4.2.1.3 The cognitive approach Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 2

The 20 questions

1. Which assumption is central to the cognitive approach in psychology?

   • Behaviour is determined by unconscious conflicts only
   • Internal mental processes, such as thinking and memory, can be studied scientifically
   • Behaviour is only caused by genes and cannot be studied
   • Behaviour can be explained only by observable rewards and punishments

2. What is a schema in the cognitive approach?

   • A type of reinforcement that increases behaviour when it is given, and which is always delivered after a fixed number of responses
   • A reflex that is produced by a neutral stimulus after conditioning, which the learner shows automatically each time it occurs
   • An organised framework of knowledge that helps people interpret and remember information
   • A genetic code that determines behaviour from birth, so that each person's responses are fixed before any learning begins

3. Why do cognitive psychologists use models to explain mental processes?

   • Because mental processes cannot be observed directly
   • Because models provide exact measurements of brain activity
   • Because models make mental processes identical to behaviour
   • Because models remove the need for any evidence

4. Which analogy is commonly used in cognitive psychology to describe the mind?

   • The garden, with plants that grow only under reward
   • The forest, with trees that are shaped by weather alone
   • The computer, with input, storage and retrieval of information
   • The engine, with pistons and fuel driving behaviour

5. What is an inference in the cognitive approach?

   • A reward given to a person for a correct answer, which strengthens the thinking that produced the answer in the first place
   • A reflex that happens without any thought, such as a knee jerk, which occurs automatically whenever the leg is tapped
   • A direct observation of a mental process in the brain, which can be seen on a scan while the person thinks about the problem
   • A conclusion drawn about an unobservable mental process from observable behaviour

6. Which strength of the cognitive approach is most often identified?

   • It uses scientific methods, such as controlled experiments, to test models of mental processes
   • It explains behaviour without any reference to mental processes, so its explanations rely entirely on observable rewards
   • It relies only on case studies of unusual individuals, whose unique experiences are used to explain the general mind
   • It has no link to research on memory or attention, since its studies have focused only on the emotional side of behaviour

7. Which limitation of the cognitive approach is most often identified?

   • Mental processes are inferred rather than observed directly
   • The approach explains all behaviour with genetic evidence alone
   • Mental processes are directly observed in every study
   • The approach ignores all research on memory and attention

8. Which criticism applies to the computer analogy used in the cognitive approach?

   • It explains human thinking exactly as a computer works in every case
   • It oversimplifies human thinking by ignoring emotions and social influences
   • It shows that humans cannot process information at all
   • It is based entirely on evidence from brain scans of infants

9. A psychologist studies how people remember a list of words by testing recall, then proposes a model of memory stores. Which feature of the cognitive approach is being used?

   • Imitation of a model's recall strategy
   • Conditioning of recall through food reward
   • Inference of an internal memory process from observable recall
   • Direct recording of the neurons firing in the hippocampus

10. Which feature of schemas helps explain why people remember some information more easily than others?

    • Schemas have no effect on memory of any information, since recall depends only on how often the information is repeated
    • Schemas store information only as sensory images, so each memory is a picture with no organisation or structure at all
    • Schemas guide attention and memory, so information that fits a schema is recalled more easily
    • Schemas only operate in children, who are the only people who organise their knowledge into frameworks of this kind

11. A person sees a four-legged animal with a tail and says it is a dog, even though it is slightly unusual. Which cognitive concept best explains this?

