Question 1

You give your friend instructions about what to buy for a party by quickly rattling off fifteen unrelated grocery store items.Then to check whether your friend got all the information,you ask him to repeat the grocery list back to you.You should expect that your friend will recall about ____ items.

Accepted Answer

The average person can hold about 7 items (plus or minus 2) in their short-term memory, according to Miller's Law in psychology.

Question 2

Last semester Raul studied abroad in Spain.When his history teacher began lecturing on Spain,many of Raul's memories were simultaneously activated: bull fights,tasty sangria,and flamenco dancers.This example best illustrates the ____ model of memory.

Accepted Answer

The parallel distributed processing model of memory suggests that memories are stored across a network of neurons in the brain, and recalling a memory involves activating various parts of this network simultaneously. Raul's experience of having multiple memories activated at once when thinking about Spain aligns with this model, as it demonstrates how different aspects of his memories (bull fights, sangria, flamenco dancers) are interconnected within his memory network.

Question 3

You look up the phone number of your favorite pizza maker and say it over and over to yourself as you walk across the room to the phone.Before you reach the phone,your roommate bursts in and exclaims,"Look at this-it's the new Beck album!" "Cool!" you reply.Then you become frustrated because you cannot remember the phone number.This is most likely due to the process of ____.

Accepted Answer

The interruption caused by your roommate's exclamation about the new Beck album diverted your attention from the task of remembering the phone number. This is an example of selective attention, where your focus shifted from the phone number to the new album, causing you to forget the number.

Question 4

Quintin needs to call the local department store to see if his catalog order has come in.He finds the telephone number in the phone book,mentally rehearses the number,and calls the department store.Most likely,this number is stored in ____ memory.

Accepted Answer

The fact that Quintin had to mentally rehearse the number suggests that he was using his short-term memory to temporarily store and manipulate the information before dialing it on the phone. Short-term memory only holds information for a brief period before it is forgotten or transferred to long-term memory.

Question 5

Tami lights a sparkler and hands it to her young son,Jacob.She tells Jacob to write his name in the air with the sparkler.She can see this "writing" because the light from the sparkler is briefly held in her ____ memory.

Accepted Answer

Sensory memory is the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system. In this scenario, the light from the sparkler is perceived and held briefly in Tami's sensory memory.

Question 6

Jane is trying to remember the order in which stars are classed by heat for her astronomy class.Suppose that instead of just trying to remember the sequence of letters (OBAFGKM),she comes up with the mnemonic of "Oh Be A Fine Guy,Kiss Me".The ____ model of memory suggests that she should remember the ordering better.

Accepted Answer

The levels-of-processing model of memory suggests that when we process information more deeply, we are more likely to remember it. By associating the sequence with a meaningful phrase, Jane is processing the information at a deeper level, which should lead to better recall.

Question 7

When all three types of memory work together to read a passage of your text,____.

Accepted Answer

Early parts of the sentence are temporarily held in short-term memory to be compared and integrated with information stored in long-term memory, facilitating comprehension and retention.

Question 8

If Greta is having an essay exam,she studies one way.If she is having a multiple-choice exam,she studies a different way.Greta's actions best support the ____ model of memory.

Accepted Answer

This model proposes that memory is best when the cognitive processes used during encoding match those used during retrieval. In this case, Greta's studying strategies differ depending on the type of exam she has, indicating that she is using transfer-appropriate processing. She is matching her studying strategies to the type of exam she will have in order to enhance her memory retrieval.

Question 9

As you read this question,your sensory registers are converting light energy into neural activity,your short-term memory is holding the first part of the question,and your long-term memory is helping you recognize and understand the words.This best supports the ____ model of memory.

Accepted Answer

The information-processing model of memory emphasizes the flow of information through a series of stages: sensory input, attention, encoding, storage, and retrieval. This model suggests that our sensory registers convert sensory information into neural impulses, which are then briefly held in short-term memory and potentially transferred to long-term memory for later retrieval.

Question 10

Liora opens her textbook and begins to read.As her eyes scan the page,each word remains in her ____ memory for only one second,just long enough for the next phase of memory to take over.

Accepted Answer

The sentence refers to the initial stage of memory where sensory information is briefly stored, which is known as sensory memory.

Question 11

While walking across the quad with your friend Dan,you run into an old girlfriend,Wendy.Only seconds after being introduced to Dan,Wendy says to him,"So,Stan,what's your major?" Noticing that Dan appears agitated about his name being messed up,you explain,"Hey,Dan,information is usually ____ encoded into short-term memory,and this kind of error is common."

Accepted Answer

Information is typically acoustically encoded into short-term memory, which explains why people often make mistakes with names they've just heard.

Question 12

The variable that largely determines whether information is moved from the sensory registers to short-term memory is ____.

Accepted Answer

Selective attention plays a crucial role in determining which sensory information gets processed further and moves into short-term memory. Without selective attention, the brain would be overwhelmed by the vast amount of incoming sensory information, and much of it would be ignored. Rehearsal and chunking are strategies that aid in the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory. Serial search is a term used in the context of visual perception and has no direct relation to the transfer of information from sensory registers to short-term memory.

Question 13

The concept of selective attention is best demonstrated in which example?

Accepted Answer

Selective attention involves focusing on specific stimuli while ignoring others. In this example, the person is focusing on only the cello parts of the string quartet in order to learn the song, demonstrating selective attention. The other options involve memory techniques or emotional bias, but not necessarily selective attention.

Question 14

Bart tells Lisa about his new cat,Scratchy.Even though Bart does not mention that Scratchy has fur,Lisa knows this because she makes this generalization from the facts she knows about cats.Lisa's generalization about Scratchy best demonstrates ____.

Accepted Answer

Lisa's ability to make a generalization about Scratchy based on her previous knowledge about cats is an example of the parallel distributed processing model of memory, which suggests that information is stored in a network of interconnected nodes and activated when relevant information is presented. This allows for the retrieval and integration of previously learned information to make inferences and generalizations about new information.

Question 15

According to the information-processing model of memory,if a person completely loses the ability for ____ memory,the person will not be able to form any memories of any kind.

Accepted Answer

Sensory memory is the first stage of memory processing where information from the environment is briefly stored. It acts as a buffer for stimuli received through the senses. If a person completely loses the ability for sensory memory, they will not be able to form any memories of any kind since all information needs to be processed through sensory memory before being transferred to short-term memory. Therefore, choice B is the best answer.

Question 16

Stuart is trying to remember the word car.If he makes a mistake in recalling the word within fifteen seconds of hearing it,which word will he be most likely to mistakenly recall instead?

Accepted Answer

Stuart is likely to mistakenly recall "Jar" instead of "Car" due to phonetic similarity, as both words share the "-ar" sound.

Question 17

According to the transfer-appropriate processing model of memory,what would be the best retrieval cue for remembering the sentence "The man ate the strawberry"?

Accepted Answer

The transfer-appropriate processing model suggests that memory retrieval is most effective when the cues at retrieval match the processing that occurred at encoding. "Something tasty" is the best cue because it aligns with the action of eating in the sentence.

Question 18

Information is retained in sensory memory for ____ seconds.

Accepted Answer

Sensory memory holds information for a very short duration, typically less than 2 seconds. Therefore, option B is the correct answer. Options A, C, and D have longer time intervals and are not accurate for sensory memory.

Question 19

Damon has an average memory,and he is trying to keep a seven-digit phone number in his short-term memory.This number is likely to be ____.

Accepted Answer

Short-term memory often encodes information acoustically, meaning Damon is likely to remember the phone number by its sound rather than its meaning.

Question 20

Homer is trying to remember the different functions of the control panel at the nuclear power plant where he works.He remembers the functions of the different buttons by thinking about the types of donuts that the buttons most resemble.For example,he is supposed to press a red button to shut off the reactors when they are about to have a meltdown.He remembers this because the red button reminds him of cherry donuts,which he eats only during hot weather.The type of processing that Homer is using is ____ rehearsal.

Accepted Answer

Homer is using elaborative rehearsal by associating complex information (the functions of the control panel) with something familiar and meaningful to him (types of donuts). This technique involves making the information more memorable through the creation of associations, which helps in deeper processing and better memory retention.

Quiz 5: Memory