On a visit to his mother's home, Steve's mother introduced him to her new next-door neighbor. After chatting with the neighbor for a few minutes, Steve realized that he could not remember the new neighbor's name. The MOST likely explanation for Steve forgetting the neighbor's name is:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Encoding failure is most likely the reason for Steve forgetting his neighbor's name. Encoding failure occurs when information is not properly stored in long-term memory, resulting in difficulty retrieving the information later. In this case, Steve may not have paid enough attention or rehearsed the neighbor's name enough to encode it into his long-term memory.  Prospective memory failure refers to forgetting to do something in the future, which is not applicable in this scenario. The misinformation effect involves the incorporation of misleading information into one's memory, which is also not applicable. Decay theory suggests that memories fade and become less accessible over time, but this is unlikely to be the cause in this short-term scenario.

On a Visit to His Mother's Home, Steve's Mother Introduced