Question 1

When you listen to a conversation or song on the radio, or watch a television show, you are using ________ to hold onto and think about new information coming in from the sensory registers.
A) shadow memory
B) long-term memory
C) memory icons
D) short-term memory

Accepted Answer

Short-term memory (also known as working memory) is responsible for holding onto and processing new information from the sensory registers for a brief period of time before either discarding it or transferring it to long-term memory.

Question 2

Loni is asked to memorize the letters I K T E A L N. She memorizes them by reorganizing them into the words "INK" and "LATE." This tactic is called ________.
A) cueing
B) chunking
C) rote rehearsal
D) shadowing

Accepted Answer

Chunking is the strategy of grouping information into smaller "chunks" or units in order to make it easier to remember. In this case, Loni chunked the letters I, K, T, E, A, L, and N into the two separate chunks of "INK" and "LATE."

Question 3

If the most recent theories regarding the capacity of short-term memory are correct, then ________.
A) five sentences should be easier to remember than five words
B) five sentences should be as difficult to remember as five words
C) five sentences and five words should both be easier to remember than five letters because the words and sentences have inherent meaning
D) five sentences should be more difficult to remember than five words

Accepted Answer

According to the most recent theories, short-term memory has a limited capacity of around 4-7 meaningful items, regardless of whether those items are words or sentences. Therefore, five sentences would be more difficult to remember than five words because they contain more information and take up more of the limited capacity of short-term memory.

Question 4

Short-term memory has ________ primary tasks.
A) six
B) four
C) eight
D) two

Accepted Answer

Short-term memory has two primary tasks: holding information in a temporary store, and manipulating or using that information in some way.

Question 5

The owner of a black Labrador can hear her dog when it barks in the night, although she sleeps through the sounds of other loud barking dogs. Whose theory of sensory register operation does this best support?
A) Broadbent
B) Treisman
C) Simon
D) Sperling

Accepted Answer

Treisman's theory of selective attention best explains this scenario. It suggests that people can selectively focus on one source of information while filtering out others, based on the importance or relevance of the information, such as recognizing one's own dog's bark among others.

Question 6

An old joke tells of an elephant who walks into a bar and tells the bartender, "Boy, have I got a problem. Elephants are supposed to have good memories and I can't remember a thing." "That's too bad," says the bartender, "Maybe I can help you with your problem." "What problem?" asks the elephant. The elephant in the story is demonstrating a deficiency in ________.
A) eidetic memory
B) sensory processing
C) short-term memory
D) long-term memory

Accepted Answer

The elephant in the joke is demonstrating a deficiency in short-term memory because it cannot remember anything, despite elephants being known for having good memories overall.

Question 7

What we are thinking about or are aware of at any given moment is in our ________.
A) secondary memory
B) sensory memory
C) long-term memory
D) short-term memory

Accepted Answer

Short-term memory, also known as working memory, is responsible for holding and manipulating information that we are currently thinking about or aware of. It has a limited capacity and duration, but it is essential for tasks such as problem-solving, decision-making, and language comprehension. Sensory memory holds information from our senses for a very brief period (usually less than a second), while long-term memory is responsible for storing information for a longer time (from minutes to years). Secondary memory is not a commonly used term in psychology, but it may refer to any type of memory that is not primary (i.e., sensory, short-term or long-term).

Question 8

Which of the following statements about short-term memory is not true?
A) The ability to work on information competes constantly with the ability to store new information for a short time.
B) Single words are harder to remember than phrases and sentences.
C) As the size of each chunk increases, the number of chunks that can be recalled declines.
D) The critical factor for recall in short-term memory is the number of meaningful units involved.

Accepted Answer

Single words are actually easier to remember than phrases and sentences in short-term memory. This is known as the word-length effect, which refers to the fact that memory for lists of words is better for short words than for long words.

