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Unit 5

5.13 MC Answers and Review

6 min read•december 7, 2022

Dalia Savy

AP Psychology 🧠

334 resources

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Answers and Review for Multiple Choice Practice on Cognitive Psychology

Here is a quick graphic that shows some analogies you can use to remember the difference between proactive interference and retroactive interference.

⛔STOP!⛔ Before you look at the answers make sure you gave this practice quiz a try so you can assess your understanding of the concepts covered in unit 5. Click here for the practice questions: AP Psychology Unit 5 Multiple Choice Questions.

Facts about the test: The AP Psychology exam has 100 multiple choice questions and you will be given 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete the section. That means it should take you around 11 minutes to complete 15 questions.

*The following questions were not written by CollegeBoard and although they cover information outlined in the AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, the formatting on the exam may be different.

1. The process of putting information into the memory system is called:

A. Storage

B. Encoding

C. Retrieval

D. Shallow processing

Answer: Storage is the retention of information. Retrieval is getting information out of storage. Shallow processing involves structural encoding of incoming sensory info

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.2: Encoding

2. Learning a new ATM password may block the recall of a familiar old password. This illustrates

A. Proactive interference

B. Retroactive interference

C. Source amnesia

D. Serial position effect

Answer: Proactive interference is when prior or old information gets in the way of recalling newer information.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.5: Forgetting and Memory Distortion

3. The incorporation of misleading information into one's memory of an event is called:

A. Serial position effect

B. Retroactive interference

C. Confabulation

D. Misinformation effect

Answer: Loftus and Palmer's famous car crash study illustrates the misinformation effect when subjects were asked the speed of cars. The experimenters inserted misleading information into the subjects' memories by the verbs they used in their questions. For instance, "How fast were the cars going when they bumped, hit, smashed each other." The verb "smashed" yielded higher speeds than bumped.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.5: Forgetting and Memory Distortion

4. A person is less likely to recognize a man as a nurse than a woman as a nurse because a female nurse fits that person's...

A. Heuristic

B. Fixation

C. Algorithm

D. Prototype

Answer: A prototype is a mental image or the best example associated with a particular category. For example, a prototype for a bird in Florida might be a pelican;whereas, a prototype for a bird in Australia might be a Kookaburra.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.3: Storing

5. The smallest unit of sound in language are called:

A. Holophrase

B. Morphemes

C. Phonemes

D. Telegraphic speech

Answer: Morphemes are the smallest unit of meaning in language. Holophrase and telegraphic speech are two of the language acquisition stages.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.11: Components of Language and Language Acquisition

6. An obstacle to problem solving involving the failure to use an object in an unusual way is called:

A. Functional fixedness

B. Mental set

C. Fixation

D. Belief bias

Answer: Although mental set and fixation are also obstacles in problem solving, functional fixedness involves the use of an object. For example, if I need to tighten a screw in my chair so it doesn't break underneath me, and I don't have a screwdriver handy, that's a problem. However, if I overcome functional fixedness and use a butter knife to tighten the screw, problem solved.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.8: Biases and Errors in Thinking

7. A backgammon playing computer program that routinely calculates all possible outcomes of all possible game moves best illustrates problem solving by means of

A. Heuristic

B. Algorithm

C. Functional fixedness

D. Belief perseverance

Answer: An algorithm is a step-by-step method for solving a problem. Error free but time consuming.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.7: Introduction to Thinking and Problem Solving

8. An increase in a synapse's firing potential after brief and rapid stimulation and quite probably the neural basis for learning and memory is called:

A. Thalamus

B. Hippocampus

C. Retrieval

D. Long Term Potentiation

Answer: The thalamus is the switchboard operator in the brain. The hippocampus is involved in explicit long term memory consolidation, and retrieval is getting information out of long term memory.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.6: Biological Bases of Memory

9. A sudden realization of the solution to a problem is called

A. Framing

B. Algorithm

C. Insight

D. Belief perseverance

Answer: Another name for insight is "Aha moment".

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.7: Introduction to Thinking and Problem Solving

10. Retrograde amnesia involves __failure; whereas, anterograde amnesia involves ____ failure.

A. Hippocampus; hypothalamus

B. Retrieval; encoding

C. Mood congruence; state dependent

D. Encoding; retrieval

Answer: Retrograde amnesia involves memory loss of events taking place prior to an event or accident where long term memories cannot be accessed. Anterograde amnesia involves memory loss after an event or accident where new memories cannot be encoded.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.5: Forgetting and Memory Distortion

11. The earliest stage of speech development is called the ___ stage.

A. Semantic

B. Holophrase

C. Telegraphic

D. Babbling

Answer: Holophrase is one word speech. Telegraphic is two word speech. Semantics involves set of rules that enable us to glean meaning from words, sentences, morphemes in language.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.11: Components of Language and Language Acquisition

12. A vivid memory of an emotionally charged event associated with an increase of adrenaline is called:

A. Flashbulb memory

B. Mood-congruence memory

C. State-dependent memory

D. Context-dependent memory

Answer: Flashbulb memories are emotional memories where one can visualize and articulate where they were when the event took place; who they were with, what they were doing. 9/11 is an example of a flashbulb memory which is etched forever in long term memory.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.1: Introduction to Memory

13. Chomsky's theory of language development suggests that children have an inborn:

A. Algorithm

B. Language acquisition device (LAD)

C. Representativeness heuristic

D. Linguistic prototype

Answer: Chomsky believed that humans share a universal grammar rule and that we have an innate biological switch that turns on during the critical period which allows us to acquire and understand language.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.11: Components of Language and Language Acquisition

14. Trying to find one solution to a long math problem involves using ___ thinking.

A. Algorithm

B. Divergent

C. Heuristic

D. Convergent

Answer: Convergent thinking involves finding the single best solution to a problem. It does not require one to think outside of the box or use creativity.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.7: Introduction to Thinking and Problem Solving

15. The Stanford-Binet, WAIS, and WISC tests are all types of

A. Personality tests

B. Achievement tests

C. General intelligence tests

D. Aptitude tests

Answer: Personality tests assess personality types or traits. Achievement tests assess knowledge such as the AP Psych exam, and aptitude tests offer predictive validity such as SAT and GRE's.

📄 Study AP Psychology, Unit 5.10: Psychometric Principles and Intelligence Testing

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