8a. Studying and Encoding Memories

_____ is NOT an effective effortful processing strategy to better remember information.

Massed practice

As strange as it may seem, James has run into the same co-worker four times today, in four different locations. He gets a little nervous, wondering if she is following him. His ability to unconsciously keep track of the number of times he has run into the co-worker is known as:

automatic processing.

People _____ information about space. For example, while reading a textbook, people encode the place on a page where certain material appears.

automatically process

When one is picturing a chart in a textbook and thinking about what a professor discussed about the topic in class, one is utilizing the _____ aspect of working memory.

central executive

Jaylen found the item number of the product she wanted to order from a catalog. To remember the 11-digit number, 19772552901, she thought of the number as the year her best friend was born (1977) and her aunt's phone number (255-2901). Jaylen was using the strategy of _____ to help her remember the item number.

chunking

Mr. Nydam suffers amnesia and is unable to remember playing golf on a particular course. However, the longer he plays the course, the more his game improves. His experience illustrates the difference in:

explicit memory and implicit memory.

The memory of facts and experiences that people consciously know and can easily recite is known as:

explicit memory.

Given the research on _____, it is likely that many mammalian species can differentiate animals by their facial characteristics.

facial recognition

Professor Wallace studies memory in people who have had strokes. Professor Hansen studies people who claim to have clear memories of events that happened over three decades ago. Such research on the extremes of memory:

helps one to understand how memory works.

Nine-year-old Jade has just discovered something very interesting. She can look at a picture in a book and, when she closes her eyes, she can still see the picture very clearly for a few tenths of a second. Jade is experiencing _____ memory.

iconic

Katrina studied the Russian language in high school. Although she was not fluent, she did accumulate a large vocabulary. Years later she decided to go to Russia, so she wanted to brush up on her vocabulary. She picked up the vocabulary much more quickly because:

it is easier to relearn; that is, to learn the material for a second time.

Walking past a classroom's open door, Michael overhears an instructor say, "In the next unit, we will explore how information is acquired, stored, and retrieved for later use." Michael realizes that the next unit must be about:

memory.

This is a technique that utilizes visual imagery and organizational devices.

mnemonics

Hermann Ebbinghaus found that the more times he practiced the nonsense syllables on Day 1, the fewer repetitions he needed to relearn the information on Day 2 because he had increased his _____ time.

rehearsal

Randy agreed to join a biology study group. When the study group leader gave him her phone number, he had nothing on which to record the number. So Randy repeated the number to himself several times until he found a pen to write the number on his hand. The process Randy used to encode the number into longer-term memory is called _____.

rehearsal

Tarik has a chemistry test in two days. He has to memorize the elements on the periodic table, so he writes them on index cards. He keeps the cards with him at all times and frequently reads through them. Tarik is using _____ to encode information in short-term memory for longer-term storage.

rehearsal

Cori studied French in high school but has not heard or spoken French in years. Her friend introduces her to someone from France. He begins speaking French and Cori cannot understand a word. A week later after studying, she understands and can respond correctly. Cori was able to improve so rapidly due to:

relearning

Gina adequately studied for her short-answer psychology exam. However, while taking the final she could not remember the material she previously retained. According to the computer information-processing model of memory, Gina is having difficulty with _____.

retrieval

While taking his statistics exam, Charles is trying to remember a statistical formula that he studied the night before. However, he cannot seem to recall the correct information. Charles is failing to _____ information from his long-term memory.

retrieve

How many pieces of information did George Miller propose that humans can store in their short-term memory at a given time?

seven, plus or minus two

To make a long-distance call, Betty has to dial an unfamiliar phone number. She is likely to have trouble retaining the number she just looked up. This BEST illustrates the limited capacity of _____ memory.

short term

Phone companies created seven-digit phone numbers because this amount BEST suits the capacity of one's:

short-term memory.

The retention of encoded information over time is called _____.

storage

As Trent reads a textbook, he actively integrates sentences with the memory representation of earlier sentences that he is maintaining in memory. Trent's active processing is taking place in _____ memory.

working

If one has NOT studied well for a test, in which format is one likely to get a higher score?

recognition

Julaine and Trystan are taking a political science midterm. The test covers five chapters. Yesterday, Julaine studied all five chapters in an 8-hour marathon session. Trystan studied the material over a 5-day period, for just over 90 minutes each day. All else being equal, which student is likely to perform best on the test, and why?

Trystan should outperform Julaine, because distributed practice is superior to massed practice.

_____ memory can be thought of as the workshop of consciousness and memory.

Working

Although one might wish that studying occurred automatically, successful studying, unfortunately, requires the attention and conscious work known as _____ processing

effortful

As opposed to automatic processing, _____ refers to encoding that requires attention and conscious work.

effortful processing

When Bill studies for an exam he reads the textbook, stops to think about the material, and then takes a practice exam. According to the information-processing model, Bill is actively:

encoding, storing, and retrieving.

A test of memory that involves picking the correct answer from a displayed list of options is an example of a retention measure called:

recognition