Question 1

Our immediate short-term memory for new material is limited to roughly ________ bits of information.

Accepted Answer

The magic number 7 (plus or minus two) was proposed by psychologist George Miller in his famous 1956 article "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information." He suggested that our immediate short-term memory can hold roughly 7 pieces of information (+/- 2). The capacity of our immediate short-term memory is often said to be around 7 bits of information, plus or minus 2. This is known as Miller's Law, which suggests that humans can hold about 7 items (or "chunks") in their short-term memory.

Question 2

People can show classically conditioned emotional reactions without any conscious recollection of how or when those reactions were learned. This best illustrates ________ memory.

Accepted Answer

The scenario described best illustrates implicit memory, which is non-declarative or unconscious memory for skills, habits, and conditioned responses. The description best fits implicit memory, which is the unconscious retention of information learned through experience, such as motor skills or emotional responses.

Question 3

Philippe has just completed medical school. In reflecting on his years of formal education, he is able to recall the names of all his instructors except the fifth-grade teacher who flunked him. According to Freud, his forgetting illustrates

Accepted Answer

According to Freudian theory, repression is a defense mechanism in which an individual unconsciously blocks out painful or threatening experiences or memories. Therefore, Philippe's inability to recall the name of his fifth-grade teacher who flunked him is an example of repression. This scenario best illustrates the concept of repression, which is a defense mechanism that operates unconsciously to keep disturbing or threatening thoughts, feelings, or memories out of awareness. Philippe's inability to remember his fifth-grade teacher suggests that he may have repressed memories of that traumatic experience. Proactive and retroactive interference, as well as the spacing effect, do not fully explain this phenomenon.

Question 4

Some patients with anterograde amnesia have learned how to spot hard-to-find figures in the Where's Waldo? series without any conscious awareness that they can do so. This best illustrates their retention of ________ memories.

Accepted Answer

This question asks about retention of memories that are not consciously aware, and implicit memories fit this description. Flashbulb memories are emotional memories associated with significant events, echoic memories are auditory sensory memories, and working memories are short-term memories used for active processing of information.

Question 5

Professor Maslova has so many memories of former students that she has difficulty remembering the names of new students. The professor's difficulty best illustrates

Accepted Answer

The professor's difficulty in remembering the names of new students because of her memories of former students is an example of proactive interference. This occurs when old information interferes with the retrieval of new information. Proactive interference occurs when old information interferes with the ability to remember new information. In this case, the professor's many memories of former students are interfering with her ability to remember the names of new students.

Question 6

Research participants who were exposed to very convincing arguments about the desirability of frequent toothbrushing misrecalled how frequently they had brushed their teeth in the preceding two weeks. This best illustrates

Accepted Answer

The phenomenon described in the scenario is motivated forgetting, as the participants were influenced by convincing arguments and ended up changing their memory of their toothbrushing frequency. The self-reference effect refers to better memory retention when information is personally relevant. Proactive interference occurs when old information interferes with the ability to remember new information. The spacing effect refers to improved retention of information when it is presented and rehearsed over time rather than in one sitting. The participants' misrecollection of how frequently they had brushed their teeth is consistent with motivated forgetting, where they may alter or distort their memories in response to a perceived motivation or incentive. The convincing arguments about toothbrushing suggest a possible motivation to remember more frequent brushing, and yet the participants still misremembered. The other options (self-reference effect, proactive interference, and spacing effect) do not fully account for this phenomenon.

Question 7

Psychologists on both sides of the controversy regarding reports of repressed and recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse agree that

Accepted Answer

Psychologists on both sides of the controversy agree that it is common for people to recover memories of long-forgotten negative as well as positive events. This is not controversial, whereas the other options are subject to debate and disagreement. Psychologists on both sides of the controversy agree that it is possible to recover memories of long-forgotten negative as well as positive events. There is no consensus on the prevalence or mechanism of repression, nor can professional therapists reliably distinguish between true and false childhood memories. The relationship between stress and memory is complex and varies depending on a variety of factors.

Question 8

One reason adults typically recall little of their first three years of life is that during infancy they were unable to verbally label their experiences. This best illustrates that the formation of long-term memories often requires

Accepted Answer

Semantic processing involves encoding information in a meaningful way, which is essential for the formation of long-term memories. Infants are not yet capable of this type of cognitive processing, which may explain why they have limited recall of their early experiences. Choices A, B, and C are not directly related to the formation of long-term memories. Semantic processing involves encoding information meaningfully, such as by connecting it to knowledge already stored in memory. Infants are developmentally limited in their ability to engage in semantic processing, which may contribute to their inability to verbally label and remember early experiences.

Question 9

Rehearsal is to encoding as retrieval cues are to

Accepted Answer

Rehearsal is a strategy used during encoding to help transfer information from short-term memory to long-term memory. Similarly, retrieval cues are strategies used during retrieval to help access and retrieve information from long-term memory. Priming is one way in which retrieval cues can be used - by presenting a stimulus that is related to the target information, it can activate the relevant portion of memory and facilitate retrieval.

Question 10

Reading a romantic novel caused Consuela to recall some old experiences with a high school boyfriend. The effect of the novel on Consuela's memory retrieval is an illustration of

Accepted Answer

Priming is a phenomenon in which exposure to a stimulus can influence the retrieval of information related to that stimulus. Consuela's reading of the romantic novel primed her to recall her high school boyfriend, as the novel likely contained similar romantic themes and experiences. Chunking refers to the organization of information into smaller, manageable units, and is not relevant to this scenario. Automatic processing is a type of unconscious attention and awareness, which is also not directly related to Consuela's retrieval of memories. The spacing effect refers to the improved retention of information when it is learned over a period of time with breaks in between, and is not applicable to this situation. The effect of the romantic novel on Consuela's memory retrieval is an instance of priming. Priming is a phenomenon in which exposure to a stimulus or experience influences the processing of subsequent, related stimuli or experiences. In this case, reading the romantic novel activated Consuela's memories of her high school boyfriend.

Question 11

Rephrasing text material in your own words is an effective way of facilitating

Accepted Answer

The answer of Rephrasing text material in your own words...

Question 12

Short-term memory capacity can be increased through

Accepted Answer

Short-term memory capacity can be increased through chunking, which is the process of grouping together information to remember it more easily. For example, instead of trying to remember a list of 20 random words, a person could group them into four categories of five words each and remember the categories. This would allow them to remember more information in the short-term memory.

Question 13

Repression most clearly involves a failure in

Accepted Answer

The answer of Repression most clearly involves a failure in
...

Question 14

Peterson and Peterson asked people to count aloud backward after they were presented with three consonants. This study finds that ________ memories will quickly disappear without active processing and rehearsal.

Accepted Answer

Peterson and Peterson's study specifically looked at short-term memory, as they only presented the participants with three consonants and tested their recall after a brief delay. Long-term memories require different processes for encoding and retrieval, while mood-congruent and flashbulb memories refer to specific types of long-term memories. Peterson and Peterson's study specifically focused on short-term memories, which can fade quickly without active processing and rehearsal. The study did not address long-term, mood-congruent, or flashbulb memories.

Question 15

Retroactive interference refers to the

Accepted Answer

Retroactive interference occurs when new learning interferes with the recall of previously learned material. This can lead to forgetting or confusion when trying to access older memories. Option A refers to decay theory, which suggests that memories fade over time. Option B describes proactive interference, which is the opposite of retroactive interference and occurs when previously learned material disrupts the recall of new information. Option D refers to repression, which is a different concept altogether and involves the unconscious blocking of unpleasant memories. Retroactive interference occurs when new learning disrupts the recall of previously learned material. This interference can occur in both short-term and long-term memory. Option A refers to the decay theory of forgetting, which suggests that memories fade over time due to the physical nature of memory traces. Option B refers to proactive interference, which occurs when previously learned material disrupts the recall of new information. Option D refers to repression, which is a defense mechanism that blocks painful or traumatic memories from conscious awareness.

Question 16

Repeating someone's name several times shortly after being introduced to that person is an effective strategy for

Accepted Answer

Repeating someone's name is a form of rehearsal, which is the conscious repetition of information to increase retention and facilitate encoding into long-term memory. Repeating someone's name several times shortly after being introduced to that person is an example of rehearsal, which is a cognitive process that involves repeating information over and over in order to increase the likelihood of remembering it later on. By repeating the name several times, the person is effectively rehearsing the information in their short-term memory, which can help transfer it to their long-term memory.

Question 17

On the phone, Dominic rattles off a list of 10 grocery items for Kyoko to bring home from the store. Immediately after hearing the list, Kyoko attempts to write down the items. She is most likely to forget the items

Accepted Answer

The answer of On the phone, Dominic rattles off a...

Question 18

Our two-track mind is most clearly illustrated by the difference between

Accepted Answer

The two-track mind refers to the idea that our brain processes and stores information in two distinct ways: implicitly (unconsciously) and explicitly (consciously). This is most clearly illustrated by the difference between implicit memory (unconscious memory for skills and habits) and explicit memory (conscious memory of facts and experiences). The other answer choices, while related to memory, do not specifically address this dual processing system.

Question 19

Shortly after you see a missing-child poster you are more likely to interpret an ambiguous adult-child interaction as a possible kidnapping. This best illustrates the impact of

Accepted Answer

This scenario involves the concept of priming, which is when exposure to a particular stimulus (in this case, a missing-child poster) influences the interpretation of subsequent information. The individual is now more likely to interpret an ambiguous interaction as a potential kidnapping because their mind has already been primed to think about missing children.

Question 20

Recalling a visual scene of last month's party and holding it in working memory would be most likely to activate the

Accepted Answer

The right frontal lobe is primarily responsible for visual working memory tasks such as recalling and manipulating visual information.

Quiz 8: Learning