PYC3703
EXAM PACK
FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THIS MODULE +27 67 171 1739
,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
(Assignments 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 2 Closing date: 30/08/2023 Unique Code: 522167
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) experiment is important because it illustrates something extremely significant about
studying the mind, mental responses cannot be measured directly, but must - - - - -.
a. perceive the stimulus
b. process the stimulus
c. be inferred from behaviour
d. make a decision
Option c is correct. Donders (1868) did not measure mental responses directly but inferred how long
they took from the reaction times. The fact that mental responses cannot be measured directly, but must
be inferred from observing behaviour, is a principle that holds not only for Donders’ experiment but for all
research in cognitive psychology (see CP, Figure 1.3., p. 5).
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,QUESTION 2
Noam Chomsky (1959) observed that children produce numerous sentences that they had never heard
before when discussing the language development of youngsters. From this, he deduced that - - - - -
plays a significant role in language development.
a. an inborn biological program
b. cultural influences
c. consolidative
d. process
Option a is correct. Chomsky (1959) saw language development as being determined not by imitation or
reinforcement, but by an inborn biological programme that holds across cultures. Chomsky’s idea that
language is a product of the way the mind is constructed, rather than a result of reinforcement, led
psychologists to reconsider the idea that language and other complex behaviours, such as problem
solving and reasoning, can be explained by operant conditioning. Instead, they began to realise that to
understand complex cognitive behaviours, it is necessary not only to measure observable behaviour but
also to consider what this behaviour tells us about how the mind works (CP, p. 11).
QUESTION 3
The “spacing” principle postulates that evaluating and repeating information over time:
a. may initially lead to slower learning but will ensure more durable retention.
b. may initially lead to quicker learning but will not lead to more durable retention.
c. may both initially and in the long run obstruct the learning process.
d. may both initially and in the long run facilitate the learning process.
Option a is correct. As demonstrated by Ebbinghaus (1885/1913), repeated presentation and reviewing
of information facilitates learning and improves memory. When distributed over time (this is called
spacing), repetition of information may initially lead to slower learning but will ensure more durable
retention (see CP, p. 18).
QUESTION 4
It was illustrated using the scenario from the introduction of the prescribed textbook, in which Ruben
calls his friend on his cellphone while walking to class, that - - - - -
a. cognitive psychologists study problem solving in adults.
b. several different cognitive processes can take place at one time.
c. human cognition is affected by emotional events.
d. both physiology and behaviour are important to the study of cognition.
Option b is correct. This brief slice of Ruben’s life is noteworthy because it is ordinary, while at the same
time so much is happening. Within a short span of time, Ruben perceives his environment, pays
attention to one thing after another, remembers something from the past, distinguishes items in a
category, visualises, understands, and produces language, and makes a decision (see CP, pp. 2-3).
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, QUESTION 5
- - - - - focus(es) on the mental “effort” or the “resources” that these processes require.
a. Logic theorist
b. Structural models
c. Process models
d. Resource models
Option d is correct. Resource models are closely related to the process models but focus on the mental
“effort” or the “resources” that these processes require. When a process uses a lot of effort or can only
obtain this effort from a limited resource, a capacity problem can arise leading to ineffective functioning
of the process. Structural models (Option b) are representations of a physical structure. A model can
mimic the appearance of an object, as a model car or airplane represents the appearance of a real car or
airplane. Process models (Option c) represent the processes that are involved in cognitive mechanisms,
with boxes usually representing specific processes and arrows indicating connections between
processes (CP, p. 15-16), while logic theorist (Option a) refers to the programme that was able to create
proofs of mathematical theorems that involve principles of logic.
QUESTION 6
Evolution is regarded by some thinkers to be a - - - - - process, as opposed to the cause-effect
relationship that Darwinian natural selection proposes.
a. scientific
b. simple
c. complex, creative and holistic process
d. philosophic
Option c is correct. Psychology’s value in Darwinian evolution and Watsonian behaviourism, for
example, which has prevailed for many decades, may be inadequate (Nsamenang, 2007). Evolution, for
example, is regarded by some thinkers to be a far more complex, creative, and holistic process, as
opposed to the cause-effect relationship that Darwinian natural selection proposes. Evolution may take
place when the whole supports a new trend so that matter, life, and mind participate in a holistic process
that cannot be attributed solely to physical, biological or environmental factors (see Tut 501, p. 6).
QUESTION 7
Searle’s Chinese room argument is directed at what Searle refers to as - - - - -.
a. the information-processing approach
b. analytic introspection
c. strong artificial intelligence
d. computers
Option c is correct. Searle’s Chinese room argument is directed at what Searle refers to as “strong
artificial intelligence”. Strong artificial intelligence is the position that, if the dreams of artificial intelligence
(AI) researchers are realised, and they succeed in developing a program that accurately models the
mind and manages to pass the Turing test, then such a program would be intelligent and would
understand language in the same way that a human does (see Tut 501, p. 18).
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