    • A schema for dogs guides interpretation of the animal
    • Classical conditioning of the animal's shape
    • Imprinting on the first dog seen
    • Operant reinforcement of the word dog

12. Which evaluation point applies to the cognitive approach's use of models?

    • Models are always perfect copies of the brain, so they capture every detail of how the mind works in full
    • Models only apply to behaviour in animals, since human thinking is too complex to be represented by any simple model
    • Models are simplifications, so they may not capture all of the complexity of mental processes
    • Models cannot be tested in any way, which means their value depends only on the authority of the person who proposed them

13. A researcher argues that the cognitive approach can be tested scientifically. Which design would best support this?

    • An experiment that manipulates a variable, such as the presentation of information
    • A survey of people's opinions about their thinking, in which participants rate how confident they feel about their memory
    • A description of a person's personality without any measurement, based on the researcher's impressions of the individual
    • A case study of one person's dreams with no measurement, in which the researcher describes the content of the dreams only

14. Which statement best describes the cognitive approach's view of the mind?

    • The mind is a fixed set of reflexes present at birth, which do not change in any way as a result of experience
    • The mind has no role in learning and memory, since learning is entirely a product of the body's reflexes and responses
    • The mind processes information through stages, such as input, storage and retrieval
    • The mind is a passive recorder that is shaped only by rewards, and it does not process or change any of the information it receives

15. Which criticism of the cognitive approach is most relevant to emotion?

    • It has focused entirely on emotion and ignored memory, since its research has been based only on feelings and mood
    • It has been used only to study infants, whose thinking is simple enough to be explained by the information-processing model
    • It has often focused on thinking and memory, paying less attention to emotions and motivation
    • It has shown that emotions have no effect on thinking, so the emotional side of mental life has been found to be irrelevant

16. A patient's schema for social situations leads them to expect rejection in every new group. Which concept does this illustrate?

    • A primary reinforcer that is withdrawn, which removes the basic reward that the person expects in every social setting
    • An unconditioned reflex to unfamiliar people, which the person shows automatically whenever a stranger comes near them
    • A schema that guides interpretation and expectations about social situations
    • A critical period for social bonding, which closes early and makes it hard for the person to form relationships later on

17. Which combination of features matches the cognitive approach?

    • Id, ego and superego with defence mechanisms, which operate at the level of the unconscious mind and personality structure
    • Genotype, phenotype and natural selection only, which together explain how inherited traits are passed on to the young
    • Internal mental processes, schemas and models used to make inferences
    • Observable behaviour, rewards and punishment only, which are the only factors that shape the actions of individuals

18. A study finds that people recall information that matches their existing expectations more accurately than information that does not match. Which cognitive concept best explains this?

    • Schemas that guide recall towards expected information
    • Imprinting of memory on the first information seen
    • Classical conditioning of recall to food
    • Operant reinforcement of incorrect answers

19. Which statement about the use of inference in the cognitive approach is most accurate?

    • Inferences are drawn from evidence, so they need careful testing to be accepted
    • Inferences are always direct observations of the brain, so they can be read from a scan without any further testing
    • Inferences cannot be tested or checked by other researchers, since they depend entirely on the private thoughts of the scientist
    • Inferences are based only on the researcher's opinions, which are accepted without any need for supporting evidence

20. Which feature is shared by the cognitive and biological approaches?

    • Both explain behaviour only through unconscious conflict, which can be understood only through clinical interpretation
    • Both aim to explain behaviour through internal processes that can be studied scientifically
    • Both explain behaviour solely through rewards and punishment, which are the only processes that can be studied scientifically
    • Both ignore research methods such as experiments, since they rely mainly on personal reflection and case discussion

Related quizzes

• Learning approaches: behaviourism and classical conditioning Quiz · 4.2.1.1 · 20 questions
• Operant conditioning and social learning theory Quiz · 4.2.1.2 · 20 questions
• The biological approach Quiz · 4.2.1.4 · 20 questions
• The psychodynamic approach Quiz · 4.2.1.5 · 20 questions
• Humanistic psychology Quiz · 4.2.1.6 · 20 questions
• Comparison of approaches Quiz · 4.2.1.7 · 20 questions
• Divisions of the nervous system and neurons Quiz · 4.2.2.1 · 20 questions
• Synaptic transmission Quiz · 4.2.2.2 · 20 questions
• Endocrine system and fight or flight Quiz · 4.2.2.3 · 20 questions
• Ways of studying the brain Quiz · 4.2.2.4 · 20 questions