Question 1

In one classic study described in your text, participants viewed slides showing the use of a screwdriver in a burglary. Later they read a written account of the break-in that featured a hammer instead of a screwdriver. When tested for their memory of the images in the slide presentation:
A) 60 percent incorrectly remembered that a hammer had been used.
B) 10 percent said that a hammer had been used in the break-in.
C) 60 percent correctly remembered that a screwdriver had been used.
D) most participants could not remember what implement had been used in the break-in.

Accepted Answer

The study found that 60 percent of participants incorrectly remembered that a hammer had been used, indicating that their memory had been influenced by the written account.

Question 2

By the final interview in the "lost-in-the-mall" study by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus:
A) six of the 24 participants developed false memories of being lost in a shopping mall as a child.
B) 18 of the 24 participants developed false memories of being lost in the mall.
C) all 24 participants developed false memories of being lost in a shopping mall as a child.
D) 12 of the 24 participants developed false memories of knocking over a punch bowl in the shopping mall.

Accepted Answer

Out of the 24 participants, 6 developed false memories of being lost in a shopping mall as a child. This was the result of the final interview in the "lost-in-the-mall" study by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus.

Question 3

The research of psychologist Elizabeth Loftus has shown that:
A) eyewitness testimony is highly accurate.
B) even when a person has witnessed an event firsthand, it is relatively easy to distort the person's memory of the event.
C) a person's confidence in a memory is the best guarantee that the memory is accurate.
D) if a memory feels subjectively authentic and is accompanied by intense emotions, it is very unlikely to be a false memory.

Accepted Answer

Loftus' research has shown that eyewitness testimony is not always accurate and can be easily distorted by leading questions, suggestions, and other external factors. Confidence in a memory does not guarantee its accuracy, and subjective authenticity and intense emotions can actually increase the likelihood of false memories.

Question 4

Psychologist Stephen Lindsay and his colleagues (2004) had participants look at their first-grade class photo and read a description of a prank they were led to believe they had committed in the first grade-putting Slime in the teacher's desk. Compared to the participants who did not look at their first-grade class photo, the participants who did look at their first-grade photo were:
A) much more likely to believe they had committed the prank.
B) much less likely to believe they had committed the prank.
C) more likely to blame their classmates for persuading them to commit the prank.
D) much more likely to insist that the prank had actually been committed by a classmate.

Accepted Answer

Seeing the photo likely triggered memories and increased the plausibility of the false memory, making participants more likely to believe they had committed the prank.

Question 5

Which of the following statements about schemas is TRUE?
A) Using schemas you already have stored in long-term memory allows you to quickly integrate new experiences into your knowledge base.
B) Schemas can serve as important retrieval cues for information that has been retrieved but not stored.
C) Schemas help to explain how repression occurs.
D) Schemas can contribute to the effectiveness of maintenance rehearsal.

Accepted Answer

Schemas are mental frameworks or templates we have stored in long-term memory that allow us to quickly integrate new experiences into our knowledge base. This enables us to interpret and make sense of new information more efficiently.

Question 6

The term schema refers to:
A) an organized cluster of knowledge and information about an object, an event, a situation, or a concept.
B) an organized plan to accomplish a specific goal.
C) memories that are due to repeatedly imagining an event.
D) a memory-enhancing technique that is used during hypnosis to aid in the retrieval of repressed memories.

Accepted Answer

A schema is a mental structure that represents an organized cluster of knowledge and information about a particular object, event, or concept. It helps individuals to organize and interpret information that they encounter in their environment by providing a framework for understanding complex information. Schemas are formed through experiences and can guide behavior and decision-making.

Question 7

In a research study described in your text, participants briefly sat in a psychology professor's office and then were taken to another room. When asked about the details of the professor's office, the research participants:
A) accurately remembered almost all of the items in the psychologist's office.
B) overestimated how long they had sat in the professor's office.
C) remembered items that were not actually in the office, but that were consistent with their schemas of a professor's office.
D) mistakenly remembered seeing a hammer and a screwdriver on the professor's desk.

Accepted Answer

The participants remembered items that were not actually in the professor's office, but that were consistent with their schemas of a professor's office. This phenomenon is known as schema-consistent memory, where people selectively remember information that is congruent with their pre-existing beliefs or expectations.

Question 8

Although he actually learned about Holland's high taxes from talking to someone at a recent party, Paul is absolutely convinced that he heard about the high taxes in Holland on a radio talk show. This is an example of a false memory due to:
A) source confusion.
B) the misinformation effect.
C) memory trace decay.
D) anterograde amnesia.

Accepted Answer

This is an example of source confusion, in which Paul confuses the source of his memory and attributes it to a different source (radio talk show instead of someone at a party).

Question 9

The term source confusion refers to:
A) the eerie feeling of having experienced the exact situation before but not being able to recall precisely when or where.
B) a memory distortion that occurs when the true source of the memory is forgotten or confused with another memory.
C) intentionally citing an incorrect source in a term paper.
D) being unable to retrieve information that you know is stored in long-term memory.

Accepted Answer

Source confusion is a memory distortion where the true source of a memory is forgotten or confused with another memory. This can lead to the belief that an event occurred differently or that a certain detail was a part of a different memory.

Question 10

In a study by Elizabeth Loftus, subjects watched a film of an automobile accident, then answered a series of questions, including one asking them to estimate the speed of the cars. Which subjects gave the highest speed estimates?
A) the subjects who were asked, "About how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?"
B) the subjects who were asked, "About how fast were the cars going when they contacted each other?"
C) the subjects who were asked, "About how fast were the cars going when they went by the stop signs?"
D) the subjects who were asked, "About how fast were the cars going when they entered the intersection?"

Accepted Answer

In Loftus' study, the subjects who were asked the question using the word "smashed" gave the highest speed estimates. This suggests that the use of more dramatic language can lead to overestimation of events.

Question 11

Lisa went to a wedding where folk music was played rather than the traditional wedding march when the bride walked down the aisle. Later, Lisa distinctly remembers humming along to "Here Comes the Bride." Lisa's memory distortion is most probably due to:
A) inattentional blindness.
B) the context effect.
C) her script for a typical wedding.
D) anterograde amnesia.

Accepted Answer

Lisa's script for a typical wedding includes "Here Comes the Bride" being played when the bride walks down the aisle. This preconceived notion that is stored in her memory caused her to remember hearing the traditional wedding march, even though a different type of music was actually played. This phenomenon is known as schema-driven memory distortion.

Question 12

The typical sequence of behaviors or actions at a common event, such as checking out at a grocery store or going to the movies, is a particular type of schema that psychologists call:
A) a semantic network.
B) a script.
C) an engram.
D) false familiarity.

Accepted Answer

A script is a pre-established mental concept or framework that helps us understand and interpret familiar situations. It includes the typical sequence of behaviors or actions that occur in a particular situation, such as going to the movies or checking out at a grocery store. A semantic network is a broader and more general mental representation of how concepts are related to each other. Engram refers to a physical trace of a memory in the brain, and false familiarity is the feeling of recognizing something that is actually unfamiliar.

Question 13

In both the "professor's office" study and the study about "Jack" performing everyday activities:
A) participants experienced compelling false memories about details that would have been consistent with the situation.
B) forgetting was primarily the result of proactive interference.
C) participants' memories were highly accurate with little or no evidence of false memory formation.
D) participants who were given scripts remembered more, and were more accurate in their level of recall, than those given schemas.

Accepted Answer

In both studies, participants experienced false memories about details that would have been consistent with the situation. In the "professor's office" study, participants recalled details like a bookshelf or a poster that were not actually present, while in the "Jack" study, participants recalled details like Jack wearing a baseball cap or carrying a backpack, even though he had not done so in the video they had watched.

Question 14

In the prologue to Chapter 6, psychologist Elizabeth Loftus erroneously remembered finding her mother's body in her uncle's swimming pool. What contributed to Loftus's false memory of this event?
A) suggestions that were made to her during hypnosis
B) encoding failure
C) confusion over the actual source of the memory
D) anterograde amnesia

Accepted Answer

Loftus's false memory was likely a result of confusion over the actual source of the memory, rather than hypnosis or encoding failure. She had heard stories about her uncle's swimming pool and her mother's death, and over time these memories may have become distorted and merged together into a false memory. Additionally, Loftus's research on memory has shown that memories can be influenced by suggestions and other external factors, but in this case it appears that confusion over the source of the memory was the main contributing factor. Anterograde amnesia, which involves the inability to form new memories after a certain point in time, would not be relevant in this case as the false memory was created after the event had already occurred.

Question 15

The "lost-in-the-mall" technique involves:
A) leading participants through an unfamiliar shopping center or mall and then asking them to retrace the path to the starting point.
B) secretly moving the participant's car while he or she is shopping in the mall.
C) using family members of the participant to help induce a false memory for an event that never occurred, such as being lost in a shopping mall as a child.
D) teaching people techniques to avoid leaving personal articles, such as cell phones, wallets, or keys, in public places such as shopping malls.

Accepted Answer

The "lost-in-the-mall" technique is a psychological method used to create false memories by suggesting to participants, often with the help of family members, that they were lost in a mall as a child, even though this event never actually happened.

Question 16

The misinformation effect is:
A) a memory disruption that occurs when the true source of a memory is forgotten.
B) a phenomenon in which existing memories are distorted by exposing people to misleading information.
C) a memory distortion caused by the context effect.
D) a memory phenomenon in which vividly imagining an event markedly increases confidence that the event actually happened.

Accepted Answer

The misinformation effect is a phenomenon in which existing memories are distorted by exposing people to misleading information. This can lead to false memories and inaccuracies in recall.

Question 17

Which of the following statements is FALSE?
A) Schemas are useful in forming new memories because they allow you to quickly integrate new experiences into your existing knowledge base.
B) The information you already have stored in long-term memory can potentially contribute to distortions in forming a new memory.
C) Retrieving a memory involves the active process of reconstructing the memory.
D) Once a long-term memory has been consolidated, it is impossible to distort it

Accepted Answer

This statement is false. Long-term memories can be distorted or altered over time through various processes such as memory consolidation, retrieval, and reconsolidation.

Question 18

Discovering a major problem at work, Doug called Joan and discussed the problem with her at length. A few minutes later, his coworker Latesha called him, and Doug told Latesha about the problem. Later, Doug told a friend that Joan had said that fixing the problem would cost $10,000. But later when he looked at his handwritten notes of the two phone conversations, Doug discovered that Latesha, not Joan, had actually made the remark. The contradiction between what really happened and Doug's memory can best be explained by:
A) source confusion.
B) imagination inflation.
C) the context effect.
D) anterograde amnesia.

Accepted Answer

Source confusion is when a person attributes information to the wrong source. In this case, Doug incorrectly attributed the comment about the cost of fixing the problem to Joan instead of Latesha. This is a common memory error and can happen when memories become less detailed over time, making it difficult to distinguish between different sources of information.

Question 19

In a study by University of Arkansas psychologist James Lampinen, participants listened to a story about a guy named Jack who performed some everyday activities, such as washing his car and taking his dog to the veterinarian for shots. In each scene, Jack performed some actions that were consistent with the script and some behaviors that were inconsistent with the script for the activity. When later tested for details of the story, participants were:
A) less likely to recognize and remember the actions that were inconsistent with the script than those that were consistent with the script.
B) more likely to recall the scenes in which Jack was interacting with the female receptionist than those in which he was interacting with his dog or the neighbor's kid.
C) likely to remember that the neighbor's kids sprayed Jack and that the receptionist flirted with Jack rather than the other way around.
D) more likely to recognize and remember the actions that were inconsistent with the script than those that were consistent with the script.

Accepted Answer

Participants are more likely to remember actions that are inconsistent with the script because they stand out and are more memorable compared to actions that fit the expected pattern.

Question 20

The "lost-in-the-mall" study by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus:
A) was contradicted by later research that failed to replicate the results.
B) showed that imagination inflation was a useful technique for enhancing the accuracy of recall.
C) showed that inattentional blindness and source amnesia were responsible for creating the pseudo-memory of being lost in the mall.
D) has been replicated by other research using a wide variety of pseudo-events, including being saved from nearly drowning and spilling a punch bowl at a wedding.

Accepted Answer

The "lost-in-the-mall" study demonstrated how false memories could be implanted, and it has been replicated with various pseudo-events, showing the robustness of the findings across different scenarios.

Quiz 6: Memory

In one classic study described in your text, participants viewed slides showing the use of a screwdriver in a burglary. Later they read a written account of the break-in that featured a hammer instead of a screwdriver. When tested for their memory of the images in the slide presentation:

By the final interview in the "lost-in-the-mall" study by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus:

The research of psychologist Elizabeth Loftus has shown that:

Which of the following statements about schemas is TRUE?

The term schema refers to:

In a research study described in your text, participants briefly sat in a psychology professor's office and then were taken to another room. When asked about the details of the professor's office, the research participants:

Although he actually learned about Holland's high taxes from talking to someone at a recent party, Paul is absolutely convinced that he heard about the high taxes in Holland on a radio talk show. This is an example of a false memory due to:

The term source confusion refers to:

In a study by Elizabeth Loftus, subjects watched a film of an automobile accident, then answered a series of questions, including one asking them to estimate the speed of the cars. Which subjects gave the highest speed estimates?

Lisa went to a wedding where folk music was played rather than the traditional wedding march when the bride walked down the aisle. Later, Lisa distinctly remembers humming along to "Here Comes the Bride." Lisa's memory distortion is most probably due to:

The typical sequence of behaviors or actions at a common event, such as checking out at a grocery store or going to the movies, is a particular type of schema that psychologists call:

In both the "professor's office" study and the study about "Jack" performing everyday activities:

In the prologue to Chapter 6, psychologist Elizabeth Loftus erroneously remembered finding her mother's body in her uncle's swimming pool. What contributed to Loftus's false memory of this event?

The "lost-in-the-mall" technique involves:

The misinformation effect is:

Which of the following statements is FALSE?

The "lost-in-the-mall" study by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus: