Question 1

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

The answer of Jaimie has a very vivid memory of...

Question 2

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 3

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 4

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

Many people assume that memory works like a video camera, recording everything that is seen or experienced and then playing it back perfectly when needed. However, memory is actually much more complex and prone to errors and distortions. This mistaken belief in memory as a video camera can make eyewitness testimony seem more reliable than it actually is.

Question 5

Laden has a memory of being given a wonderful teddy bear.She believes she is remembering her second birthday,but she cannot remember for sure.The earliest birthday she could be remembering is her _____ because until that time her _____ lobes were too immature.
A) third; frontal
B) third; temporal
C) fifth; frontal
D) fifth; temporal

Accepted Answer

The answer of Laden has a memory of being given...

Question 6

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 a person to retrieve a memory and then integrate new information with that memory during reconsolidation, which can change the original memory.

Question 7

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/ethnicity as the suspect, in this case Asian American. Research has shown that people are generally better at identifying faces of their own race/ethnicity compared to faces of other races/ethnicities, a phenomenon known as the cross-race effect or own-race bias. Therefore, an Asian American eyewitness would be more likely to accurately identify an Asian American suspect in a lineup compared to a witness of a different race/ethnicity.

Question 8

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 make errors in identifying the perpetrator when they are of a different race than the eyewitness, which is known as the cross-race effect.

Question 9

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 is _________ and comes from _______.
A) plagiarism; absentmindedness
B) plagiarism; cryptomnesia
C) ethical; persistence
D) ethical; the sleeper effect

Accepted Answer

Laken's behavior is considered plagiarism because she used ideas from her previous professor without properly citing the source. However, her behavior also shows cryptomnesia, which is the unconscious plagiarism of an idea that a person believes to be their own.

Question 10

Memory researchers often ask participants in their studies to try to remember lists of words.Which of the following statements is a summary of the findings from these kinds of studies?
A) Memory is a nearly exact copy of original events.
B) People can be sure whether a word appeared on a list or not.
C) Women are much less prone to inaccurate memory than men are.
D) People sometimes falsely remember information and do not realize it.

Accepted Answer

Studies of word lists have shown that people sometimes falsely remember information and do not realize it. This is known as the phenomenon of false memory, where a person recalls something that did not actually occur, but feels strongly that it did. This is an example of the fallibility of memory.

Question 11

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

A false memory is a memory that seems to be accurate but is not. In this scenario, the individual reports remembering the word "sleep" even though it was not on the original list, indicating the formation of a false memory. Repressed memories involve the unconscious blocking of traumatic events, sleep disorders affect the quality or quantity of sleep, and engram refers to the physical changes in the brain that occur with learning.

Question 12

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 answer of Four witnesses see a truck hit a...

Question 13

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 14

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

The theory of childhood amnesia suggests that our inability to remember events from before the age of 3-4 is due to the underdeveloped language and memory systems in early childhood. Therefore, Anita's early fluency in speech may give her an advantage in encoding and retaining memories from an earlier age.

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 about a suspect's height could be affected by suggestibility, as the eyewitness may try to please the interviewer by giving an answer that aligns with their expectations or assumptions.

Question 16

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

Eyewitnesses tend to remember evidence that confirms their stereotypes. This is known as confirmation bias and can lead eyewitnesses to unknowingly distort their memories in order to fit their preconceived ideas about certain groups of people. This can result in false identifications and convictions.

Question 17

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

The answer of Raul saw a car crash on the...

Question 18

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 an intentional falsehood, whereas a false memory is a genuine belief in something that did not actually occur. Therefore, they are different in intentionality.

Question 19

Suzanne goes into therapy because she is continually anxious and has trouble sleeping due to disturbing nightmares.Her therapist diagnoses Suzanne with posttraumatic stress disorder and encourages her to talk about distressing childhood memories.Eventually,Suzanne recalls having been abused by her uncle as a child.The problem that this ________ memory poses is that ________________.
A) repressed; her therapist has implanted a false memory
B) repressed; no one will believe that her kind uncle was abusive
C) recovered; it will distract her from her real problems
D) recovered; it is difficult to know whether her memory is accurate

Accepted Answer

Recovered memories are memories that were previously inaccessible or not remembered, and can sometimes be difficult to determine their accuracy. Suzanne's therapist will need to work with her to evaluate the validity of the memory and help her cope with the associated emotions.

Question 20

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 testimony shows suggestibility, meaning he was influenced or suggested by the officer's question about the color of the girl's shirt during the interrogation. This resulted in memory distortion and him later reporting the wrong color shirt in court.

Quiz 7: Memory

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:

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 _.

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

Laden has a memory of being given a wonderful teddy bear.She believes she is remembering her second birthday,but she cannot remember for sure.The earliest birthday she could be remembering is her _ because until that time her _ lobes were too immature.

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

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:

People are especially bad eyewitnesses when:

Memory researchers often ask participants in their studies to try to remember lists of words.Which of the following statements is a summary of the findings from these kinds of studies?

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) :

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?

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?

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

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

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 lie and a false memory are: