Question 1

Stressful life experiences such as being terrorized by a hijacker are NOT likely to be

Accepted Answer

Stressful life experiences are less likely to be repressed, as they tend to be vivid and memorable. Repression typically occurs with traumatic experiences that are too overwhelming for the individual to process at the time, and therefore are stored in the unconscious mind. However, being terrorized by a hijacker would likely be a highly salient and emotionally charged experience that would be difficult to forget or repress. Thus, options A, C, and D are all more likely to occur with this type of experience.

Question 2

Donald Thompson was an initial suspect in a rape case.The rape victim confused her memories of Thompson and the actual rapist because she had seen Thompson's image on TV shortly before she was attacked.The victim's false recollection best illustrates

Accepted Answer

Source amnesia occurs when a person forgets the source of a particular memory, for example confusing a memory of seeing someone on TV with an actual encounter with that person. In this case, the victim's memory of seeing Thompson on TV was mistakenly attributed to the rapist, leading to a false recollection. Anterograde amnesia refers to the inability to form new memories, retroactive interference refers to new information interfering with the recall of old information, and déjà vu refers to the feeling of familiarity or recognition in a situation that one has never experienced before. None of these concepts accurately explain the victim's false recollection in this scenario.

Question 3

The eerie sense of having previously experienced a current situation is known as

Accepted Answer

The eerie sense of having previously experienced a current situation is known as déjà vu. Option A, imagination inflation is a term used in psychology to describe how repeatedly imagining an event can increase an individual's confidence that the event actually occurred. Option B, positive transfer is when previously learned information aids in the learning and application of new information. Option C, proactive interference occurs when previously learned information interferes with the learning and recall of new information.

Question 4

Memory experts who express skepticism regarding reports of repressed and recovered memories emphasize that

Accepted Answer

Memory experts who express skepticism about repressed and recovered memories argue that therapeutic techniques such as hypnosis and suggestive questioning can encourage the construction of false memories. These false memories can result in inaccurate recollections of traumatic events that never actually occurred.

Question 5

When we fall in love,we tend to overestimate how much we liked our partner when we first began dating.This best illustrates the dynamics of

Accepted Answer

Memory construction refers to the idea that memories can be influenced by various factors and are not always accurate representations of past events. In the context of falling in love, memory construction can lead us to remember the beginning of the relationship as more positive or exciting than it actually was. This is known as the "rosy retrospection" effect, where we remember past events more positively than they actually were.

Question 6

Briefly glancing at a visual scene without consciously processing it may lead us to experience ________ when we subsequently focus conscious attention on the scene.

Accepted Answer

Briefly glancing at a visual scene without consciously processing it may lead us to experience déjà vu when we subsequently focus conscious attention on the scene. This is because the brain may store the visual information from the initial glance in a non-conscious memory system, which can later give rise to a feeling of familiarity or a sense that we have previously experienced the scene.

Question 7

Mrs.Ramos claims to remember being sexually abused by her father when she was less than a year old.Her memory is NOT likely to be reliable because of

Accepted Answer

Infantile amnesia refers to the phenomenon of not being able to remember events that occurred before the age of 2-4 years old. This is because the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory consolidation, is not fully developed at that age. Therefore, Mrs. Ramos' claim of remembering a traumatic event that occurred when she was less than a year old is highly unlikely to be reliable.

Question 8

Authors and songwriters sometimes think an idea came from their own creative imagination,when in fact they are unintentionally plagiarizing something they earlier read or heard.This best illustrates

Accepted Answer

Source amnesia refers to the inability to remember where we learned something from, making us believe that the idea was original and came from our own creative imagination. In this scenario, the authors and songwriters unintentionally plagiarize something they earlier read or heard without realizing it because they cannot remember the source.

Question 9

While talking with a complete stranger she had just met in an airplane terminal,Jillian experienced an eerie sense of having had the same conversation with this same person before.Her experience best illustrates

Accepted Answer

Déjà vu is the eerie sense of experiencing something before, even though it is actually the first time experiencing it. In this case, Jillian felt like she had already had the same conversation before with a complete stranger in the airplane terminal, which is an example of déjà vu. Anterograde amnesia refers to the inability to form new memories, positive transfer refers to the transfer of previously learned skills or knowledge to a new but similar task, and retroactive interference refers to the phenomenon where new information impairs the retention of previously learned information. None of these concepts are relevant to Jillian's experience of feeling like she had already had the same conversation before.

