Question 1

In the 1990s,the large increase in the number of adults reporting recovered decades-old memories of childhood sexual abuse probably was the result of:

Accepted Answer

The most likely reason for the increase in recovered memories during the 1990s was suggestive techniques used by psychotherapists. Some therapists used questionable methods to encourage patients to recall memories of childhood sexual abuse, leading to false memories and confabulation. This phenomenon has since been discredited by scientific research.

Question 2

The tendency to incorporate misleading information from outside sources into personal recall of events is called:

Accepted Answer

Suggestibility refers to the tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recall of events.

Question 3

The tendency to reconstruct the past to fit the present is termed:

Accepted Answer

Consistency bias refers to the tendency to reconstruct memories or beliefs to match one's current viewpoints or beliefs, thereby creating a false sense of consistency in one's views over time. Options B and C refer to different aspects of memory, while option D refers to the tendency to overemphasize dispositional factors in explaining others' actions.

Question 4

Using social pressure,Shaw and Porter (2015)got a large percentage of the university students in their study to falsely remember _____ as adolescents.

Accepted Answer

Shaw and Porter (2015) used social pressure to implant false memories in their study participants that they had committed a crime as adolescents. The other choices (breaking their leg, winning a radio contest, visiting Mount Rushmore) were not mentioned in the study as false memories implanted through social pressure.

Question 5

Clara is in a sad mood.She is asked to recall an event in her past that was relatively neutral-her performance in a junior high history class in which she earned a B-and she remembers the event as being a sadder experience than it probably was.The influence of Clara's current mood on her memory illustrates the memory sin of:

Accepted Answer

Clara's current sad mood is biasing her memory, causing her to remember the neutral event as being sadder than it actually was. This is an example of the memory sin of bias.

Question 6

_____ is the tendency to incorporate misleading information from outside sources into personal recollections.

Accepted Answer

The described phenomenon is known as suggestibility, where external information can distort one's memory and lead to the incorporation of false details into personal recollections. False recognition refers to mistakenly believing that a previously encountered item is familiar, misattribution refers to attributing a memory to the wrong source, and déjà vécu refers to the feeling of having experienced a situation before.

Question 7

Shaw and Porter (2015)obtained substantially higher rates of false memories relative to the original study published by Loftus and Pickrell (1995),probably because Shaw and Porter utilized:

Accepted Answer

The answer of Shaw and Porter (2015)obtained substantially higher rates...

Question 8

Courtney is called to the witness stand to testify as an eyewitness against a man accused of first-degree murder.The attorney questioning her asks a series of questions about the alleged murderer.The attorney includes a question asking Courtney to describe the tattoo on the left shoulder of the accused man.This question is false-the defendant has no tattoo.The lawyer is using the question to try to discredit Courtney,who says that the tattoo was small and hard to see in detail.The MOST likely reason for Courtney's mistake is:

Accepted Answer

Suggestibility refers to the tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections, which is likely what happened when Courtney was asked about a non-existent tattoo.

Question 9

When a professor of psychology was asked to recall how she felt about her choice of a psychology major as a second-year university student,her recollections of the university major were more positive than were her actual uncertain feelings at the time.This memory phenomenon is known as _____ bias.

Accepted Answer

The answer of When a professor of psychology was asked...

Question 10

Three weeks ago,Sandra came home to discover an armed robber in the house.When she walked in the door,the man pushed past her and fled the premises.Sandra's sister Amy was unloading groceries from the car,but saw the man and said she thought he had wavy black hair.When Sandra goes to the police station to view a lineup,the man who robbed her is in it.However,Sandra picks a similar-looking man who has wavy black hair instead of the actual thief,who has light brown hair.Her mistake illustrates the concept of:

Accepted Answer

The answer of Three weeks ago,Sandra came home to discover...

Question 11

Sam recalls the wonderful football team of his university days and the great season the team had in his fourth year.In fact,their record was only mediocre.Sam's memory of the team as more successful than it actually was is probably due to:

Accepted Answer

Sam's memory bias is the most likely reason for his overestimation of the team's success. Bias refers to the tendency to process and remember information in a way that is consistent with pre-existing beliefs or attitudes. In this case, Sam's strong connection to the football team likely contributed to his bias towards remembering them as more successful than they actually were.

Question 12

Which statement BEST describes how bias affects memories?

Accepted Answer

Bias can cause memories to be distorted in some way, such as exaggerating certain details or selectively forgetting others. These memories may still have some elements of truth, but they are not completely accurate.

Question 13

Which statement regarding hippocampal activity is TRUE?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which statement regarding hippocampal activity is TRUE?
...

Question 14

When Keith was asked to recall how he felt at the beginning of his current relationship with his wife Joni,his recollections were more similar to his present-day feelings than they actually were at the time.This memory phenomenon is known as _____ bias.

Accepted Answer

This memory phenomenon is known as consistency bias, where past feelings or beliefs are remembered as being more similar to current ones than they actually were.

Question 15

In a classic study of false memory conducted by Elizabeth Loftus,research participants were asked to remember the time when they were little and got lost in a shopping mall.Although Loftus confirmed that this never actually happened to any of the participants,the false memory was implanted in about _____% of the participants.

Accepted Answer

In Elizabeth Loftus's study, about 25% of participants developed a false memory of being lost in a shopping mall, demonstrating the malleability of human memory.

Question 16

Loftus conducted a classic study of false memory in which a false memory of _____ was implanted into the minds of participants.

Accepted Answer

Loftus's classic study involved implanting a false memory of being lost in a shopping mall as a child, demonstrating how suggestible human memory can be.

Question 17

The distorting influence of present knowledge,beliefs,and feelings on the recall of previous experiences is called:

Accepted Answer

Bias refers to the influence of current knowledge, beliefs, and feelings on the recall of past experiences, which can result in a distortion of memory. False recognition refers to a situation where someone mistakes a familiar stimulus for something they have encountered before but have not actually experienced. Retroactive interference occurs when new information interferes with the recall of old information. Source memory refers to the ability to remember the context in which information was acquired.

Question 18

As illustrated by the study in which people first imagined and then falsely remembered spilling punch all over the bride's parents at a wedding,_____ plays a large role in the formation of false memories.

Accepted Answer

The use of visual imagery, or imagining an event in one's mind, can contribute to the formation of false memories. In the example given in the question, people imagined spilling punch at a wedding, and later falsely remembered that it had actually happened. This is likely due to the vividness and detail of the imagined event, which can be stored in memory and later recalled as if it had actually occurred.

Question 19

Using social pressure,Shaw and Porter (2015)got _____% of the university students in their study to falsely remember committing a crime as adolescents.

Accepted Answer

Shaw and Porter (2015) were able to use social pressure to get 70% of the university students in their study to falsely remember committing a crime as adolescents.

Question 20

Consistency bias exaggerates the similarity between:

Accepted Answer

Consistency bias is the tendency to perceive past attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors as being more similar to present ones than they actually are, thus exaggerating the similarity between past and present.

Quiz 6: Memory