EPIC COG170 COMPREHENSIVE
PRACTICE EXAM 2026 :
QUESTIONS AND
RATIONALES/GRADED A+
UPDATE 100% CORRECT
SECTION 1: FOUNDATIONS OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
(Questions 1-10)
1. The cognitive revolution of the 1950s and 1960s emerged as a direct response to
which psychological approach?
• A) Structuralism
• B) Functionalism
• C) Behaviorism ✅
• D) Humanistic psychology
Rationale: Behaviorism, championed by Watson and Skinner, rejected mental
processes as unobservable. The cognitive revolution reintroduced the scientific study
of internal mental states using emerging computer metaphors and information
processing models.
2. Which research method records brain activity by measuring changes in blood
oxygen levels, making it the current gold standard for cognitive neuroscience
research?
• A) Electroencephalography (EEG)
• B) Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) ✅
, • C) Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
• D) Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Rationale: fMRI measures BOLD (Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent) signals with
excellent spatial resolution (1-3mm), allowing researchers to identify which brain
regions activate during specific cognitive tasks. EEG has superior temporal but poor
spatial resolution.
3. The "information processing approach" compares the human mind to:
• A) A telephone switchboard
• B) A computer operating system ✅
• C) A hydraulic pump
• D) A photographic camera
Rationale: The computer metaphor dominated early cognitive psychology, with
sensory input compared to data entry, working memory to RAM, long-term memory
to hard drive storage, and behavioral output to monitor display.
4. Which psychologist published "Cognitive Psychology" (1967), the textbook that
formally named and defined the field?
• A) George Miller
• B) Ulric Neisser ✅
• C) Herbert Simon
• D) Noam Chomsky
Rationale: Neisser's textbook synthesized research on perception, attention,
memory, and language, establishing cognitive psychology as a distinct discipline.
Miller contributed to memory research (7±2), Chomsky to linguistics, Simon to
problem-solving.
5. The "dichotic listening" paradigm studies:
• A) Pitch discrimination in musicians vs. non-musicians
• B) Selective attention through competing auditory messages ✅
, • C) Bilateral auditory cortex activation
• D) Interhemispheric transfer delays
Rationale: Participants hear different messages in each ear (shadowing one). Results
show processing of physical characteristics (gender, tone) in unattended ear but not
semantic content, supporting early selection models of attention.
6. Damage to Broca's area produces:
• A) Fluent but meaningless speech
• B) Halting, effortful speech with intact comprehension ✅
• C) Complete mutism
• D) Pure word deafness
Rationale: Broca's area (left inferior frontal gyrus) is critical for speech production.
Damage causes non-fluent aphasia—patients understand language but produce
telegraphic, agrammatic speech. Wernicke's area damage causes fluent aphasia
(meaningless speech).
7. Which cognitive psychologist proposed the "modal model" of memory featuring
sensory, short-term, and long-term stores?
• A) Endel Tulving
• B) Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin ✅
• C) Fergus Craik
• D) Alan Baddeley
Rationale: Atkinson & Shiffrin's (1968) modal model became the standard
framework. Baddeley later refined short-term memory into working memory, Tulving
distinguished episodic/semantic memory, Craik proposed levels of processing.
8. A researcher measures reaction time and accuracy while participants name the ink
color of color words (e.g., "RED" printed in blue ink). This is the:
• A) Navon task
• B) Eriksen flanker task
, • C) Stroop task ✅
• D) Posner cueing task
Rationale: The Stroop effect (longer RT for incongruent trials) demonstrates
automatic processing interference—reading is so overlearned that it cannot be
suppressed when conflicting with color naming.
9. Which neuroimaging technique has the BEST temporal resolution (millisecond
precision) but POOR spatial resolution?
• A) fMRI
• B) Electroencephalography (EEG) ✅
• C) Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
• D) Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS)
Rationale: EEG records electrical activity directly from cortical neurons with sub-
millisecond precision, ideal for studying timing of cognitive processes. However,
signal sources cannot be precisely localized due to volume conduction.
10. The concept of "cognitive economy" in semantic networks suggests that:
• A) Brains consume less energy during mental imagery
• B) Properties are stored at higher-level nodes, not each individual
node ✅
• C) Short-term memory has limited capacity for efficiency
• D) Automatic processes require fewer cognitive resources
Rationale: Collins & Quillian's hierarchical model stores shared properties (e.g., "has
skin") at superordinate nodes (ANIMAL) rather than each subordinate (CANARY),
reducing redundancy and storage requirements.
SECTION 2: PERCEPTION & PATTERN RECOGNITION
(Questions 11-20)
PRACTICE EXAM 2026 :
QUESTIONS AND
RATIONALES/GRADED A+
UPDATE 100% CORRECT
SECTION 1: FOUNDATIONS OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
(Questions 1-10)
1. The cognitive revolution of the 1950s and 1960s emerged as a direct response to
which psychological approach?
• A) Structuralism
• B) Functionalism
• C) Behaviorism ✅
• D) Humanistic psychology
Rationale: Behaviorism, championed by Watson and Skinner, rejected mental
processes as unobservable. The cognitive revolution reintroduced the scientific study
of internal mental states using emerging computer metaphors and information
processing models.
2. Which research method records brain activity by measuring changes in blood
oxygen levels, making it the current gold standard for cognitive neuroscience
research?
• A) Electroencephalography (EEG)
• B) Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) ✅
, • C) Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
• D) Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Rationale: fMRI measures BOLD (Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent) signals with
excellent spatial resolution (1-3mm), allowing researchers to identify which brain
regions activate during specific cognitive tasks. EEG has superior temporal but poor
spatial resolution.
3. The "information processing approach" compares the human mind to:
• A) A telephone switchboard
• B) A computer operating system ✅
• C) A hydraulic pump
• D) A photographic camera
Rationale: The computer metaphor dominated early cognitive psychology, with
sensory input compared to data entry, working memory to RAM, long-term memory
to hard drive storage, and behavioral output to monitor display.
4. Which psychologist published "Cognitive Psychology" (1967), the textbook that
formally named and defined the field?
• A) George Miller
• B) Ulric Neisser ✅
• C) Herbert Simon
• D) Noam Chomsky
Rationale: Neisser's textbook synthesized research on perception, attention,
memory, and language, establishing cognitive psychology as a distinct discipline.
Miller contributed to memory research (7±2), Chomsky to linguistics, Simon to
problem-solving.
5. The "dichotic listening" paradigm studies:
• A) Pitch discrimination in musicians vs. non-musicians
• B) Selective attention through competing auditory messages ✅
, • C) Bilateral auditory cortex activation
• D) Interhemispheric transfer delays
Rationale: Participants hear different messages in each ear (shadowing one). Results
show processing of physical characteristics (gender, tone) in unattended ear but not
semantic content, supporting early selection models of attention.
6. Damage to Broca's area produces:
• A) Fluent but meaningless speech
• B) Halting, effortful speech with intact comprehension ✅
• C) Complete mutism
• D) Pure word deafness
Rationale: Broca's area (left inferior frontal gyrus) is critical for speech production.
Damage causes non-fluent aphasia—patients understand language but produce
telegraphic, agrammatic speech. Wernicke's area damage causes fluent aphasia
(meaningless speech).
7. Which cognitive psychologist proposed the "modal model" of memory featuring
sensory, short-term, and long-term stores?
• A) Endel Tulving
• B) Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin ✅
• C) Fergus Craik
• D) Alan Baddeley
Rationale: Atkinson & Shiffrin's (1968) modal model became the standard
framework. Baddeley later refined short-term memory into working memory, Tulving
distinguished episodic/semantic memory, Craik proposed levels of processing.
8. A researcher measures reaction time and accuracy while participants name the ink
color of color words (e.g., "RED" printed in blue ink). This is the:
• A) Navon task
• B) Eriksen flanker task
, • C) Stroop task ✅
• D) Posner cueing task
Rationale: The Stroop effect (longer RT for incongruent trials) demonstrates
automatic processing interference—reading is so overlearned that it cannot be
suppressed when conflicting with color naming.
9. Which neuroimaging technique has the BEST temporal resolution (millisecond
precision) but POOR spatial resolution?
• A) fMRI
• B) Electroencephalography (EEG) ✅
• C) Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
• D) Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS)
Rationale: EEG records electrical activity directly from cortical neurons with sub-
millisecond precision, ideal for studying timing of cognitive processes. However,
signal sources cannot be precisely localized due to volume conduction.
10. The concept of "cognitive economy" in semantic networks suggests that:
• A) Brains consume less energy during mental imagery
• B) Properties are stored at higher-level nodes, not each individual
node ✅
• C) Short-term memory has limited capacity for efficiency
• D) Automatic processes require fewer cognitive resources
Rationale: Collins & Quillian's hierarchical model stores shared properties (e.g., "has
skin") at superordinate nodes (ANIMAL) rather than each subordinate (CANARY),
reducing redundancy and storage requirements.
SECTION 2: PERCEPTION & PATTERN RECOGNITION
(Questions 11-20)