Question 10

Familiarity with an ongoing situation without any idea of where you experienced it before contributes to

Accepted Answer

Déjà vu is the feeling of familiarity with an ongoing situation without any idea of where you experienced it before.

Question 11

After having seen many pictures of the Lincoln Monument during his lifetime,Mr.Adams mistakenly recalled that he had actually visited the site.This best illustrates

Accepted Answer

Mr. Adams mistakenly recalled a memory that was not actually his own, which is an example of source amnesia. Proactive interference refers to when old memories interfere with the retrieval of new memories, and there is no indication of this happening in the scenario given. Implicit memory refers to memories that are unconsciously retrieved and used to perform tasks without conscious awareness, which is also not applicable here. Positive transfer refers to when knowledge or skills from previous learning applies to new learning, and there is no indication of this happening in the scenario given.

Question 12

In one experiment,Canadian university students were prompted to recall two events supposedly from their past.One was a false event that involved their committing a crime.The experiment demonstrated that

Accepted Answer

The experiment demonstrated that it was surprisingly easy to lead people to construct false memories, including memories of committing a crime. This suggests that our memories are not always reliable and can be influenced by external factors such as suggestion or manipulation.

Question 13

Source amnesia refers to

Accepted Answer

Source amnesia refers to the inability to remember how, where or when previously learned information has been acquired, while retaining the factual knowledge. It is a type of memory error that results in misattributing the source of information, leading people to falsely believe that they have come up with an original idea or experienced an event that they have only read or heard about.

Question 14

By incorporating errors based on a hypnotist's leading questions,"hypnotically refreshed" memories often illustrate

Accepted Answer

Hypnotically refreshed memories often incorporate errors based on the hypnotist's leading questions, and these errors illustrate the misinformation effect. This effect refers to the fact that memory can be distorted by misleading information that we receive after an event or when we try to recall it. In the context of hypnosis, the hypnotist's suggestions can alter the subject's memories, leading them to incorporate false information or details that were not present in the original event. Repression and anterograde amnesia are not directly related to hypnotically refreshed memories, and proactive interference refers to the interference of old memories on new ones, which is not relevant to this context.

Question 15

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 acknowledge that when extraordinary means are used to recover a memory, such as hypnosis or guided imagery, there is a high likelihood that the recovered memory is false. They also agree that the accuracy of childhood memories is often difficult to determine, and that professional therapists cannot reliably distinguish between true and false memories. While some researchers argue that repression is a common mechanism underlying the failure to recall childhood sexual abuse, others maintain that there is little scientific evidence to support the concept of repression as it is currently understood. The idea that stressful experiences are quickly forgotten is also not universally accepted among psychologists.

Question 16

When Hailey told her roommate about the chemistry exam she had just completed,she knowingly exaggerated its difficulty.Subsequently,her memory of the exam was that it was as difficult as she had reported it to be.This best illustrates

Accepted Answer

This scenario exemplifies the misinformation effect, which refers to how information that is subsequently learned after an event can alter one's memory of that event. In this case, Hailey's discussion with her roommate influenced her memory and caused her to remember the exam as being more difficult than it actually was.

Question 17

After hearing stories of things they both had and had not actually experienced with "Mr.Science," preschool children spontaneously recalled him doing things that were only mentioned in the stories.This best illustrates

Accepted Answer

This scenario is an example of source amnesia, where the children remember information (the stories about "Mr. Science") but cannot recall where or how they acquired that information. They confuse the source of their knowledge, attributing to their direct experiences what was actually learned through stories.

Question 18

Alexis' parents took her to Disney World when she was 6 months old.Having viewed photos from the family vacation many times,20-year-old Alexis clearly remembers going to Disney World.This may be a result of

Accepted Answer

The answer of Alexis' parents took her to Disney World...

Question 19

Research has found that telling lies can alter memory as a result of

Accepted Answer

The answer of Research has found that telling lies can...

Question 20

Therapists who have used memory recovery techniques have often led their clients to believe that difficulties remembering their experience of sexual abuse may result from

Accepted Answer

Therapists who have used memory recovery techniques have often suggested to their clients that their difficulties remembering their experience of sexual abuse may be due to the defense mechanism of repression. However, the validity of this approach has been questioned by many experts in the field, as it is possible that the memories that are recovered may not be accurate but rather represent false memories or confabulations.

Quiz 8: Memory