Question 1

Working memory is useful in our daily lives because

Accepted Answer

Working memory's flexibility allows us to switch between tasks and retain information while completing them. This is particularly important in multitasking situations or situations that require quick decision-making based on multiple pieces of information. Option B is incorrect because working memory is not necessarily strict, and we can indeed confuse one task with another. Option C is also incorrect because working memory's accuracy and duration depend on various factors, such as the complexity of the information and distractions or interruptions. Option D is incorrect because working memory capacity is limited and varies among individuals.

Question 2

Imagine that you are tutoring high school students,and you have quickly presented 12 new terms to them.They are likely to recall the first few terms most accurately because of

Accepted Answer

The primacy effect is the tendency for people to better remember information that is presented first. Therefore, the high school students are likely to recall the first few terms most accurately because of the primacy effect.

Question 3

Solange is trying to recall her friend's new zip code,which is 14454.She remembers it by saying,"My birthday is September 14th; my father is 45 years old,and my nephew is 4 years old." Apparently,Solange

Accepted Answer

Solange has created chunks out of the zip code by connecting the numbers 14, 45, and 4 to the zip code 14454. This allows her to encode the information in her memory more easily and retrieve it more efficiently.

Question 4

According to Chapter 4,working memory is especially important because

Accepted Answer

Working memory is important because it keeps some items active, allowing us to use them when we are working on a relevant task. This is crucial for tasks such as problem-solving and decision-making where we need to keep relevant information in mind while performing the task. Option A is incorrect as working memory does not provide a perfect copy of the physical stimulus, rather it is a limited capacity system that temporarily stores and manipulates information. Option B is partially correct, but it doesn't capture the significance of why the limit is important. Option C is incorrect because working memory occurs before information enters long-term memory.

Question 5

According to the discussion at the beginning of the chapter on working memory (Chapter 4),

Accepted Answer

The chapter on working memory discusses how it allows individuals to keep information accessible for current tasks, indicating that choice B is the correct answer. The chapter does not suggest that working memory has an unlimited capacity (choice A) or that psychologists agree that working memory and long-term memory have very different functions (choice C). Additionally, the brief storage period prior to short-term memory would be sensory memory, not working memory (choice D).

Question 6

Suppose that you are calculating your recent expenses,and you are adding up five 2-digit numbers in your head.As you begin to calculate the final sum,you feel that you've reached the limits of your memory.This strain can be traced to

Accepted Answer

The strain felt while adding up five 2-digit numbers in your head is likely due to the difficulty of keeping all this material in your working memory. Working memory has a limited capacity, so trying to hold onto multiple pieces of information at once can lead to cognitive overload and strain.

Question 7

According to the chapter on working memory,what was nontraditional about George Miller's article on the "magical number seven"?

Accepted Answer

Miller's article emphasized active mental processes, such as chunking and rehearsing, rather than simply focusing on the stimulus and the response. This was nontraditional at the time because psychologists had previously focused on the structure of memory rather than the processes involved in it.

Question 8

A friend has just told you his cell phone number,and you repeat it to yourself several times as you search for a pen to record it.The technique you are using to remember the number is called

Accepted Answer

Rehearsal is the technique of repeating information over and over again in order to remember it. In this scenario, the person is repeating the phone number to themselves in order to remember it, which is an example of rehearsal. The serial position effect refers to the tendency to remember the first and last items on a list better than items in the middle, release from proactive interference refers to the idea that switching to a new type of information can help with memory performance, and the working-memory approach is a theoretical model of how short-term memory functions.

Question 9

Chapter 4 discussed research on the recency effect.How is this research related to short-term memory?

Accepted Answer

The recency effect refers to the phenomenon where people are more likely to remember the most recent items in a list. This is because those items are still in short-term memory. This research is specifically related to short-term memory because it highlights the limited capacity of this type of memory and the way that information is processed and stored within short-term memory.

Question 10

Suppose that a friend asks you what movies you have seen within the past year.Your recall is especially accurate for the movies you saw during the last 2 weeks.This phenomenon is called

Accepted Answer

The recency effect states that we are more likely to remember information that we encountered most recently. Therefore, if the individual is able to recall movies that they saw within the past two weeks more accurately than movies they watched in the past year, this is a clear example of the recency effect.

Question 11

Suppose that your professor makes a graph that shows the relationship between the order in which a topic was covered in the course and the class's accuracy on test items for that topic.This graph would be called as a

Accepted Answer

A graph that shows the relationship between the order of presentation and recall accuracy is called a serial position curve. This is because it displays how the order of information affects memory, and how different items are recalled depending on their position in the sequence. Free recall curve refers to a graph that shows the probability of recalling items in a particular sequence, memory span curve refers to the maximum number of items that can be held in short-term memory, and Brown/Peterson & Peterson curve refers to a graph that shows the rate of forgetting in short-term memory.

Question 12

Suppose that you are listening to an announcer read the names of the winners in an athletic event.You recall the last four names accurately,but you can't recall the names that appeared earlier in the list.This phenomenon is called as

Accepted Answer

The ability to recall the most recent items on a list, such as the last four names in this scenario, is known as the recency effect. This suggests that these items are still in our short-term memory, while earlier items may have been displaced by subsequent information and are therefore more difficult to recall. The other options given do not accurately describe this phenomenon.

Question 13

George Miller's (1956)classic article,on the magical number seven,introduced the concept of a chunk.According to Miller's terminology,a chunk

Accepted Answer

According to Miller's terminology, a chunk is the basic unit in short-term memory. It's not the maximum limit or a specific portion of the brain where short-term memories are stored. It's about how information is organized and processed in the mind.

Question 14

Suppose that a professor asks the students in her class to say their names out loud (one at a time)on the first day of class.Then she asks them to write down as many of their classmates' names as they can recall.Then she constructs a graph that shows "Number of correct responses" on the Y-axis and "Serial position of the name" on the X-axis.The shape of the graph

Accepted Answer

This phenomenon is explained by the serial position effect, where individuals tend to remember the first (primacy effect) and last (recency effect) items in a series better than the middle items, resulting in a U-shaped curve on a graph plotting recall accuracy against item position.

Question 15

Imagine that you have volunteered to participate in some psychology research.The researcher tells you to look at several words briefly and then count backwards for about half a minute before recalling those words.The researcher is probably measuring

Accepted Answer

Counting backwards for half a minute is a commonly used technique to prevent rehearsal and to measure short-term memory. Sensory memory refers to the initial, brief recording of sensory information in the memory system. Long-term memory refers to the storage of information over an extended period. Semantic memory refers to the memory of general knowledge, facts, and concepts.

Question 16

Which of the following students provides the best statement about the difference between people's performance in laboratory research and their performance in everyday life,with respect to working memory?

Accepted Answer

In everyday life, people encounter a wider range of tasks and situations that require working memory, unlike the controlled and limited tasks typically used in laboratory settings.

Question 17

One of the most widely cited articles in psychology is George Miller's (1956)article on the size of short-term memory.According to your text,this article was important in cognitive psychology because

Accepted Answer

The article was important in cognitive psychology because it focused on a cognitive process - mentally converting the stimulus - at a time when most psychologists focused on people's external behavior.

Question 18

Suppose that you are having trouble recalling the information for a question about Baddeley's theory because the information about Atkinson and Shiffrin's theory (which you learned earlier)keeps interfering.This phenomenon is called

Accepted Answer

Proactive interference occurs when previously learned information (Atkinson and Shiffrin's theory) interferes with the recall of newly learned information (Baddeley's theory). The recency effect refers to the tendency to remember items at the end of a list, while the primacy effect refers to the tendency to remember items at the beginning of a list. Chunking refers to the process of organizing information into smaller, meaningful units to aid in memory. None of these options fully explain the situation described.

Question 19

According to the introduction of Chapter 4,one important function of working memory is

Accepted Answer

The introduction of Chapter 4 states that one important function of working memory is to coordinate your current mental activities. This involves using working memory to hold and manipulate information, as well as to switch between different mental tasks. This coordination is crucial for many aspects of cognitive functioning, including problem-solving, decision-making, and learning. While working memory may also be involved in processes such as object recognition or storing perceptual experiences, its primary function is coordination of mental activity. Therefore, answer choice D is the best choice.

Question 20

As Chapter 4 discusses,John Brown,Lloyd Peterson,and Margaret Peterson created a classic technique for assessing short-term memory.In this technique,people saw some stimuli,counted backwards by threes during the delay period,and then tried to recall the original stimuli.The results of their research showed that

Accepted Answer

The technique described is known to demonstrate the effects of interference on short-term memory recall, where repeated trials and the intervening task (counting backwards) make it increasingly difficult to recall the original stimuli, even after short delays.

Quiz 4: Working Memory