Question 1

Short-term memory can be thought of as:

Accepted Answer

Short-term memory involves both conscious and unconscious processes, allowing us to temporarily hold and manipulate information. It is not solely controlled, nor the first stage of memory (that would be sensory memory), and it has a limited capacity, contradicting the idea that it allows us to remember large amounts of information.

Question 2

"Seven plus or minus two" is associated with:

Accepted Answer

"Seven plus or minus two" is associated with the capacity of short-term memory, as proposed by George A. Miller in his 1956 paper. This concept suggests that the number of objects an average human can hold in working memory is about 7 ± 2.

Question 3

Short-term memory's capacity is best estimated as 7 (plus or minus two):

Accepted Answer

Short-term memory's capacity is best estimated as 7 (plus or minus two) meaningful units, which can include chunks of information, concepts, or items grouped into meaningful units. This concept was popularized by psychologist George A. Miller in his 1956 paper, suggesting that the span of short-term memory is not determined by the number of items, but by how those items are organized or chunked.

Question 4

In remembering the letter sequence {BYGROUPINGITEMSQUICKLY}:

Accepted Answer

We use larger-than-letter chunks to remember sequences more efficiently by grouping letters into meaningful units or chunks, such as words or familiar patterns.

Question 5

Your friend Jose is a professional basketball player. He wants to memorize his 16-digit credit card number and asks if you have any tips. Based on your knowledge of cognition, which of the following would you recommend to Jose?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Your friend Jose is a professional basketball...

Question 6

An individual who can remember 82 digits in order is likely:

Accepted Answer

Remembering 82 digits in order is an extraordinary feat that typically requires the use of mnemonic devices, such as the method of loci or chunking, to enhance memory beyond its natural limits.

Question 7

Marcus is participating in a memory experiment. He has been instructed to count backwards between the last presentation of a stimulus and recall of the stimulus. This procedure was probably designed to:

Accepted Answer

This procedure is likely designed to prevent subjects from rehearsing the stimulus by occupying their cognitive resources with a different task (counting backwards), making it harder for them to mentally repeat or rehearse the stimulus information.

Question 8

Imagine you are given a set of 3 letters to memorize (e.g., BXL) then asked to count backwards from some number (e.g., 274). You are likely to be performing which test?

Accepted Answer

The Brown-Peterson task involves trying to remember a set of items (like letters or numbers) while performing some other task, such as counting backwards, to prevent rehearsal. This is designed to test short-term memory and how interference affects it.

Question 9

First, subjects are to attend to a to-be-remembered three-letter stimulus, then they are shown a number. They are to count backwards by threes from the number. At the end of the variable-length period of counting, the subjects were asked to report the original three-letter stimulus.

Accepted Answer

The described procedure is a classic example of the Brown-Peterson task, which is used to study short-term memory and the effects of interference on memory recall.

Question 10

Newer information disrupts recall of older information because of:

Accepted Answer

Retroactive interference occurs when newly learned information interferes with the recall of older information. This is why newer information can disrupt the recall of older information.

Question 11

Gwen has been studying her Spanish vocabulary words for hours and is making more and more errors. She decides to study her anatomy terms instead and finds she does much better. Gwen is experiencing:

Accepted Answer

Gwen is experiencing release from proactive interference, which occurs when the interference stemming from previously learned material is reduced by switching to learning new material that is different, thus improving performance.

Question 12

According to Altman & Gray's new decay theory:

Accepted Answer

Altman & Gray's new decay theory posits that decay serves as a mechanism to help the cognitive system manage interference, rather than forgetting being a mere consequence of time passing or task difficulty.

Question 13

Maria is meeting friends for dinner. After being given a series of directions to get to the restaurant, she can remember only the first couple of turns. This illustrates the ________ effect.

Accepted Answer

The primacy effect refers to the tendency to remember items or information presented at the beginning of a list or sequence better than information that comes later. Maria's ability to remember only the first couple of turns aligns with this cognitive bias, as she recalls the initial directions given to her more effectively than the subsequent ones.

Question 14

Participants in an experiment are shown a list of words and then told to "recall the items in the order they were presented." This instruction best describes which type of recall?

Accepted Answer

Serial recall involves remembering items in the order in which they were presented, which matches the instruction given to the participants.

Question 15

Which of the following can best be considered a mental recycling system for holding information temporarily?

Accepted Answer

The rehearsal buffer is a component of working memory that temporarily holds and manipulates information, allowing it to be retained through repetition or rehearsal.

Question 16

Which of the following is most likely to produce a serial self-terminating search?

Accepted Answer

Searching for a lost item like car keys is a real-world task where you would likely stop searching once you find the item, making it a serial self-terminating search.

Question 17

In his short-term memory search task, Sternberg found that:

Accepted Answer

Sternberg's experiments showed that reaction time increased linearly with set size, indicating a serial exhaustive search process.

Question 18

During each trial, all possible elements are scanned one by one before a decision is made. This describes which kind of search?

Accepted Answer

Serial exhaustive search involves scanning all possible elements one by one before making a decision, regardless of whether a solution is found early in the process.

Question 19

Wicken's "Release from Proactive Interference" experiment in which he changed the category in the last trial illustrates:

Accepted Answer

Wicken's experiment demonstrated semantic coding in STM by showing that changing the semantic category of items in the last trial reduced proactive interference, indicating that items in STM are coded based on their meaning.

Question 20

In Brook's influential working memory task, subjects were instructed to hold a visual image of a large "F" in mind. When asked to visually scan the image clockwise and report the location of the corners:

Accepted Answer

The answer of In Brook's influential working memory task, subjects...

Quiz 5: Short-Term Working Memory