Deck 10: Long-Term Memory Iii: Retrieval and Forgetting

Question 1

You know how to use long division to solve a math problem; you also know that 28 divided by 4 equals 7. The difference between these two pieces of knowledge can best be characterized as a difference between:

A) procedural vs. declarative knowledge
B) semantic vs. episodic memory
C) conceptual vs. conditional knowledge
D) explicit vs. implicit memory

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which one of the following statements best describes the notion of parallel distributed processing?

A) Working memory and long-term memory are two components of the memory system that, while occasionally interacting, often function independently of each other.
B) Working memory has several "compartments," enabling a number of unrelated pieces of information to be processed at the same time.
C) In some instances, information stored in the sensory register can move directly into long-term memory.
D) A single piece of information is stored in numerous places in long-term memory, with its retrieval and processing occurring at all locations simultaneously.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Knowledge about the general plot of a novel one has read is probably stored in long-term memory as:

A) productions
B) propositions
C) verbal codes
D) images

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which one of the following is the best example of conceptual knowledge?

A) Knowing who shot Martin Luther King, Jr.
B) Remembering the twelve months of the year in their correct order
C) Knowing how to keep your balance on a bicycle even on a bumpy road
D) Knowing why the moon has different phases (e.g., half moon, full moon)

Question 5

You can easily remember your birth date; perhaps you can also remember what you did on your last birthday. The difference between these two pieces of knowledge can best be characterized as a difference between:

A) declarative vs. procedural knowledge
B) semantic vs. episodic memory
C) conceptual vs. conditional knowledge
D) explicit vs. implicit memory

Question 6

Knowledge about how to swim is most likely to be stored in long-term memory as one or more:

A) productions
B) propositions
C) verbal codes
D) images

Question 7

Which one of the following statements best describes how information is stored in long-term memory?

A) Mostly as images-how things look, sound, feel, or smell
B) Almost entirely as underlying meanings, or semantic codes
C) Mostly in terms of the words of the first language a person has learned
D) In a variety of possible forms

Question 8

A well-known nursery rhyme (e.g., "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall . . . ") is most likely to be stored in long-term memory as one or more:

A) productions
B) propositions
C) verbal codes
D) images

Question 9

Jacob knows that lions and tigers are both members of the cat family, and that cats and dogs are all mammals. Which one of the following statements best describes the information Jacob has stored?

A) It is organized as a hierarchy.
B) It is organized as a network.
C) It is encoded in the form of visual images.
D) It is encoded in the form of productions.

Question 10

From a propositional network perspective of long-term memory, meaningful learning is best described as a process of:

A) Modifying the arguments of existing propositions
B) Modifying the relations of existing propositions
C) Connecting one or more new propositions to the network
D) Hierarchically organizing existing propositions within the network

Question 11

Which one of the following is the best example of a symbol as psychologists define the term?

A) The word carpet
B) The honking sound that a goose makes
C) A leaky faucet
D) Snow

Question 12

Theorists conceptualize propositions as abstract entities but usually describe them in terms of words. This sentence: Susan gives her brother a big kiss.
Reflects several propositions that are likely to be stored in long-term memory. Three of the statements below reflect propositions contained within the sentence. Which statement does not reflect a proposition contained within the sentence?

A) Susan has a brother.
B) Susan gives the brother a kiss.
C) Susan likes the brother.
D) The kiss is big.

Question 13

Which one of the following behaviors is most consistent with the idea that long-term memory is organized as a hierarchy?

A) Aaron answers the question, "Is a barracuda a fish?" faster than he answers the question, "Is a barracuda an animal?"
B) Betsy answers the question, "Is a tree a living thing?" faster than she answers the question, "Is a tree a plant?"
C) When asked to picture a robin in his mind, Colin describes his image in vivid detail.
D) When asked to explain how to climb a tree, Darla describes a detailed series of arm and leg movements.

Question 14

Gretchen thinks about Christopher Columbus, which reminds her of Spain, which in turn reminds her that she needs to do her homework for her Spanish class. Which one of the following statements best explains Gretchen's train of thought?

A) Long-term memory is organized as a hierarchy.
B) Long-term memory is organized as a network.
C) The information is encoded in the form of visual images.
D) The information is encoded in the form of productions.

Question 15

Which one of the following most accurately describes a production?

A) Organizing a set of interrelated propositions
B) Remembering information differently than it was stored
C) Knowing how to respond to different environmental conditions
D) Knowing the component parts of an object or event

Question 16

Memory theorists believe that people encode information in long-term memory in a number of different ways. They also believe that:

A) Propositions are eventually transformed into images.
B) Images represent information more precisely than propositions do.
C) One form of encoding information-the verbal code-is by far the most prevalent.
D) Pieces of information stored in different codes are associated with one another.

Question 17

Which one of the following examples best illustrates implicit rather than explicit knowledge?

A) Knowing that vertebrates are animals with backbones
B) Knowing that doing well on the GRE exams is important for getting into graduate school
C) Knowing how to create grammatically correct sentences in everyday conversation
D) Knowing how to use footnotes in a research paper

Question 18

Knowing what famous people look like reflects knowledge that is stored in long-term memory as:

A) productions
B) propositions
C) verbal codes
D) images

Question 19

Corey understands the general meanings of 20 new vocabulary words, but to prepare for an upcoming quiz, he also memorizes the specific definitions his teacher has provided on a study guide. Two weeks later, he is given a surprise quiz on those vocabulary words. Considering research findings described in the text, we would expect that Corey:

A) Can still remember all the definitions verbatim
B) Can define most of the vocabulary words but cannot necessarily remember the original definitions verbatim
C) Can recognize the vocabulary words he studied but cannot define them
D) Can recognize only about 25% of the vocabulary words he studied

Question 20

Which one of the following behaviors would suggest to you that a person has encoded information at least partly as visual imagery?

A) Sasha can easily answer the question, "How old are you?"
B) Roger uses his hands to show the length of a fish he caught last week.
C) Marianne reads aloud a particularly descriptive paragraph from Moby Dick.
D) Jayden appears to be quite surprised to learn that a heavy metal object can float if it's hollow inside.

Question 21

After seeing many different examples of a dog, Joe begins to form an idea of what a typical dog looks like. This process best illustrates which one of the following views of concept learning?

A) Learning defining features
B) Prototype
C) Exemplars
D) Hypothesis testing

Question 22

Three of the following teachers are following recommended practices for teaching concepts. Which one is not?

A) Mr. Adams teaches the concept fruit by showing examples of many different fruits and many different nonfruits.
B) Mr. Benito teaches the concept reptile by focusing his students' attention on pictures of dinosaurs-animals that the students especially enjoy studying.
C) Mr. Carlson teaches the concept vertebrate by giving a definition of the concept.
D) After a lesson on the concept carbohydrate, Mr. Danielson asks his students to give their own examples of the concept.

Question 23

Which one of the following illustrates an overgeneralization error? The concepts in question are italicized.

A) Abe knows what the words tall and short mean, but he doesn't realize that one is the opposite of the other.
B) Ben thinks that all animals have to have fur and four legs; therefore snakes, bumblebees, and people cannot possibly be animals.
C) Carol says, "I forgetted my homework today."
D) Donna thinks that whales and dolphins are kinds of fish, when they are actually mammals instead.

Question 24

For the concept hexagon, "large" can best be classified as:

A) an irrelevant feature
B) a defining feature
C) a correlational feature
D) a prototype

Question 25

When Mary thinks about what a dog is, several very different-looking animals come to mind, including greyhounds, German shepherds, cocker spaniels, and Chihuahuas. Which one of the following views of concept learning best characterizes Mary's knowledge of the concept dog?

A) Learning correlational features
B) Prototype
C) Exemplars
D) Hypothesis testing

Question 26

In which of the following situations is a child most likely to be learning a concept through a buildup of associations?

