Question 1

Oftentimes people take shortcuts across the grass instead of walking along the longer paved concrete path. The shortcuts worn into the grass over time is MOST similar to the concept of _____ in memory.

Accepted Answer

The shortcuts worn into the grass over time are most similar to the concept of long-term potentiation in memory. Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a long-lasting enhancement in signal transmission between two neurons that results from stimulating them synchronously. It's considered one of the major cellular mechanisms that underlies learning and memory. Just as paths become more defined and easier to travel with repeated use, synaptic connections become stronger with repeated activation, making the transmission of signals more efficient, akin to the process of LTP in neural pathways.

Question 2

The decreased connectivity between neurons in the brain that is thought to be a basis for memory fading is known as:

Accepted Answer

Long-term depression (LTD) is a process by which synaptic connections between neurons become weaker over time, leading to a decrease in the efficiency of synaptic transmission. This phenomenon is thought to contribute to the fading of memories, as the connections that encode these memories become less effective.

Question 3

At the neuron level in the brain, if long-term potentiation were to occur, you would see:

Accepted Answer

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a process where synaptic connections between neurons become stronger with frequent activation. This leads to increased activity and connectivity between those neurons, enhancing their ability to communicate. LTP is considered one of the major cellular mechanisms that underlies learning and memory.

Question 4

_____ is a type of effortful processing where a person deliberately repeats information to enhance memory.

Accepted Answer

Rehearsal is the process of repeatedly verbalizing or thinking about information to be remembered, making it a form of effortful processing aimed at enhancing memory retention.

Question 5

Both the primacy effect and the recency effect represent different parts of:

Accepted Answer

The primacy effect refers to the tendency to remember items at the beginning of a list better, while the recency effect refers to the tendency to remember items at the end of a list better. Both are aspects of the serial position effect, which describes how the position of an item in a series affects its likelihood of being remembered.

Question 6

A person experiencing anterograde amnesia would MOST likely not remember:

Accepted Answer

Anterograde amnesia is characterized by an inability to form new memories after the onset of the amnesia, meaning a person would not remember recent conversations but typically retains knowledge of their identity, childhood home, and family members.

Question 7

Problems remembering newer information caused by competition from older information is called:

Accepted Answer

Proactive interference occurs when older information interferes with the recall of newer information. This is because the previously learned information is competing with the new information, making it harder to remember the newer information.

Question 8

Working memory is a type of memory:

Accepted Answer

Working memory involves the active manipulation of information that is temporarily held in mind, allowing for complex cognitive tasks such as learning, reasoning, and comprehension.

Question 9

You are given a list of 15 words to remember in the order they are presented to you. At the time of recall, you can confidently recall only the first 3 words on the list. Which memory concept BEST explains your performance on the recall test?

Accepted Answer

The primacy effect explains why you can recall the first few items on a list better than those in the middle. It's part of the serial position effect, which also includes the recency effect (better recall of the last few items). Your performance, recalling the first 3 words, is a classic example of the primacy effect.

Question 10

People diagnosed with _____ tend to have relatively accurate memories of their life events, whereas people diagnosed with _____ tend to have greater memory for negative life events and poorer memory for the positive life events.

Accepted Answer

People diagnosed with anxiety disorders often have relatively accurate memories of their life events. In contrast, those diagnosed with depression tend to remember negative life events more vividly than positive ones, reflecting a cognitive bias towards negative information.

Question 11

Which statement about chunking is FALSE?

Accepted Answer

Chunking is a strategy used to improve memory performance, and experts in various fields, including chess, actually perform better when they engage in chunking. They are able to recognize patterns and group information efficiently, which enhances their ability to remember and process information.

Question 12

Which statement is FALSE about the relationship between anxiety and memory?

Accepted Answer

Anxiety can significantly impact children's memory and school performance, contrary to the statement that it has very little impact. Anxiety can affect concentration, cognitive processing, and emotional well-being, all of which are crucial for learning and memory.

Question 13

Ethan takes a high-level computer programming certification course and becomes quite skilled at creating unique computer applications as well as troubleshooting. For a couple years after taking the course, though, Ethan pursues a different career path and does not get the chance to do any computer programming. He eventually forgets what he learned from the course. Ethan's experience MOST reflects the process psychologists refer to as:

Accepted Answer

Memory decay refers to the gradual fading of memories over time when they are not used or accessed, which aligns with Ethan's experience of forgetting his programming skills due to lack of use.

Question 14

During an English exam, Michelle is working hard at recalling a list of vocabulary words she studied. If her brain was being monitored by a PET scan, it would likely show increased activity in her:

Accepted Answer

The frontal lobes are involved in higher cognitive functions such as problem-solving, planning, and memory retrieval, while the hippocampus plays a crucial role in the formation and retrieval of memories. During an activity that involves recalling studied information, these areas would be particularly active.

Question 15

Source amnesia is the inability to:

Accepted Answer

Source amnesia involves remembering information or an event but not where, when, or how one gained that knowledge.

Question 16

Harry rearranges the seemingly meaningless letters BTWLOLOMGIDK into BTW LOL OMG IDK to make the long string of letters easier for him to remember. In doing so, Harry is using effortful processing called:

Accepted Answer

Chunking is a memory technique that involves breaking down information into smaller, manageable units (or "chunks"), making it easier to remember. Harry is using chunking by grouping the letters into familiar acronyms.

Question 17

Bella receives a wedding invitation in the mail. The next day, she cannot seem to remember any of the details about the wedding, but she does recall the color of the invitation, the type and size of the font, and that many letters were in upper case. At which level did Bella process the invitation?

Accepted Answer

Bella processed the invitation at a shallow level because she remembered surface details like the color, font type, and size, rather than the deeper, more meaningful content such as the details of the wedding itself.

Question 18

Your best friend says something to you while you are in the middle of a task. You don't quite catch what he says, so you immediately ask him, "What?" He begins to repeat himself, but then you suddenly realize that you did hear what he said. You say, "Never mind, I heard you." Your friend is puzzled, wondering why you asked him to repeat himself if you had understood what he said the first time. Which statement best explains your behavior?

Accepted Answer

Echoic memory, a type of sensory memory, retains auditory information for up to several seconds. This allows you to "hear" the information again in your mind, even after the sound has stopped, explaining why you realized you had heard your friend after asking him to repeat himself.

Question 19

_____ is a type of effortful processing where pieces of information are grouped together in a meaningful way to boost memory.

Accepted Answer

Chunking is a memory strategy that involves breaking down information into smaller, manageable units (or "chunks"), making it easier to remember by organizing it into more meaningful groups.

Question 20

A type of memory in which processing is done on briefly held information is called:

Accepted Answer

Working memory is a type of memory where information is temporarily held and processed for cognitive tasks.

Quiz 5: Memory