Question 1

Yesterday,Colleen went to an interesting lecture.She didn't take notes,because she isn't going to be tested on the lecture.Though she made no effort to memorize any of the information the speaker presented,she is able to repeat a great deal of it to a friend.How did the information get into her long-term memory?

Accepted Answer

Automatic processing allows information to be encoded into long-term memory without conscious effort, which explains how Colleen can recall the lecture details.

Question 2

Alice is studying for a psychology exam.She is most likely to remember the material long-term if she

Accepted Answer

This is because elaborative rehearsal, where the material is connected to personal experiences and meaning, has been shown to be a more effective way of encoding and retaining information in long-term memory. Repeating information (rehearsal) only helps in the short-term, and structural encoding (focusing on the physical details of the information) is not as effective as elaborative rehearsal. Automatic processing (encoding information without conscious effort) may help with spatial or sequential information, but is not as effective for complex material like psychology concepts.

Question 3

Cailean has always wished that she had a "photographic memory." She sits on the steps of one of the academic buildings and watches the people.Sometimes she closes her eyes and tries to recall everything about what she was seeing.Each time,though,the memory quickly seems to dissolve.In what kind of memory is the visual information stored while it lasts?

Accepted Answer

Iconic memory is a type of sensory memory that stores visual information for a very short period of time, typically milliseconds to seconds. This type of memory allows us to retain a visual image in our mind for a brief moment, even after the stimulus that caused the image is no longer present.

Question 4

Toby and Karen just met their new neighbour,Justine.Toby repeats Justine's name over and over to remember it.Meanwhile,Karen notes that Justine is leaving "just in time" to get dinner on the table.The following day,who is more likely to recall the neighbour's name and why?

Accepted Answer

Karen is more likely to recall the neighbour's name because she encoded it through elaboration, associating it with the phrase "just in time" and the context of dinner on the table. This kind of elaborative encoding is more effective for long-term memory than just repetition (Toby's tactic). Gender is not a factor in memory retention in this scenario.

Question 5

Jen's dad sends her to the grocery store for a few last-minute dinner items.Jen repeats the list of ten items as she walks to the store but can remember only the first and last three items when she gets there-she is unable to remember the four in the middle.This U-shaped pattern of recall is

Accepted Answer

The U-shaped pattern of recall, where individuals remember the first and last few items on a list but have difficulty recalling items in the middle, is a common phenomenon known as the serial position effect. It is not related to working memory overload, attention deficit disorder, or gender.

Question 6

Mnemonists are people who display extraordinary memory skills.Xhosa would like to learn to remember things better,so she buys a book on improving her memory.Assuming that the book was written by a legitimate memory expert,what can Xhosa expect?

Accepted Answer

The question states that the book was written by a legitimate memory expert, and experts agree that memory skills can be learned, so Xhosa can expect to improve her memory skills if she works hard. Option A is incorrect because it suggests that memory skills are entirely innate and cannot be improved. Option C is incorrect because rote memorization is not the only method for improving memory skills. Option D is incorrect because the question clearly states that the book was written by a legitimate memory expert.

Question 7

Jen's dad sends her to the grocery store for a few last-minute dinner items.Jen repeats the list of ten items as she walks to the store but can remember only the first and last three items when she gets there-she is unable to remember the four in the middle.Why did she forget the four items in the middle of the list?

Accepted Answer

Jen's inability to remember the four items in the middle of the list is likely due to the limited capacity of short-term memory. According to research, the average person can hold 7 plus or minus 2 items in their short-term memory. Because Jen received the list all at once, she was unable to hold all ten items in her short-term memory long enough to encode them for long-term storage. The first and last three items were likely the easiest to remember because of primacy and recency effects - items at the beginning and end of a list are more likely to be remembered than items in the middle.

Question 8

Eva rides the bus to and from work each day.Tonight,she needs to stop by the market,so she associates each grocery item on her list with a different bus stop.As she walks through the store,she imagines she is riding the bus.At each stop,she picks up one of the items on her list.Eva is using (the)

Accepted Answer

Eva is using the method of loci, which involves associating items with different locations in a familiar place (in this case, bus stops) to aid in memory recall.

Question 9

Sylvia has been learning about animals in kindergarten.The class does a worksheet in which the students must put different animals into categories like zoo animals and pets.If Sylvia is able to do this,it is because she has created a mental framework about animals called a/an

Accepted Answer

A schema is a mental framework or organized pattern of thought that helps individuals categorize and interpret information. In this case, Sylvia has created a schema for animals that allows her to categorize them into certain groups like zoo animals and pets.

Question 10

Yesterday,Colleen went to an interesting lecture on relationship problems.She didn't take notes,because she isn't going to be tested on the lecture.Though she made no effort to memorize any of the information the speaker presented,she is able to repeat a great deal of it to a friend.In particular,she is able to remember the parts that she felt applied to her own past relationships.Which concept explains why?

Accepted Answer

The levels of processing theory suggests that the deeper the level of processing (meaningful processing) of information, the better it is remembered. Colleen was able to remember the parts of the lecture that she felt applied to her own past relationships, which suggests that she processed that information at a deeper level than other parts of the lecture.

Question 11

Betsy went to a restaurant last night with friends.Though she had never been to this particular restaurant,she knew how to be seated,order,eat,and pay the bill.Betsy has a/an ______________ for going to restaurants.

Accepted Answer

Betsy's ability to know how to be seated, order, eat, and pay the bill shows that she has a schema, which is a mental framework or organization of information that helps us understand and navigate the world around us. It allows her to apply her previous knowledge and experiences to a new situation, such as going to a restaurant she has never been to before. Option B (photographic memory) and C (sensory memory) are not relevant to the description of Betsy's ability to navigate a restaurant, and D (mnemonic) refers to a specific memory-enhancing technique rather than a general cognitive framework.

Question 12

Keira is trying to remember a list of animals but is able to do so only when she imagines what the animals look like.These mental images are ____________________________ for words in the list

Accepted Answer

The mental images that Keira creates in order to remember the list of animals are memory codes, which are a type of encoding strategy used in memory.

Question 13

Rosa is trying to memorize her school ID number.She is having trouble,because the number is 12 digits long.What would best help Rosa learn the number?

Accepted Answer

Chunking the digits together, such as breaking them up into groups of 3 or 4, can make it easier to remember a long string of numbers. This technique can help Rosa remember her school ID number more effectively.

Question 14

Jennifer and Jeff are studying for their geography exam.Jeff is learning the states' capitals by repeating them over and over.Jennifer is incorporating information she already knows about each state into the name of the capital.While Jeff is repeating "Sacramento is the capital of California,Sacramento is the capital of California," Jennifer is saying "SacraTOMATO is the capital of California," because she knows Sacramento is in the middle of a rich agricultural valley.If the levels-of-processing theory is correct,

Accepted Answer

The levels-of-processing theory suggests that deeper processing of information leads to better memory retention. Jennifer's incorporation of additional information about each state's capital is a deeper processing than Jeff's simple repetition. Therefore, Jennifer is likely to recall the capitals and their states better than Jeff.

Question 15

As Yvonne learns her spelling words,she creates a visual image of the object each word represents.According to _____________________,she will be better able to remember the words than if she had just read them to herself.

Accepted Answer

Dual coding theory states that information that is processed both visually and verbally is easier to remember than information that is processed in only one of those two ways. Therefore, Yvonne's use of visual imagery along with auditory processing of the words aligns with the principles of dual coding theory.

Question 16

Nolen is buying discount DVDs,but he doesn't want to spend more than $50.He quickly adds up the prices of the DVDs he's holding,using his _______________ memory.

Accepted Answer

Working memory is responsible for temporarily holding and manipulating information for a specific task. In this case, Nolen is adding up the prices of the DVDs he's holding, which requires him to temporarily hold this information in his working memory. Iconic memory is responsible for visual sensory information, procedural memory is responsible for skills and habits that have been learned, and echoic memory is responsible for auditory sensory information.

Question 17

Leroy is listening to a new CD.The artist used sampling (taking a recording from one source and incorporating it into a new recording)on one track.As soon as he hears it,Leroy knows the sample is from a movie,but he can't remember which one.This is called

Accepted Answer

Source confusion occurs when a person is unable to remember where they heard or learned a particular piece of information, such as in this case where Leroy knows the sample is from a movie but cannot remember which one. Consolidation refers to the process of stabilizing memories after they are initially acquired. The Loftus effect refers to the phenomenon where suggestive questioning or information can impact a person's memory of an event. Homeostasis refers to the tendency for organisms to maintain a stable internal environment.

Question 18

If we compare the three-stage model of memory to a computer's processes,we can say that the RAM in a computer,that is,the "mental workspace," is like our

Accepted Answer

Working memory is like a computer's RAM because it is where information is temporarily stored and manipulated while we perform cognitive tasks. Procedural and declarative memory are more like the computer's long-term memory storage, while iconic memory refers specifically to the visual sensory memory stage, which is not directly comparable to a computer process.

Question 19

Leslie is taking a class on effective study techniques.Much of the course focuses on memory aids that will help her reorganize information into more meaningful units and provide extra cues to help her retrieve the information from long-term memory.These aids are called

Accepted Answer

The aids described in the passage are specifically mentioned to help with memory and recall, and are referred to as "mnemonic devices." Options A, B, and C are not mentioned in the passage and do not accurately describe the aids being discussed.

Question 20

After cramming a lot of information for her finals,Ianna told her friend that her brain was full.She assured her friend that she would not be able to remember anything new until she forgot what she had learned for her classes.Is it possible for Ianna's long-term memory to be full?

Accepted Answer

Long-term storage capacity is considered to be virtually unlimited, so it is unlikely for Ianna's long-term memory to be completely full. However, she may experience difficulties with retrieval or encoding new information if she's feeling overwhelmed, which would likely be due to limitations in her working memory.

Quiz 8: Memory