Question 1

Without memory, we would be __________.

Accepted Answer

Memory is crucial for learning, adapting to new situations, and moving beyond the immediate present. Without it, we would not be able to retain information, apply past experiences to current situations, or plan for the future, making all of the provided options correct.

Question 2

After removal of his hippocampus, H. M. was unable to __________.

Accepted Answer

After the removal of his hippocampus, H. M. was primarily unable to form new memories, a condition known as anterograde amnesia, which severely impaired his ability to consciously recall experiences that occurred after his surgery.

Question 3

Memory is __________.

Accepted Answer

Memory is defined as the ability to store and use information, which is a fundamental function of the human brain allowing us to learn from and interact with our environment.

Question 4

__________________ occurs when information from our five senses leaves a small, momentary trace in our brain unless we pay attention to and process this information.

Accepted Answer

Sensory memory is the shortest-term element of memory. It is the ability to retain impressions of sensory information after the original stimuli have ended. It acts as a kind of buffer for stimuli received through the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, which are retained accurately, but very briefly.

Question 5

Diane is not paying attention to her boyfriend talking, when all of a sudden something he says stops her. She says, "Wait a minute . . . did you say something about marriage?" His mention of marriage left a trace in her _______________ memory, and she subsequently paid attention to this information.

Accepted Answer

Echoic memory refers to the auditory sensory memory that retains sounds for a brief period, allowing Diane to catch the mention of "marriage" even though she wasn't initially paying full attention.

Question 6

Neil is participating in an experiment where numbers are flashed on a computer screen for a few milliseconds, and then it goes blank and asks him to recall the numbers. Neil is participating in a study that is examining his ______________ memory.

Accepted Answer

Iconic memory refers to the visual sensory memory register pertaining to the visual domain and a fast-decaying store of visual information. Since Neil is recalling numbers flashed on a screen, it involves his visual sensory memory, making iconic memory the correct answer.

Question 7

_____________________ memory is also called working memory, because it is the part of memory required to attend to a situation or problem.

Accepted Answer

Short-term memory, also known as working memory, is the part of memory that is involved in the temporary storage and manipulation of information necessary for cognitive tasks such as learning, reasoning, and comprehension.

Question 8

One reason that phone numbers in the United States are seven digits long is that __________.

Accepted Answer

The reason phone numbers in the United States are seven digits long is based on the concept of the "magic number seven," which suggests that the average number of items an individual can hold in their short-term memory is about seven. This concept was popularized by psychologist George A. Miller in his 1956 paper, "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information."

Question 9

The string of digits 1776149217871941 is difficult for most people to remember, but breaking them up into 1776, 1492, 1787, and 1941 in a process called _________________ makes it easier.

Accepted Answer

Chunking is the process of taking individual pieces of information and grouping them into larger units. By breaking the long string of numbers into significant historical years (1776, 1492, 1787, 1941), it becomes easier to remember.

Question 10

Which of the following is not a step in Alan Baddeley's (2003, 2007) model of working memory?

Accepted Answer

Alan Baddeley's model of working memory includes the central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and episodic buffer. It focuses on attending, storing, and rehearsing information but does not specifically include "reporting" as a step in the process.

Question 11

According to Alan Baddeley (2003, 2007), the first step in the working memory process is __________.

Accepted Answer

According to Alan Baddeley's model of working memory, the first step in the working memory process involves paying attention to a stimulus. This is essential for information to enter the working memory system.

Question 12

People who have sustained damage to their frontal lobes and thus their central executives may have a hard time __________.

Accepted Answer

The frontal lobes, particularly the prefrontal cortex, are involved in executive functions such as attention control and filtering out irrelevant information. Damage to this area can impair these abilities.

Question 13

When we attend to sounds or linguistic information, information is sent to the __________________ for brief storage and retention, where it is evaluated by the central executive.

Accepted Answer

The phonological loop is responsible for the brief storage and retention of auditory and verbal information, where it is then evaluated by the central executive in working memory.

Question 14

Roxanne knows she will remember her wedding day forever. First, however, her wedding memories have to processed in her working memory and temporarily stored in __________.

Accepted Answer

Roxanne's wedding memories would first be processed in her working memory and temporarily stored in an episodic buffer. The episodic buffer is a component of Baddeley's model of working memory that is responsible for integrating information from different sources into a single, coherent episode, which includes memories of specific events like a wedding day.

Question 15

The famous psychologist who first noticed the phenomenon called the serial position effect was __________.

Accepted Answer

Mary Whiton Calkins is credited with first noticing the serial position effect, which describes how our recall accuracy varies as a function of an item's position within a list.

Question 16

Selma's mother recited to her a list of things to buy at the grocery store, and now that Selma is there, she can only remember the items from the end of the list. This phenomenon is called __________.

Accepted Answer

The recency effect is a memory phenomenon where individuals tend to remember items at the end of a list better than those in the middle or at the beginning. This is because the most recently presented items are still in short-term memory.

Question 17

More participants in a study can recall the words in the beginning and in the end of a list than can recall words in the middle of a list. This is called __________.

Accepted Answer

The serial position effect is a pattern of recall where individuals have a tendency to remember the first and last items in a series better than the middle items, which explains the phenomenon described.

Question 18

Material you remember from this exam, memories of your sixth birthday party, and your recollection of your first date are all part of your __________.

Accepted Answer

These examples are all instances of long-term memory, which is responsible for storing information for extended periods, from hours to a lifetime.

Question 19

Tori remembers how to drive a car with a manual transmission, but when asked how she does it, she just says, "I don't know-it's automatic." This is an example of her __________.

Accepted Answer

Implicit memory is a type of long-term memory that doesn't require conscious thought. It allows people to perform tasks without being consciously aware of how they're doing them, such as driving a car with a manual transmission without being able to explain the process.

Question 20

__________________ is to nondeclarative memory as __________________ is to declarative memory.

Accepted Answer

Implicit memory is a type of nondeclarative memory, which operates without conscious awareness, while explicit memory is a type of declarative memory, involving conscious recollection of information.

Quiz 7: Memory