Question 9

It is now believed that short-term memory can hold as much information as can be repeated or rehearsed in ________ seconds.
A) 0.5 - 1.5
B) 1.5 - 2.0
C) 2.0 - 3.5
D) 3.5 - 5.0

Accepted Answer

The answer of It is now believed that short-term memory...

Question 10

It is easier to remember the names of seven people you just met at a party than it is to remember their addresses (even if both pieces of information were given to you at the same time), because there is a(n)________.
A) inverse relationship between the size of the chunks in short-term memory and their retention
B) inverse relationship between the number of items in the sensory registers and their retention
C) direct relationship between the size of the chunks in short-term memory and their retention
D) direct relationship between the size of the chunks in the sensory registers and their retention

Accepted Answer

Chunking is the process of grouping information together into smaller, more manageable units. Short-term memory is limited to holding around seven items, but by chunking information, we can increase our capacity to hold information in short-term memory. Therefore, there is a direct relationship between the size of the chunks in short-term memory and their retention. In this scenario, remembering the names of seven people as a group is easier than remembering their addresses as a group because it forms a larger chunk of information, which is easier to remember.

Question 11

Different domain specific memory systems ________.
A) can operate at the same time, but moderately interfere with each other
B) cannot operate at the same time
C) can operate at the same time with very little interference
D) can operate at the same time, but greatly interfere with each other

Accepted Answer

Different domain specific memory systems can operate at the same time with very little interference. For example, we can simultaneously remember how to ride a bike, as well as remember the words to a song. These two memory systems are separate and can operate independently. However, if two memory systems are closely related or have overlapping information, interference may occur.

Question 12

Chunking is a means of ________.
A) arranging details into a hierarchy from most to least important
B) immediately forgetting irrelevant details
C) storing long-term memories
D) organizing information into meaningful units

Accepted Answer

Chunking is the process of organizing information into smaller, meaningful units or chunks. This makes it easier to remember and recall the information when needed. It is a useful tool for improving memory and cognitive performance.

Question 13

Many years ago, telephone numbers had only four or five digits. Even now, no more than seven digits (not counting area code) are used for phone numbers. The most reasonable psychological explanation for this is that there is a(n) ________.
A) direct relationship between the number of items in short-term memory and their retention
B) inverse relationship between the number of items in short-term memory and their retention
C) direct relationship between the number of items in the sensory registers and their retention
D) inverse relationship between the number of items in the sensory registers and their retention

Accepted Answer

The most reasonable psychological explanation for phone numbers having only four or five digits in the past and no more than seven digits now is that there is an inverse relationship between the number of items in short-term memory and their retention. This means that the more digits a phone number has, the harder it is for people to remember it accurately. It is easier to remember phone numbers with fewer digits because they are easier to maintain in short-term memory. Therefore, phone numbers were kept short to increase the chances of people remembering them correctly.

Question 14

The two primary tasks of short-term memory are to ________.
A) store information permanently and to process how meaningful that information is
B) store information permanently and to work on that (and other) information
C) store information briefly and to work on that (and other) information
D) hold on to information just long enough to begin initial processing by the nervous system and to selectively filter out irrelevant information

Accepted Answer

Short-term memory (also known as working memory) is a temporary storage system that holds onto information just long enough for it to be processed by the brain. This means that the two primary tasks of short-term memory are to store information briefly (for about 20-30 seconds) and to work on that information (such as by rehearsing it or manipulating it in some way). Short-term memory is not responsible for permanently storing information, as this is the role of long-term memory. Additionally, short-term memory actively filters out irrelevant information so that only important information is retained.

Question 15

Which statement is true of short-term memory?
A) It usually has to perform more than one task at a time.
B) It registers information missed by the sensory registers.
C) It has a very large capacity.
D) It is permanent.

Accepted Answer

Short-term memory often has to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, such as holding information while processing it.

Question 16

________ is another term that is often used to refer to short-term memory.
A) Working memory
B) Secondary memory
C) Sensory register
D) Shadow memory

Accepted Answer

Working memory and short-term memory are often used interchangeably to refer to the temporary storage and manipulation of information for a brief period of time. However, working memory specifically refers to the active processing and rehearsal of information during the short-term memory stage, while short-term memory can refer to the passive storage of information without manipulation or processing.

Question 17

When two memory tasks are presented in different sensory modalities (for instance visual and auditory) ________.
A) they are more likely to interfere with each other than if they are in the same modality
B) they are equally as likely to interfere with each other as if they are in the same modality
C) they are less likely to interfere with each other than if they are in the same modality
D) it becomes impossible to accomplish either task efficiently

Accepted Answer

When two memory tasks are presented in different sensory modalities, they are less likely to interfere with each other because they are processed in separate brain regions. This is called the modality effect, where memory is better when the encoding and retrieval modalities match. Therefore, having tasks in different sensory modalities increases the chances of successful performance on both tasks.

Question 18

The most accurate description of short-term memory's capacity is probably to say that it can hold ________.
A) as much information as can be rehearsed in 1.5 to 2 seconds
B) as much information as can be read in 3 to 5 seconds
C) between 5 and 10 bits of information
D) as much information as can be heard in 1 to 4 seconds

Accepted Answer

Short-term memory's capacity is limited to the amount of information that can be rehearsed in 1.5 to 2 seconds. This is typically around 7 items (plus or minus 2) of information.

Question 19

Chunking is ________.
A) most useful for storing information in long-term memory
B) most useful for storing information in short-term memory
C) equally useful for storing information in the sensory registers, short-term memory, and long-term memory
D) most useful for storing information in the sensory registers

Accepted Answer

Chunking is a memory technique that involves grouping information into smaller, more manageable units in order to store them in short-term memory. This helps to increase the amount of information that can be held in short-term memory and can aid in the transfer of information to long-term memory. While chunking may also be useful for long-term memory storage, it is primarily utilized to enhance short-term memory capacity.

Question 20

Information is grouped for storage in short-term memory through the process of ________.
A) cueing
B) categorizing
C) rote rehearsal
D) chunking

Accepted Answer

Information is grouped or clustered into meaningful units through the process of chunking, which allows more information to be temporarily held in short-term memory. The other options are not directly related to the grouping of information in short-term memory.

Quiz 6: Memory

When you listen to a conversation or song on the radio, or watch a television show, you are using ________ to hold onto and think about new information coming in from the sensory registers.

Loni is asked to memorize the letters I K T E A L N. She memorizes them by reorganizing them into the words "INK" and "LATE." This tactic is called ________.

If the most recent theories regarding the capacity of short-term memory are correct, then ________.

Short-term memory has ________ primary tasks.

The owner of a black Labrador can hear her dog when it barks in the night, although she sleeps through the sounds of other loud barking dogs. Whose theory of sensory register operation does this best support?

What we are thinking about or are aware of at any given moment is in our ________.

Which of the following statements about short-term memory is not true?

It is now believed that short-term memory can hold as much information as can be repeated or rehearsed in ________ seconds.

It is easier to remember the names of seven people you just met at a party than it is to remember their addresses (even if both pieces of information were given to you at the same time) , because there is a(n) ________.

Different domain specific memory systems ________.

Chunking is a means of ________.

Many years ago, telephone numbers had only four or five digits. Even now, no more than seven digits (not counting area code) are used for phone numbers. The most reasonable psychological explanation for this is that there is a(n) ________.

The two primary tasks of short-term memory are to ________.

Which statement is true of short-term memory?

________ is another term that is often used to refer to short-term memory.

When two memory tasks are presented in different sensory modalities (for instance visual and auditory) ________.

The most accurate description of short-term memory's capacity is probably to say that it can hold ________.

Chunking is ________.

Information is grouped for storage in short-term memory through the process of ________.