Question 1

People are especially bad eyewitnesses when:
A) they do not feel confident about their testimony
B) the person who committed the crime is of the same race as the eyewitness
C) they are asked to recall an event that occurred in the real world
D) the person who committed the crime is of a different race than the eyewitness

Accepted Answer

Research has shown that people are more likely to incorrectly identify someone of a different race than their own, so eyewitness testimony is less reliable when the perpetrator is of a different race than the witness.

Question 2

If you try to remember a list of words that relate to the idea of "sleep" and later report remembering that you heard the word sleep in the list (even though it was not there),you are suffering from a(n):
A) repressed memory
B) sleep disorder
C) false memory
D) engram

Accepted Answer

This is a classic example of a false memory. False memories are memories that never occurred but are suggested by outside influences. In this case, hearing a list of words related to sleep suggested the word "sleep" to be present in the list, even though it wasn't. Repressed memory refers to a memory that is unconsciously blocked due to a traumatic event. Sleep disorder refers to a disturbance in someone's sleep quality or quantity. Engram refers to the neural representation of a memory.

Question 3

False memories occur because:
A) everyone is absentminded
B) people have memory biases
C) consolidation is an imperfect process
D) encoding is a selective process

Accepted Answer

Consolidation is the process by which memories are stored in the brain. It is an imperfect process, and some memories may be lost or distorted over time. This can lead to false memories, which are memories of events that did not actually happen.

Question 4

Jaimie has a very vivid memory of her first birthday party.She remembers that she wore a frilly pink dress,had a cake shaped like a pony,and received a big white teddy bear as a gift.Jaimie's detailed memory is probably due to:
A) the uniqueness of the memory
B) the strong emotional content
C) stories her family told her
D) an abundance of retrieval cues

Accepted Answer

Jaimie's detailed memory of her first birthday party is likely due to stories her family told her, as it is uncommon for people to have vivid memories from such an early age without external reinforcement.

Question 5

A likely way in which suggestibility might cause new information to change an old memory is through:
A) retroactive interference
B) reconsolidation
C) elaborative rehearsal
D) proactive interference

Accepted Answer

Suggestibility can cause an old memory to be changed through reconsolidation, which occurs when the memory is retrieved and then re-stored, allowing new information to be incorporated and potentially alter the original memory.

Question 6

Many people who have been convicted of crimes based on eyewitness testimony are later found,through DNA evidence,not to be guilty.Which of the following statements is a common reason for why eyewitness testimony may lead to false convictions?
A) Eyewitness confidence is not a reliable indication of the accuracy of the story.
B) Eyewitnesses are usually not questioned seriously enough by the defense.
C) Eyewitnesses frequently lie to make their stories more dramatic.
D) Judges instruct juries to prioritize eyewitness testimony over other evidence.

Accepted Answer

Eyewitness confidence can be influenced by external factors such as the wording of questions, pre-existing biases, and the presence of a weapon, and is not always a reliable indicator of accuracy. Additionally, eyewitnesses may have difficulty accurately recalling details from a stressful or traumatic event.

Question 7

Eyewitness testimony is very convincing because people incorrectly assume that memory is like:
A) a video camera
B) a live journal
C) an interactive Web site
D) the evening news report

Accepted Answer

People often believe that memory works like a video camera, capturing every detail of an event and replaying it accurately when needed. However, memory is more complex and can be influenced by various factors, such as emotions, expectations, and suggestions. Thus, eyewitness testimony may not always be reliable and can contain errors or distortions.

Question 8

Raul saw a car crash on the way to campus.Yosep participated in a psychology experiment in which he saw a film of a car crash.How accurate would you expect these memories to be,given the research on event memory?
A) Yosep's memory will be more accurate than Raul's memory.
B) Raul's memory will be more accurate than Yosep's memory.
C) Raul and Yosep will have equally accurate memories.
D) Yosep's memory will be more accurate, but Raul's memory will be more vivid.

Accepted Answer

Raul's memory is likely to be more accurate because he witnessed the event firsthand, whereas Yosep's memory might be influenced by the artificial setting and lack of personal involvement in the experiment.

Question 9

When people look at faces of people of their own race there is more activation of the _____ than when they look at faces of people of other races.
A) frontal cortex
B) medial temporal cortex
C) parietal face area
D) fusiform face area

Accepted Answer

The fusiform face area is a region in the brain that is specialized for processing faces. Research has shown that there is more activation in this area when people look at faces of their own race compared to faces of other races. This phenomenon is known as the own-race bias or the cross-race effect.

Question 10

Jurors are listening to an eyewitness describe a murder.Research on eyewitness testimony suggests that the jurors will be:
A) good at judging the accuracy of the testimony
B) good at judging accuracy if the witness has detailed information
C) poor at judging accuracy if the witness lacks confidence
D) poor at judging the accuracy of the testimony in general

Accepted Answer

Research indicates that jurors are generally poor at judging the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, as they may be influenced by factors such as the confidence of the witness rather than the actual accuracy of the details provided.

Question 11

A lie and a false memory are:
A) essentially the same thing
B) different in intentionality
C) different in intensity
D) different in structure

Accepted Answer

A lie is a deliberate act of deceiving others by intentionally presenting false information. On the other hand, a false memory is an unintentional distortion of an actual past experience. The difference between them lies in the intention behind them. A lie is deliberately fabricated to mislead, while a false memory is an unintentional inaccuracy in remembering an event.

Question 12

As a participant in a memory experiment,Shamithia has been given a list of words: candy,sugar,tart,pie,and honey.When she is later asked to recall the words on this list,Shamithia incorrectly recalls one of the words.Which of the following words is she most likely to FALSELY recall?
A) sweet
B) cake
C) bee
D) tort

Accepted Answer

Shamithia is most likely to falsely recall a word that is semantically related to the words on the list, but was not actually presented. The word "sweet" is semantically related to all of the words on the list (candy, sugar, tart, pie, and honey), so it is the most likely option for a false recall. The other options (B) cake, (C) bee, and (D) tort, are not as closely semantically related to the list of words.

Question 13

The police have put an Asian American suspect in a lineup of Asian Americans.The identification is most likely to be accurate if the eyewitness is:
A) Caucasian
B) Asian American
C) African American
D) Hispanic

Accepted Answer

The identification is most likely to be accurate if the eyewitness is of the same race as the suspect. Therefore, an Asian American eyewitness is most likely to correctly identify the suspect in the lineup of Asian Americans.

Question 14

Forgetting the store where you bought your blue sweater is analogous to _____.Thinking that the red sweater is yours when you actually borrowed it from your sister is analogous to _____.
A) source misattribution; absentmindedness
B) absentmindedness; source misattribution
C) the sleeper effect; cryptomnesia
D) cryptomnesia; the sleeper effect

Accepted Answer

Forgetting the store where you bought your blue sweater is an example of absentmindedness, which is the failure to remember something because of a lack of attention. Thinking that the red sweater is yours when you actually borrowed it from your sister is an example of source misattribution, which is the failure to remember where or how a piece of information was acquired.

Question 15

Asking an eyewitnesses how tall or how short the suspect was could result in:
A) repressed memories
B) confabulation
C) suggestibility
D) cross-ethnic identification

Accepted Answer

Asking an eyewitness how tall or short the suspect was could result in suggestibility, meaning the witness may unintentionally alter or "fill-in" their memory of the suspect's height based on the way the question is asked or suggestions made by the interviewer. This can lead to inaccurate information and potentially unjust outcomes.

Question 16

Alex sees a girl stealing a candy bar in a convenience store.When the police question him,Alex says the thief was wearing a red shirt.Later in the interrogation,the officer asks what candy the girl in the blue shirt stole.Months later,when Alex testifies in court,he describes the girl as having worn a blue shirt.Alex's testimony at the trial shows the influence of:
A) suggestibility
B) cryptomnesia
C) source misattribution
D) the sleeper effect

Accepted Answer

Alex's changing description of the color of the girl's shirt suggests that he may have been influenced by the officer's question during the interrogation. This is an example of suggestibility, where a person's memory can be influenced by external cues or suggestions.

Question 17

Laken takes a course in which her professor talks about Virginia Woolf's novel,To the Lighthouse.The next semester,Laken writes a paper for another class on Virginia Woolf.In her paper,Laken uses ideas that her earlier professor had presented,while believing that she has developed these ideas herself.Laken's behavior comes from:
A) absentmindedness
B) cryptomnesia
C) persistence
D) the sleeper effect

Accepted Answer

Laken's behavior is an example of cryptomnesia, which is a memory bias in which a person believes that they came up with an idea or concept, when in fact they heard or read it somewhere else previously. In this case, Laken heard the ideas from her previous professor and then used them in her own paper, thinking that she had developed them herself.

Question 18

Four witnesses see a truck hit a small car.If they all saw the same thing,who is likely to give the highest estimate of the truck's speed when testifying in court?
A) Sue, who was asked, "How quickly was the truck going when it hit the car?"
B) Bob, who was asked, "How quickly was the truck going when it smashed into the car?"
C) Tom, who was asked, "What speed was the car going when the accident happened?"
D) both A and B

Accepted Answer

The word "smashed" in Bob's question suggests a more violent impact, which can lead to a higher speed estimate due to the influence of language on perception.

Question 19

Jacob has to write an essay for his college writing class and decides to write about a boy who makes a boat from popsicle sticks and sails it every day.When his teacher reads the essay,she realizes that Jacob got the idea from a popular book.Jacob denies knowing about the story from a book and honestly believes he thought of it himself.He is most likely suffering from:
A) a concussion
B) cryptomnesia
C) source amnesia
D) transience

Accepted Answer

Cryptomnesia is when a person believes they have come up with an original idea, but it is actually a forgotten memory of something they have read or heard before.

Question 20

Anita started to talk at 9 months and was speaking fluently by the time she was a year old; she crawled at 13 months and was walking at 15 months.Xenia started to talk at 14 months and was speaking fluently just after her second birthday; she crawled at 10 months and was walking by her first birthday.One theory of childhood amnesia might predict that _____ will have memories from an earlier age because of her _____.
A) Anita; better linguistic capacity
B) Anita; cognitive precocity
C) Xenia; increased capacity to explore
D) Xenia; higher level of motor skill

Accepted Answer

According to the theory of childhood amnesia, children are unable to form long-term memories before the age of 3 because their brain is not fully developed. However, it is suggested that language development might play a role in memory formation. Anita's early language development may have given her an advantage in forming memories before the age of 3, as language is crucial for encoding and storing events in long-term memory. Therefore, choice A is the best answer.

Quiz 7: Attention and Memory

People are especially bad eyewitnesses when:

If you try to remember a list of words that relate to the idea of "sleep" and later report remembering that you heard the word sleep in the list (even though it was not there) ,you are suffering from a(n) :

False memories occur because:

Jaimie has a very vivid memory of her first birthday party.She remembers that she wore a frilly pink dress,had a cake shaped like a pony,and received a big white teddy bear as a gift.Jaimie's detailed memory is probably due to:

A likely way in which suggestibility might cause new information to change an old memory is through:

Many people who have been convicted of crimes based on eyewitness testimony are later found,through DNA evidence,not to be guilty.Which of the following statements is a common reason for why eyewitness testimony may lead to false convictions?

Eyewitness testimony is very convincing because people incorrectly assume that memory is like:

Raul saw a car crash on the way to campus.Yosep participated in a psychology experiment in which he saw a film of a car crash.How accurate would you expect these memories to be,given the research on event memory?

When people look at faces of people of their own race there is more activation of the _____ than when they look at faces of people of other races.

Jurors are listening to an eyewitness describe a murder.Research on eyewitness testimony suggests that the jurors will be:

A lie and a false memory are:

As a participant in a memory experiment,Shamithia has been given a list of words: candy,sugar,tart,pie,and honey.When she is later asked to recall the words on this list,Shamithia incorrectly recalls one of the words.Which of the following words is she most likely to FALSELY recall?

The police have put an Asian American suspect in a lineup of Asian Americans.The identification is most likely to be accurate if the eyewitness is:

Forgetting the store where you bought your blue sweater is analogous to _.Thinking that the red sweater is yours when you actually borrowed it from your sister is analogous to _.

Asking an eyewitnesses how tall or how short the suspect was could result in:

Four witnesses see a truck hit a small car.If they all saw the same thing,who is likely to give the highest estimate of the truck's speed when testifying in court?