Question 1

People usually remember how many days there are in the months of September, October, and May by using:

Accepted Answer

The answer of People usually remember how many days there...

Question 2

Capgras syndrome is an extreme case of:

Accepted Answer

The answer of Capgras syndrome is an extreme case of:
...

Question 3

Alejandro was lost in the woods and thought he heard a bear. He climbed a tree to see if he could find a way home. A week later, he tells his friend with absolute sincerity that he climbed the tree to escape the bear. Alejandro is experiencing:

Accepted Answer

Alejandro is experiencing confabulation, which means the creation of false memories to fill in gaps where actual memories are unavailable. In this case, he may have mistaken the sound of the wind or another animal for a bear and later created the false memory of climbing the tree to escape it. False recognition (B) refers to mistaking a familiar stimulus for something else, absentmindedness (C) is a lapse in attention or forgetting to do something, and memory bias (D) is a distortion in memory caused by pre-existing beliefs or attitudes.

Question 4

Research has found that guitarists have much larger motor cortices in the hemisphere controlling the hand that does the fingering. The most likely cause of this increase in brain area is that guitarists play so much that they:

Accepted Answer

Playing guitar involves repetitive and complex movements, which can lead to the creation of new synaptic connections in the motor cortex controlling the hand that does the fingering. This results in an increase in the size of the motor cortex, as it has to accommodate these new connections.

Question 5

Damage to the frontal lobes and limbic system can cause the dissociation of a visual image from the associated emotional content. This problem is thought to be the cause of:

Accepted Answer

Capgras syndrome is a psychological disorder characterized by the delusion that a person or persons close to the patient (usually family members) have been replaced by impostors. It has been linked to damage to the frontal lobes and limbic system, which can cause a dissociation of the visual image of a person from the associated emotional content.

Question 6

Hsiao-An was in a serious accident that damaged areas of her frontal lobes and limbic system. When her husband comes to see her at the hospital she maintains that he is not her husband at all, but someone pretending to be her husband. The accident has left Hsiao-An with:

Accepted Answer

Hsiao-An is experiencing Capgras syndrome, which is a delusion that a person’s loved ones have been replaced with impostors. This is often associated with damage to the frontal lobes and limbic system of the brain, such as that caused by trauma or disease. Tasack's syndrome, Tourette's syndrome, and Korsakoff's syndrome do not involve a delusion of impostors.

Question 7

False memories (i.e., the false recollection of episodic memories):

Accepted Answer

False memories can result from merely imagining something happening, suggesting that they are not always based on real experiences or accurate recollection of events.

Question 8

Maria goes to see a therapist because she is depressed that none of her relationships with men last. Her therapist specializes in disorders rooted in childhood abuse and uses special techniques to uncover repressed memories of this abuse. A potential problem for Maria in seeing this therapist is that:

Accepted Answer

The potential problem for Maria in seeing this therapist is that the therapist may unintentionally create false memories of abuse through the use of special techniques to uncover repressed memories. This is a well-documented phenomenon in the field of psychology and can be a serious problem for patients seeking therapy for childhood abuse. It is important for therapists to use caution when utilizing such techniques and to prioritize the well-being and safety of their patients.

Question 9

False memories occur because:

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The answer of False memories occur because:
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Question 10

Joanna's boyfriend Kyle has been arrested for robbery. Joanna believes that Kyle was with her all that day. However, a teacher claims that Joanna was on a field trip. If the police had an fMRI scanner they could evaluate Joanna's memory. If Joanna's memory is accurate, then recalling the day of the robbery should activate:

Accepted Answer

If Joanna's memory is accurate, recalling the day of the robbery should activate the same areas as other memories of being with Kyle (option B) and different areas than remembering the field trip (option C). The areas of the brain involved in telling the truth (option A) are not specific to recalling a particular memory and may be activated in various situations. Therefore, options B and C are both correct and D is the best choice.

Question 11

Kyle has been arrested for robbery. He maintains that he is innocent; he claims to have been with his girlfriend Joanna that day. If the police had an fMRI scanner they could evaluate Kyle's claim. If Kyle is not telling the truth, then when he claims not to have robbed the store the fMRI should show activation of:

Accepted Answer

The answer of Kyle has been arrested for robbery. He...

Question 12

People often maintain stereotypes about groups even after they have met individuals who contradict the stereotype. Given the phenomenon of memory bias, what might one reason be that a stereotype doesn't change with new information?

Accepted Answer

Memory bias refers to the ways in which our memories can be influenced by our pre-existing beliefs and expectations. In the case of stereotypes, even when we meet individuals who contradict the stereotype, we may still remember them in a way that is consistent with the stereotype. This means that our memory for the individual can shift in the direction of the stereotype, which can make it difficult for us to update our beliefs.

Question 13

Javier convinces Suzanne to go with him to the sequel of a science fiction movie that he loved. Though Suzanne does not like science fiction, she agrees to go because Javier has been raving about the original movie for years. The sequel is terrible, but Javier sincerely praises it on the way home. Javier's response to the movie represents:

Accepted Answer

The answer of Javier convinces Suzanne to go with him...

Question 14

Miriam is a competitive gymnast. Every day she goes over all of her routines several times. Every time she goes through a routine, Miriam is:

Accepted Answer

Every time Miriam goes through a routine she is repeating the same movements, which helps strengthen the connections between the neurons involved in those movements. This is known as synaptic plasticity, and it is how the brain adapts and learns through repetition. Option A and B are also possible explanations, but they are more focused on how Miriam is organizing and storing the information about the routine in her memory, rather than how her brain is changing as a result of the repetitions. Option D is not relevant because the size of the frontal lobes is not directly related to learning and memory.

Question 15

At a party, you get into an argument with someone by making an insulting remark. Despite this, you don't think of yourself as a bad person. The next day, you remember the argument as being the other person's fault. You don't remember that you were actually to blame because of:

Accepted Answer

Memory bias refers to the distortion of memory due to various factors such as emotions, beliefs, expectations, and attitudes. In this case, the individual's memory is biased towards the other person being at fault because it aligns with their self-image as not being a bad person, thus protecting their ego.

Question 16

In a classic science fiction novel, alien pods grow into exact duplicates of people. The people then die and the duplicates take their places. The family members of the replaced people are sure that these people are not their relatives, but no one believes them. The family members feel like people suffering from:

Accepted Answer

Capgras syndrome is a psychological disorder in which a person believes that their loved ones have been replaced by imposters or duplicates. This is similar to the plot of the science fiction novel mentioned in the question, where family members of replaced people feel that the people taking their loved ones' places are not really them. None of the other options - Tasack's syndrome, Tourette's syndrome, or Korsakoff's syndrome - are related to this specific symptom.

Question 17

Susanne goes into therapy because she is continually anxious and has trouble sleeping due to disturbing nightmares. Her therapist diagnoses Suzanne with post-traumatic 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 which this recovered memory poses is that:

Accepted Answer

Recovered memories can be difficult to confirm as accurate, and there is controversy in the field of psychology regarding the validity of such memories. As a result, the recovered memory of abuse may not be immediately accepted as true by others, and it may be challenging for Suzanne to determine the accuracy of her memories without corroboration from other sources. Additionally, the recovery of traumatic memories can be an intense process, and Suzanne may need to work through her PTSD symptoms before delving further into her past experiences.

Question 18

After a group project, the teacher asks each group member to rate the contribution of everyone in the group. She finds that all of the group members have given their highest ratings to themselves. The teacher would be less puzzled by this outcome if she understood the concept of:

Accepted Answer

The concept of memory bias relates to the tendency for people to remember information that confirms their beliefs or values, while forgetting information that does not. In this case, the group members' high ratings of themselves may stem from a memory bias, where they remember their own contributions more vividly than those of others. The other options (alcohol blocking, absentmindedness, and confabulation) are not related to this scenario.

Question 19

A lie and a false memory are:

Accepted Answer

A lie is an intentional act of deception, while a false memory is an unintentional recollection of an event that did not actually occur. Therefore, they differ in their intentionality.

Question 20

Which of the following does memory bias NOT result from?

Accepted Answer

Memory bias does not result from the human tendency to accurately report events. It results from the other tendencies listed, such as exaggerating successes, minimizing failures, and having consistent beliefs.

Quiz 7: Attention and Memory