Question 1

According to primacy and recency effects, when reading the chapters of a textbook, you are most likely to forget the information __________.

Accepted Answer

The primacy effect suggests people tend to remember information at the beginning of a list (or chapter) better, and the recency effect suggests they also remember the end better. Therefore, information in the middle is most likely to be forgotten.

Question 2

When given a list of items to remember, people tend to have better recall of the first items on the list than items on the middle of the list. This is known as the __________.

Accepted Answer

The primacy effect explains that people have better recall of the first items on a list because they have had more time to rehearse and encode them into memory. The recency effect refers to better recall of the most recent items on a list. The phi phenomenon is the illusion of perceiving continuous motion when presented with a rapid series of slightly varying images. The chunking effect is the phenomenon of remembering larger amounts of information by grouping it into smaller, more meaningful units.

Question 3

Pippa can remember only the first two items and the last two items on the grocery list that her roommate just read to her over the phone. The other five items in between are gone. Her memory of things at the end of the list demonstrates the __________ effect.

Accepted Answer

The recency effect is the tendency to remember items at the end of a list better than items in the middle. In this scenario, Pippa can only remember the last two items on the list, demonstrating the recency effect.

Question 4

Memories that concern events that are highly significant and are vividly remembered are called __________.

Accepted Answer

Flashbulb memories are memories of highly significant events that are vividly remembered. They can include details such as the location, emotions felt at the time, and surrounding circumstances. They are typically formed through a process of consolidation, in which the information is rehearsed and processed deeply by the brain.

Question 5

Flashbulb memories __________.

Accepted Answer

Flashbulb memories usually concern events that are emotionally charged. While they may feel vivid and accurate, research has shown that they can still be subject to errors and distortions over time. Therefore, option A, C, and D are incorrect.

Question 6

Under most circumstances, when you are intentionally trying to remember an item of information, __________ is an easier task than __________.

Accepted Answer

Recognition is generally easier than recall because it involves identifying information from a set of options, whereas recall requires retrieving information from memory without any cues.

Question 7

When given a list of items to remember, people tend to do better at recalling the last items on the list. This is known as the __________.

Accepted Answer

The recency effect refers to the phenomenon of people being better able to recall the most recently presented items in a list.

Question 8

Sung-Mi is trying to memorize the names of the bones in the hand. She had gone through a list of them when her phone rang. After she gets off the phone, she is MOST likely to remember the first few bone names because of the __________ effect.

Accepted Answer

The primacy effect is a cognitive bias that results in a person remembering items at the beginning of a list better than those in the middle or at the end. This is because the first few items are more likely to have been transferred to long-term memory.

Question 9

Studies have found that the BEST way to overcome the tip of the tongue effect is to __________.

Accepted Answer

Forgetting about the item and letting it come to you is the best way to overcome the tip of the tongue effect. This is because the more you try to actively remember the item, the more elusive it becomes. Taking a nap or using the serial position effect may help with general memory recall, but they are not specifically effective for overcoming the tip of the tongue effect.

Question 10

A witness on the stand swears that he saw someone commit a crime. Must you believe that the testimony is valid when a witness testifies so forcefully?

Accepted Answer

Eyewitness testimony has been shown to be flawed and unreliable in numerous studies. The confidence that a witness expresses in their testimony does not necessarily correlate with its accuracy. False positive identifications, in which an innocent person is identified as the perpetrator, are a significant concern. Therefore, it is not advisable to automatically assume that a witness's testimony is valid based solely on their forcefulness on the stand.

Question 11

When given a list of items to remember, you are more likely to remember the items __________ of the list.

Accepted Answer

This phenomenon is explained by the serial position effect, which includes both the primacy effect (better recall of items at the beginning of a list) and the recency effect (better recall of items at the end of a list).

Question 12

Which of the following is most likely to be a flashbulb memory for most people?

Accepted Answer

Flashbulb memories are vivid, detailed memories of significant or emotional events. A photograph of a dead soldier is more likely to evoke a strong emotional response, making it a candidate for a flashbulb memory, compared to the other options listed.

Question 13

Silas can remember only the first two items and the last two items on the grocery list that his wife just read to him over the phone. The other five items in between are gone. This is an example of the __________ effect.

Accepted Answer

This is an example of the serial position effect, where items at the beginning and end of a list are remembered better than items in the middle. The encoding specificity effect refers to the idea that memory is better when the context during encoding and retrieval are the same. TOT refers to the tip of the tongue phenomenon where a person knows a word but is unable to retrieve it from memory. Reintegrative processing refers to the process of connecting new information with previously learned information.

Question 14

In one study, more than 2,500 photographs were shown to participants, one every 10 seconds. Participants were then shown pairs of photographs in which one member of each pair was one of the previously seen photographs. Accuracy for identifying the previously seen photos was __________.

Accepted Answer

The study involved participants being shown a large number of photographs and then being tested on their ability to identify previously seen photos among pairs of images. The accuracy rate for this task was quite high, with participants correctly identifying previously seen photos 85 to 95 percent of the time.

Question 15

When the sound of a word is the aspect that cannot be retrieved, leaving only the feeling of knowing the word without the ability to pronounce it, this is known as __________.

Accepted Answer

This phenomenon is known as the tip of the tongue phenomenon, where the sound of a word cannot be retrieved, but the feeling of knowing the word remains. Encoding failure refers to the inability to encode information into long-term memory, auditory decay refers to the fading of auditory information over time, and extinction of acoustic storage refers to the deterioration or loss of previously stored acoustic information.

Question 16

False positives occur when a person incorrectly "matches" a stimulus not in memory with one in memory that is just similar enough to lead the person to make a false identification. One major problem with eyewitness testimony is that __________.

Accepted Answer

False positives can cause eyewitness testimony to be quite inaccurate. There is no evidence that extinction of auditory memories or habituation to the courtroom are major problems with eyewitness testimony, and there is no reason to assume that there is usually unconscious motivation to provide inaccurate information.

Question 17

Many older adults can vividly recall where they were and what they were doing the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated, although they cannot remember what they were doing the day before he was assassinated. This is an example of a(n) __________.

Accepted Answer

This phenomenon is known as a flashbulb memory, which is a highly detailed, exceptionally vivid 'snapshot' of the moment and circumstances in which a piece of surprising and consequential (or emotionally arousing) news was heard. It is often linked to events that are personally significant or culturally important.

Question 18

The case of Father Bernard Pagano, who was identified by seven eyewitnesses as a criminal, was an instance of a __________.

Accepted Answer

The identification of Father Bernard Pagano by seven eyewitnesses as a criminal, despite his innocence, is an example of a false positive, where someone is identified as the criminal even though they did not commit the crime.

Question 19

The fact that it is easier to recall items at the beginning and end of a list of unrelated items is known as the __________.

Accepted Answer

The described phenomenon is known as the serial position effect. Option A (phi phenomenon) refers to the illusion of motion perception created by two or more adjacent stationary objects, option B (implicit memory effect) refers to the phenomenon of improved performance on a task due to a prior exposure to stimuli without conscious awareness of that prior experience, and option D (sequestering effect) is not a recognized term in psychology.

Question 20

The most influential researcher into eyewitness memory has been __________.

Accepted Answer

The most influential researcher into eyewitness memory is Elizabeth Loftus. She is well-known for her work on the misinformation effect, which shows that people can be easily influenced and their memories distorted by post-event information. Her research has had significant implications in the legal system, particularly in cases involving eyewitness testimony.

Quiz 6: Memory