A) Because all of his teddy bears are brown, 2-year-old Harry thinks that all bears are brown.
B) When a strange man comes to the house, Mother introduces him to 3-year-old Regina as "Uncle Albert." Regina asks, "What's an 'uncle'?"
C) When peas are served at dinner, 7-year-old Molly proclaims, "I don't like peas now and will never, ever like them!"
D) To help himself remember what a trapezoid is, 12-year-old Mark repeats the definition to himself several times in a row.

Question 27

Mr. Broderick is trying to teach his daughter Erin the concept trout. For Erin to learn to recognize trout as quickly as possible, which one of the following things should Mr. Broderick do?

A) Show her different kinds of trout (e.g., rainbow, brook) at different times.
B) Show her one kind of trout (e.g., rainbow) and one kind of non-trout (e.g., sunfish) both at the same time.
C) Show her different kinds of trout (e.g., rainbow, brook) and different kinds of non-trout (e.g., sunfish, salmon) all at the same time.
D) Show her different kinds of trout (e.g., rainbow, brook) first, then show her different kinds of non-trout (e.g., sunfish, salmon) on a later occasion.

Question 28

Which one of the following is a defining feature of the concept island?

A) A name (e.g., "Bear Island")
B) Inaccessible by automobile
C) Completely surrounded by water
D) At least 100 feet wide in any direction

Question 29

"A man is a teacher. He knows how to teach children to read and write. He can make children feel better when they are sad. However, he goes into debt and owes a great deal of money, so he robs a bank and is a thief. Is he still a teacher? Does he still know how to teach children to read and write?" A child who answers "no" to these questions is confusing:

A) Declarative and procedural knowledge
B) Abstract and concrete concepts
C) Schemas and scripts
D) Defining and correlational features

Question 30

Salience of features affects the ease with which people are likely to learn a concept. Which one of the following best illustrates a salient defining feature?

A) "Photosynthesis" is a feature of the concept plant.
B) "Round" is a feature of the concept circle.
C) "Getting oxygen from water" is a feature of the concept fish.
D) A "backbone" is a feature of the concept vertebrate.

Question 31

A triangle is a ________ of the concept square.

A) correlational feature
B) defining feature
C) positive instance
D) negative instance

Question 32

When learning a new concept, people are most likely to be confused when:

A) Correlational features are more salient than defining features.
B) Defining features are more salient than correlational features.
C) There are too many negative instances.
D) There are very few positive instances.

Question 33

Which one of the following is the best example of an abstract concept rather than a concrete concept?

A) green
B) pleasure
C) rectangle
D) cantaloupe

Question 34

For the concept nurse, "female" can best be classified as:

A) a defining feature
B) a correlational feature
C) an irrelevant feature
D) a rule

Question 35

Which one of these is an example of overgeneralization?

A) Russ takes his teddy bear out for a walk because he has heard that pets need exercise.
B) Uri times himself when he swims laps because he wants to improve his speed.
C) Yolanda thinks she should not go to medical school because she wants to have children and, "You can't be a mom and a doctor, too."
D) Bernita wants to take four science classes her first semester in college because she intends to major in science.

Question 36

Florida is a ________ of the concept peninsula.

A) correlational feature
B) defining feature
C) positive instance
D) negative instance

Question 37

Ms. Lounge is teaching her son Joe the concept of cow by showing him pictures of both cows and bears. Joe thinks to himself, "Maybe all cows have horns; let me look at a few more pictures and check." Joe's reasoning best illustrates which one of the following views of concept learning?

A) Buildup of associations
B) Prototype
C) Exemplars
D) Hypothesis testing

Question 38

Ramon forms his concept of house after seeing numerous houses in his small, middle-class town in Illinois. He is then shown pictures of an igloo in northern Canada, a mansion in Illinois, a single-story house in Mississippi, and a high-rise apartment building in New York City. Based on a prototype theory of concepts, which one is he most likely to identify as being a house?

A) The igloo
B) The mansion
C) The single-story house
D) The high-rise apartment building

Question 39

Maureen vehemently denies that trees are plants. Her understanding of what a plant is reflects which of the following errors?

A) overgeneralization
B) undergeneralization
C) confirmation bias
D) the misinformation effect

Question 40

If you were teaching students a new concept, which strategy would be most effective?

A) Presenting only positive instances, so students don't get confused.
B) Presenting only negative instances, so students aren't overwhelmed.
C) Describing the concept's correlational features.
D) Presenting a definition that identifies defining features.

Question 41

Which one of the following statements best describes the perspective known as theory theory?

A) The ways in which people categorize their experiences usually have little relevance to physical reality.
B) In the preschool years, children develop concrete understandings of events; these understandings become increasingly abstract as they reach adolescence.
C) People develop general belief systems about how certain aspects of the world operate.
D) People form hypotheses about the defining features and correlational features of a concept and then test those hypotheses against specific examples of the concept that they encounter.

Question 42

Children's misconceptions about the world may come from a variety of sources. Which one of the following is not a likely source that theorists have identified?

A) Children form personal theories based on how the world appears to be.
B) Teachers and textbooks sometimes provide misinformation.
C) Children believe the stories that younger children make up.
D) Common expressions in language (e.g., the sun "sets" in the west) misrepresent reality.

Question 43

People often hold on stubbornly to their misconceptions about the world. Three of the following are possible explanations as to why this might be so. Which statement is not a likely explanation for the resilience of misconceptions?

A) Some misconceptions are central elements of people's personal theories about the world.
B) Virtually all knowledge has a natural tendency to become distorted over time.
C) People learn school subject matter without relating it to the things they know and believe.
D) People elaborate on new information using their current misconceptions.

Question 44

Three of the following teaching strategies should help promote conceptual change. Which one will not?

A) Pique students' interest in classroom subject matter.
B) Identify students' misconceptions about a topic prior to instruction.
C) Explore a few topics in depth rather than covering many topics quickly.
D) Have students learn definitions of important concepts to automaticity.

Question 45

Which one of the following illustrates conceptual change?

A) As a Boy Scout, Andy has learned how to cook a wide variety of foods over an open fire.
B) Brad misinterprets the scientific explanation of fire to fit what he believes-that fire is an object with substance and weight.
C) Charlotte used to think that fire was an actual substance, but now she knows that it's a chemical change.
D) Dana wasn't aware of how much damage fire could really do until the house next door burned down.

Question 46

Which one of the following factors is likely to have the greatest influence in the development of a person's worldview?

A) The culture in which a person grows up
B) The kinds of books a person reads as a child
C) The extent to which a person has pursued higher education
D) The person's physical environment (e.g., whether the land is flat or mountainous)

Question 47

Lenesa sees a picture of a beach and then later tries to draw the picture from memory. She draws shells on the beach even though the beach in the picture had no shells. Using cognitive psychologists' concept of schema, how could we explain Lenesa's error?

A) Lenesa has a schema for shells but does not have one for beaches.
B) Lenesa has a schema for beaches but does not have one for shells.
C) Lenesa's schema for a typical beach includes shells.
D) Lenesa's schemas of beaches and shells are interfering with each other.

Question 48

Which one of the following alternatives best illustrates the notion of a personal theory?

A) Agnes has memorized the formula a² + b² = c², but she cannot remember what the formula is called or what it's used for.
B) Bert has memorized the formula a² + b² = c² and also knows that it's called the Pythagorean theorem; however, he doesn't know in what situations it is useful.
C) Christine is familiar with the formula a² + b² = c²; furthermore, she knows that the Pythagorean theorem provides a means of predicting the hypotenuse of a right triangle when the lengths of the other two sides are known.
D) Darnell thinks of living creatures as being defined in terms of their biological origins, but he thinks of manmade objects as being defined in terms of their functions.

Question 49

Three of the following are common misconceptions that elementary or secondary students are likely to have. Which one is not commonly found?

A) Any moving object must have a force continually acting on it.
B) Most animals can survive for months without food.
C) Boundaries between countries are designated by actual lines marked on the earth's surface.
D) The earth is shaped like a disk.

Question 50

Three of the following strategies should promote the acquisition of useful personal theories about the physical world. Which one is least likely to do so?

A) Encourage learners to form a strong emotional attachment to their beliefs.
B) Show three-dimensional models that illustrate the solar system, the structure of DNA, and so on.
C) Teach theories that help learners make accurate predictions, even if those theories don't capture the full complexity of phenomena.
D) Have learners exchange different hypotheses and perspectives about a phenomenon they have observed.

Question 51

Many of Mr. Henry's students have heard from family or friends that global climate change is a "hoax" perpetuated by certain politicians and policy makers. Mr. Henry is trying to convince them that, in fact, the earth's overall temperature is slowly rising and that, furthermore, the change is at least partly the result of human activity. The approach most likely to be successful in promoting conceptual change about climate change is to:

A) Present both sides of the debate but discredit the "hoax" arguments
B) Present only the climate-change-is-real side of the debate
C) Explain that advocates of the "hoax" perspective have no credibility in the scientific community
D) Remind students that future generations will ultimate pay the price for this generation's refusal to accept that climate change is real

Question 52

Gina attends a wedding ceremony conducted in a culture very different from her own, and many of the rites performed during the ceremony seem strange and unfamiliar to her. Later, she finds that she can best remember those parts of the ceremony that were similar to how weddings are performed in her own country. In which one of the following ways would a cognitive psychologist be most likely to explain this situation?

A) Schemas encourage us to elaborate on the wide variety of stimuli we encounter over the course of our daily lives.
B) We often learn new concepts by forming and testing hypotheses about defining and correlational features.
C) Concepts are often stored in terms of exemplars.
D) We can more accurately remember events that are consistent with familiar scripts.

Question 53

From the textbook's perspective, what is a key advantage of developing schemas and scripts?

A) They reduce the amount of information we need to acquire in order to make sense of a situation.
B) They increase the likelihood that we will perceive a situation accurately.
C) They enable us to bypass working memory and store information directly in long-term memory.
D) They decrease the need for meaningful learning.

Question 54

Three of the following teaching strategies may foster students' acquisition of a theory about phenomena in the natural world. Which strategy is least likely to be effective in fostering students' theory development?

A) Show a diagram of the human digestive system.
B) Ask students to memorize a one-paragraph summary of how mitosis occurs.
C) Describe heat as something that "flows" from one object to another.
D) Engage students in a discussion about the forces that affect an arrow's movement as it is shot from a bow.

Question 55

Four boys read this line from a story: "The two men entered the restaurant and ordered hamburgers."
Which one of the boys is clearly using a script while reading the story?

A) Alex assumes that the men looked at a menu before ordering.
B) Bob is guessing that the men probably have evil motives.
C) Colin wonders what the men look like.
D) Devon thinks that the men should make more healthful choices.

Question 56

Five-year-old Lucy encounters the word platypus in one of her storybooks and asks her father what the word means. When her father tells her that a platypus is a kind of animal, Lucy has an easier time learning what a platypus is than she might have otherwise. A cognitive psychologist would be most likely to explain this by saying that:

A) Lucy is now able to form a script regarding the nature of a platypus.
B) Lucy's personal theory about the nature of living things helps her narrow down the possible defining features of the concept platypus.
C) The father's statement makes it unnecessary for Lucy to form a prototype of the concept platypus.
D) The father's statement enables Lucy to develop a variety of exemplars that illustrate the concept platypus.

Question 57

Which one of the following best illustrates a worldview at work?

A) Ophelia is convinced that no one at school likes her.
B) Daniella thinks that the earth is round only in the way that a pancake is round.
C) On his first trip to the ocean, Eli looks toward the horizon and wonders how far the water goes.
D) When Mick falls down and sprains his ankle, Rachel says, "That must be God punishing you for calling me nasty names yesterday."

Question 58

Which one of the following examples best illustrates the use of a personal theory as a child learns the concept spider?

A) Ian learns that spiders have eight legs, whereas insects have only six.
B) Rudy learns that spiders, along with scorpions and ticks, are members of the arachnid class.
C) Duc remembers how seriously ill his cousin became when she was bitten by a black widow spider.
D) Julian assumes that spiders must give birth to baby spiders, just as people give birth to baby people.

Question 59

Each of the teachers below has students with misconceptions about the material they are studying. Three of the teachers are using strategies that should help their students correct these misconceptions. Which teacher is not using an effective strategy for changing misconceptions?

A) Ms. Andersen identifies and then builds on things that students correctly understand about the phenomenon at hand.
B) Mr. Bissette presents a situation that students cannot adequately explain using their current beliefs about the topic.
C) Ms. Caro reminds her students that she will be testing them on the material they are studying.
D) Mr. Darren shows students how the true explanation of something is different from, and more plausible than, their existing beliefs.

Question 60

Which one of the following is the best example of confirmation bias?

A) Paula drops a stone and a paperclip from a second-story window. She sees that they reach the ground at the same time. "I know heavy objects fall faster," she says, "so I must have released the paperclip earlier than the stone."
B) Janet wonders why the moon appears bigger at the horizon than high in the sky. "Maybe it's closer to us when it's on the horizon," she thinks.
C) Rodney has heard that chocolate can be poisonous to dogs and in large amounts can even be fatal. He searches the Internet for a possible explanation for this puzzling fact.
D) Elliott loves watching challenging television game shows. He tries to answer questions along with the contestants, and he keeps score to see whether he might have won cash and prizes if he had actually been on the show.

Question 61

The textbook describes Patricia Alexander's theory regarding the development of expertise. Which one of the following statements best characterizes Alexander's theory?

A) People develop expertise primarily by turning verbal codes and images into propositions and productions.
B) People develop expertise primarily by learning certain skills and practicing them over and over until they can perform the skills almost without thinking.
C) The development of expertise is characterized by a series of five stages of increasingly abstract problem-solving strategies.
D) The development of expertise is characterized by the acquisition of more and better integrated knowledge about a topic.

Question 62

Research tells us that students' misconceptions about a topic are often quite resistant to change, yet sometimes misconceptions must change if students are to acquire an accurate understanding of the world around them.
a. Describe three different reasons that psychologists have offered as to why students' misconceptions are sometimes resistant to change.
b. Describe at least five different teaching strategies that theorists and researchers believe might help students change their misconceptions about the world.

Question 63

Describe three of the following perspectives regarding concept learning, and compare and contrast them regarding their usefulness in explaining how people acquire concepts:

Question 64

Explain what theorists mean when they say that long-term memory is associationistic. Describe two different theoretical models regarding how long-term memory might be organized.

Question 65

Three of the statements below describe advantages of concepts. The fourth is an incorrect statement about concepts Which one is incorrect?

A) Information that has been learned about concepts can be generalized to new situations.
B) Concepts make the world less complex and easier to think about.
C) Concepts invariably lead to more appropriate responses to the environment.
D) Relationships among various concepts can be learned.

Question 66

Describe what contemporary psychologists mean by the terms schema, script, personal theory, and worldview, and explain how each of these can influence learning and memory. Use concrete examples to illustrate your discussion.

Question 67

Choose a concept with which you are familiar, and imagine that you have to teach that concept to a classroom of students. Describe the concept that you will teach, then explain five specific things you could do to help students learn the concept.

Question 68

Imagine that you are a science teacher who wants to teach students about gravity. From past experience, you know that some of your students probably believe that because Antarctica is at the "bottom" of the world, people who go to Antarctica are likely to fall into space. Describe three strategies you might use to promote students' conceptual change about the concept of gravity.

Question 69

Only one of the following is a true statement regarding the nature of knowledge in long-term memory. Which one?

A) It is always better to learn a little bit about many topics than to learn a lot about a few topics.
B) Interconnected pieces of information are usually more useful than isolated pieces.
C) Most of our knowledge about the world is probably in episodic memory rather than in semantic memory.
D) Any single piece of information is stored in only one way.

Question 70

Luana is taking her first course in psychology. With regard to her knowledge of psychology, Luana is probably in Alexander's ______ stage in the development of expertise.

A) acclimation
B) competence
C) implicit knowledge
D) undergeneralization

Question 71

At least four distinct forms of encoding have been theorized to exist in long-term memory: