing faces (as opposed to a much broader class of perceptual stimuli). a) True b) False 25. If we only had the results for FFA (top half) and not for PPA (bottom half), then the evidence would not support the claim that FFA responds differently to face stimuli and to place stimuli. a) True b) False 26. If we only had the results for FFA (top half) and not for PPA (bottom half), then the results would be consistent with the claim that faces are perceptually more complex than places, and that FFA is responding to the complexity of the stimulus, and not specifically to faces versus places. a) True b) False Gauthier found that subjects who were trained to identify individual "greebles" (odd looking dolls with inhuman faces) developed brain activity in the fusiform face area (FFA) that was similar for human face stimuli and greeble doll stimuli. In contrast, subjects who had not been trained to identify greebles displayed quite different brain activity in the FFA to human face stimuli and to greeble doll stimuli. Gauthier's findings are examples of what? a) double dissociation b) localization of function c) feature detectors d) experienced-dependent plasticity 28. Milner and Goodale (1995) studied a patient, D.F., who had suffered damage to her temporal lobes. D.F. performed poorly at a task where she had to hold an envelope at the same angle (orientation) as a slot on the wall (orientation matching task). Nevertheless, if D.F. was asked to put the envelope through the slot (active mailing task), she did very well. Superficially, this finding seems contradictory because putting the envelope through the slot required D.F. to turn the envelope so that its orientation matched the orientation of the slot. How did Milner and Goodale (1995) interpret D.F.'s performance on these two tasks? a) The "what pathway" should be interpreted as a "perception pathway." The "where pathway" should be interpreted as an "action pathway." b) The orientation of the slot is processed along the "what" pathway and the location of the slot is processed along the "where" pathway. c) D.F. has difficulty learning to follow new instructions but she can continue to perform actions that she has learned in the past.

8 File = D:\p355\mid1a.a-key.p355.spr18.docm 8 d) The results indicate a double dissociation between processing category information and location information. 29. Which of the following correctly describes location of the "what" and "where" pathways in terms of brain anatomy? a) "What" pathway starts in the temporal lobe; proceeds into the frontal lobe. "Where" pathway starts in the parietal lobe; proceeds into the frontal lobe. b) "What" pathway starts in the occipital lobe; proceeds into the parietal lobe. "Where pathway starts in the occipital lobe; proceeds into the temporal lobe. c) "What" pathway starts in the temporal lobe; proceeds into the frontal lobe. "Where" pathway starts in the temporal lobe; proceeds into the parietal lobe. d) "What" pathway starts in the occipital lobe; proceeds into the temporal lobe. "Where" pathway starts in the occipital lobe; proceeds into the parietal lobe. 30. In perception, top-down processing refers to what? a) It refers to the fact that the perceptual system assumes that the light source is above the objects in a scene. b) It refers to the influence of prior beliefs, expectancies and concepts on the processing of perceptual input. c) It refers to the tendency for features that are closest to the top of the visual field to be processed before features that are closest to the bottom of the visual field. d) It refers to the sequential order in which low level features are combined into increasingly complex higher order perceptual objects. 31. The main difference between early and late-selection theories of attention is... a) early selection theories propose that attentional selection precedes encoding of information in sensory memory; late selection theories propose that attentional selection occurs during encoding of information in sensory memory. b) In an early selection model, perceptual features are processed for the attended message prior to processing for the unattended message. In a late selection model, perceptual features are processed for both the attended and unattended message at the same time. c) early selection theories propose that attentional selection occurs before extraction of meaning from the incoming messages; late selection theories propose that attentional selection occurs after extraction of meaning from the incoming messages. d) early selection theories propose that attentional selection occurs during the transfer of information from sensory memory to short-term memory; late selection theories propose that attentional selection occurs during the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory Consider Broadbent's early selection model of attention. Suppose that a subject listens to different messages presented over headphones to the two ears. The subject is instructed to shadow the message that is presented to his left ear and to disregard the message that is presented to his right ear. For each of the following pieces of evidence, answer "pro" if this piece of evidence supports Broadbent's early selection hypothesis and "con" if it conflicts with the early selection hypothesis.

9 File = D:\p355\mid1a.a-key.p355.spr18.docm The subject typically has no memory for the content of the message in the right ear (unattended ear). a) PRO: This evidence supports the early selection hypothesis. b) CON: This evidence conflicts with the early selection hypothesis. 33. The subject will often notice if his or her own name is presented in the unattended ear (right ear). a) PRO: This evidence supports the early selection hypothesis. b) CON: This evidence conflicts with the early selection hypothesis. 34. Suppose that the sentence, "He caught the fly with his left hand," is presented to the left ear. This sentence is ambiguous because "a fly" can mean either a small flying insect or a baseball that has been hit into the air. It is known that a word presented concurrently to the unattended right ear ("insect" or "baseball") can influence the interpretation of the ambiguous sentence. a) PRO: This evidence supports the early selection hypothesis. b) CON: This evidence conflicts with the early selection hypothesis Corteen and Wood (1972) did the following experiment. Using electrical shock, subjects were conditioned to produce a galvanic skin response (GSR) whenever they heard the names of particular cities. Later the subjects wore headphones and different messages were played into the two ears of the headphones. Subjects were instructed to shadow the message in the left ear. Occasionally one of the shock-conditioned city names would occur in the message that went to the right ear (nonattended ear). It was found that subjects produced a higher GSR to the shock-conditioned city names even though they were unable to report any of the content of the message to the unattended ear. Whose theory found this result hard to explain? Hint: This experiment was not discussed in lecture or the textbook - you must figure out what you think based on the description of the experiment given here. a) Broadbent's early selection model of attention. b) Treisman's attenuation model of attention. c) MacKay's late selection model of attention. d) All of these theories found it difficult to explain this result. 36. Scientists who study attention find it useful to think of attention as if it is a finite quantity that can be divided between different activities or tasks. What empirical finding does this idea help to explain? a) In a shadowing experiment, subjects are typically unaware of the content of the messages that are spoken to the unattended ear. b) Experiments that attempt to distinguish between early selection models and late selection models of attention are more likely to support a late selection model if the task in the experiment demands only a moderate amount of attention from the subjects. c) Animals or people with damage to the "what" pathway have difficulty remembering the colors or shapes of objects. d) In general, subjects are faster at switching attention between two positions within one object than between two positions that are in different objects even if the visual distance between the positions is equivalent.

10 File = D:\p355\mid1a.a-key.p355.spr18.docm Change blindness (a.k.a. inattentional blindness) refers to: a) a neurological condition that results from injury to the frontal lobes of the brain; people with this injury are unable to detect environmental changes. b) a form of blindness that afflicts people who are undergoing rapid changes in cognitive state. c) an inability to detect changes in scenes; normal people experience change blindness. d) a temporary loss of the ability to see changes in the environment that results, usually, from a blow to the head or sudden loss of blood pressure. 38. It is known that people can switch attention between two positions in the same object faster than they can switch attention between two positions in different objects, even if the positions in different objects are closer together. For example, consider the stimulus that is displayed in Figure 8. If a cue indicates that the target is most likely to appear at position A, the subject will be faster to detect a target that appears at position B than one that appears at position C. Which of the following is the best interpretation of this finding? Figure 8 a) The result is consistent with object-based attention. It conflicts with assumption that visual attention is always location-based. b) The result is consistent with location-based attention. It conflicts with the hypothesis that visual attention is always object-based. c) The result is consistent with object-based attention. It conflicts with the hypothesis of late attentional selection (selection after the meaning of inputs has been processed). d) The result is inconsistent with object-based attention because the objects are static, i.e., they are not in motion. The result is consistent with other attentional theories, but does not directly support any of them. 39. Suppose that a patient has suffered a stroke that caused damage to his right parietal lobe. If this patient suffers from left unilateral neglect, he will exhibit what symptoms? a) He can track objects with his right eye but not his left eye. b) He has very poor depth perception because he does not process visual information that is presented to his left eye. c) He overlooks objects that are in his left visual field, but not objects that are in his right visual field. d) He has trouble remembering information that was presented to his left eye, but not information that was presented to his right eye. 40. Tipper and Behrman (1996) found that a patient with hemispatial neglect 3 to the left visual field was slower to respond to a flash on the left side of an object than a flash on the right side of the object. But if the patient saw the object flip over so that original left side of the object was now on the right side (and vice versa), then the patient was slower to respond to a flash on the right side of the object. This finding is important because... a) it suggests that attention can be object-based as well as location-based. 3 This disorder is also called unilateral neglect.

11 File = D:\p355\mid1a.a-key.p355.spr18.docm 11 b) it suggests that hemispatial neglect results from injury to the temporal lobe of the brain. c) viewing objects in motion disrupts attention. d) attention operates like a spotlight that is strongest at a focal point and weakens at positions that are distant from the focal point. 41. According to Treisman's (1986) feature integration theory, illusory conjunctions occur because... a) some perceptual features often occur together whereas other perceptual features rarely occur together. Features that often occur together can be mistakenly assigned to the same object even if they originated from different objects. b) at the beginning of the perceptual process, the features of objects are not yet associated with specific objects, and therefore the features that originate from different objects can be combined into the perceptual representation of a single object if processing is cut short by a following mask. c) expectations (top-down processes) can override bottom up acquisition of perceptual features. d) some feature are processed in adjacent brain areas whereas other features are processed in brain areas that are more distant from each other. Features that are processed in adjacent brain areas can be combined into the representation of a single object even if they originated from different objects. 42. Which of the following is an example of an automatic process (for a typical adult American)? a) Recognizing your mother's voice when you answer the telephone. b) Deciding which shoes to buy at a shoestore. c) Deciding what is the shortest route between two locations on a map that you are looking at. d) Picking which clothes to wear to a party Which of the following are true statements about automatic and controlled processes: 43. In general, controlled processes demand more attention than automatic processes. a) True b) False 44. In general, the cognitive processes that are required to perform a task become increasingly automatized (more automatic) the longer one repeats the performance of the task. a) True b) False 45. All cognitive tasks can be automaticized, i.e., psychological research has found that, with a great deal of practive, the cognitive processes that are involved in performing a task can always become automatic no matter what is the task. a) True b) False In the Stroop task, subjects are asked to name the color of the font in which a series of words are written; different words are written in different colors. It is believed that recognizing the meaning of a word is an automatic process for simple words like color names, and that naming the color of the

12 File = D:\p355\mid1a.a-key.p355.spr18.docm 12 font is a controlled process for someone who has no practice at naming the colors of fonts. The main finding in the Stroop task is that responses are slower when the word names a color that is different from the color in which the word is written; responses are faster when the word does not name a color or when it names the same color as the color in which the word is written. Which of the following accounts for this finding? a) Naming the color of the font takes longer because it is a controlled process. b) Naming the color of the font is a slow process because the subjects are not given the opportunity to practice the task of naming the font color. This causes responses to take longer when subjects are asked to name the color of the font in which the word is written. c) Recognizing the meaning of a word that names a non-color, e.g., "table," occurs faster than recognizing the meaning of a word that names a color, e.g., "red." Therefore responses are faster when the words name non-colors. d) The subject cannot voluntarily choose not to recognize the meaning of a word that names a color, and the process of recognizing this meaning happens faster than the process of deciding what is the name of the font color. Responses are slower when the fast automatic response (recognizing the meaning) conflicts with the slower controlled response (naming the font color). ***** This is the end of the exam *****