Question 1

After being asked to remember three consonants,participants in a study by Peterson and Peterson counted aloud backward by threes to prevent:

Accepted Answer

Counting aloud backward by threes is a way to prevent rehearsal, which is the process by which information is maintained in short-term memory through repetition.

Question 2

The testing effect refers to the enhanced memory resulting from:

Accepted Answer

The testing effect refers to the improved retention of information that results from actively retrieving that information from memory through practices such as self-quizzing or taking practice tests. This process requires effort and engages deeper processing of the information, leading to better retention and recall. The other options listed do not involve actively retrieving information from memory and do not produce the same level of memory enhancement.

Question 3

Sherry easily remembers the telephone reservation number for Holiday Inn by using the mnemonic 1-800-HOLIDAY.She is using a memory aid known as:

Accepted Answer

Sherry is using chunking, which is the process of breaking down information into smaller, more manageable chunks to help remember it. In this case, the phone number is chunked into recognizable letters that form the word "HOLIDAY."

Question 4

A single word formed from the first letters of items you want to remember is called a(n):

Accepted Answer

A single word formed from the first letters of items you want to remember is called an acronym.

Question 5

Sabrina went to the store for furniture polish,carrots,pencils,ham,sponges,celery,notebook paper,and salami.She remembered to buy all these items by reminding herself that she needed food products that included meats and vegetables and that she needed nonfood products that included school supplies and cleaning aids.Sabrina made effective use of:

Accepted Answer

Sabrina used hierarchical organization by categorizing her shopping list into food products and nonfood products, and further dividing them into meats and vegetables, and school supplies and cleaning aids respectively. This made it easier for her to remember all eight items on her list.

Question 6

The ability to retain more information after sleep and to be a creative problem solver has been found to be most closely associated with a large ________ memory capacity.

Accepted Answer

The ability to retain more information after sleep and to be a creative problem solver is associated with working memory capacity. Working memory refers to the cognitive process of temporarily storing and manipulating information in our minds. It is particularly important for complex cognitive tasks such as problem-solving and decision-making. While iconic and echoic memory capacities refer to sensory information processing, and implicit memory capacity refers to unconscious memory formation, working memory capacity is more closely associated with the cognitive processes that support creative problem-solving and learning.

Question 7

Answering questions about what she had read in her psychology textbook improves Shauna's memory of the material more effectively than rereading the textbook material.This best illustrates:

Accepted Answer

The phenomenon described in the scenario is known as the testing effect, which refers to the finding that actively recalling information through testing (such as answering questions) leads to better retention and recall of that information compared to simply rereading the material. The other options given (peg-word system, self-reference effect, automatic processing) do not relate to this specific phenomenon.

Question 8

Varsity basketball players can recall the positions of the players after a 4-second glance at a basketball play.This ability is best explained in terms of:

Accepted Answer

The ability of the basketball players to recall the positions after a brief glance suggests that they have chunked the information into meaningful units, allowing them to remember it more efficiently.

Question 9

Jamille is taking French in school.She gets her best grades on vocabulary tests if she studies for 15 minutes every day for 8 days than if she crams for 2 hours the night before the test.This illustrates what is known as:

Accepted Answer

The spacing effect refers to the phenomenon that spaced out studying (i.e. studying small amounts over a longer period of time) leads to better retention and memory recall than cramming all at once. This is exactly what Jamille experiences in getting better grades when she studies for only 15 minutes a day for 8 days, rather than cramming for 2 hours the night before the test.

Question 10

A mnemonic is a:

Accepted Answer

A mnemonic is a memory aid used to help remember information by associating it with a word, phrase, or other easy-to-remember cue. It is not a type of memory in and of itself, nor is it a test or measure of memory.

Question 11

Students who study throughout the term and then restudy course material at the end of a semester to pass a comprehensive final are especially likely to demonstrate long-term retention of the course material.This best illustrates:

Accepted Answer

The situation described in the question aligns with the spacing effect, which refers to the improved long-term retention of information when studying is spaced out over time rather than crammed all at once. In this case, the student studied throughout the term and then restudied again at the end of the semester, providing a spaced out study schedule that likely led to better retention of the material.

Question 12

Peterson and Peterson demonstrated that unrehearsed short-term memories for three consonants almost completely decay in as short a time as:

Accepted Answer

The answer of Peterson and Peterson demonstrated that unrehearsed short-term...

Question 13

The use of mnemonics such as the peg-word system illustrates:

Accepted Answer

Mnemonics such as the peg-word system require intentionally and consciously encoding information in a specific way, which involves effortful processing. Therefore, the correct answer is C.

Question 14

Tim,a third-grader,learns the sentence "George Eats Old Gray Rats and Paints Houses Yellow" to help him remember the spelling of "geography." Tim is using:

Accepted Answer

Tim is using a mnemonic technique, which is a memory aid that helps the user remember certain information more easily. In this case, Tim is using the first letter of each word in a sentence to remember the order of the letters in the word "geography." This is a common mnemonic technique used for spelling and remembering long lists.

Question 15

The importance of effortful processing for long-term retention of memories is best illustrated by:

Accepted Answer

The testing effect, also known as retrieval practice, is the phenomenon where actively retrieving information from memory enhances long-term retention compared to simply reviewing the same material. This requires effortful processing, as it involves actively retrieving information rather than simply passively receiving it. Therefore, the importance of effortful processing for long-term retention of memories is best illustrated by the testing effect.

Question 16

Using the mnemonic ROY G.BIV to remember the colors of the rainbow in the order of wavelength illustrates the use of:

Accepted Answer

The use of the mnemonic ROY G.BIV is an example of using an acronym, which is a memory aid that involves creating a word or phrase where each letter represents another word or idea.

Question 17

Chunking refers to:

Accepted Answer

Chunking refers to breaking down information into meaningful units, such as grouping digits in a phone number. This can improve memory retention and recall.

Question 18

Associating carrots with a mental image of a bun,milk with a mental image of a shoe,and paper towels with a mental image of a tree best illustrates:

Accepted Answer

The association of carrots with a bun, milk with a shoe, and paper towels with a tree is an example of the peg-word system, which uses visual associations to remember information. This technique involves creating "pegs" or mental images for each item to-be-remembered, which are later used to retrieve information.

Question 19

We are more likely to remember the words "bicycle,cigarette,and fire" than the words "void,process,and inherent." This best illustrates the value of:

Accepted Answer

The fact that we are more likely to remember concrete, image-evocative words like "bicycle" and "fire" as opposed to more abstract terms like "void" and "inherent" suggests that mental imagery plays a role in memory retention.

Question 20

Encoding a written word semantically rather than on the basis of the word's written appearance illustrates a distinction between:

Accepted Answer

Encoding semantically means processing the meaning of the word, which is an example of deep processing, whereas encoding on the basis of appearance or surface features is shallow processing. The other options are not directly related to this distinction.

Quiz 8: Memory