AP Psychology Chapter 7 Memory Questions
Which sentence most accurately describes sensory memory? (A) Sensory memory stores all sensory input perfectly accurately for a short period of time. (B) Sensory memory encodes only sensations we are attending to at the time. (C) Sensory memory receives memories from the working memory and decides which memories to encode in long-term memory. (D) Sensory memory records all incoming sensations and remembers the mindefinitely. (E) Sensory memory records some sensations accurately, but some are recorded incorrectly, leading to constructive memory.
(A) Sensory memory holds all sensations accurately for a split second. Selective attention determines which of the memories in sensory memory we will pay attention to. Choice C is incorrect because sensory memory comes before working memory in the three- box/information-processing model. Sensory memory does not last indefinitely and does not record incorrectly, so choices D and E are incorrect.
Which of the following is the best example of the use of the availability heuristic? (A) Judging a situation by a rule that is usually, but not always, true. (B) Making a judgment according to past experiences that are most easily recalled. (C) Judging that a problem should be solved using a formula that guarantees the right answer. (D) Making a judgment according to what is usually true in your experience. (E) Solving a problem by breaking it into more easily available parts.
(B) By using the availability heuristic, we draw on examples that are the most readily recalled. Choice A is a good description of heuristics in general but not specifically the availability heuristic. Using a formula or rule that always gets the correct answer is an algorithm. Choice D more accurately describes the representativeness heuristic. Breaking a problem into more easily solved parts is a problem-solving technique, not the availability heuristic.
Phonemes and morphemes refer to (A) elements of telegraphic speech toddlers use. (B) elements of language. (C) building blocks of concepts. (D) basic elements of memories stored in long-term memory. (E) two types of influences language has on thought according to the linguistic relativity hypothesis.
(B) Phonemes and morphemes are elements of language. They are not used exclusively in telegraphic speech or associated with memory, the linguistic relativity hypothesis, or concepts.
A friend mentions to you that she heard humans never forget anything; we remember everything that ever happens to us. What concept from memory research most directly contradicts this belief? (A) sensory memory (B) selective attention (C) long-term memory (D) constructive memory (E) recovered memory
(B) The concept of selective attention contradicts this statement. Selective attention determines what sensations we attend to and encode into short-term memory. Research shows that stimuli not attended to are not remembered, so we do not remember everything that happens to us. Sensory memory, longterm memory, and constructed memories do not obviously contradict the statement. The phenomenon of recovered memories might support the statement. Those who believe in recovered memories believe that we can remember an event for years or decades without being aware of it.
According to the nativist theory, language is acquired (A) by parents reinforcing correct language use. (B) using an inborn ability to learn language at a certain developmental stage. (C) best in the language and culture native to the child and parents. (D) only if formal language instruction is provided in the child's native language. (E) best through the phonics instructional method, because children retain how to pronounce all the phonemes required for the language.
(B) The nativist theory states that we are born with a language acquisition device that enables us to learn language best as children. Choice A reflects a behavioristic view of language acquisition. Nativist theory has nothing to do with native languages or the phonics instructional method.
One of the ways memories are physically stored in the brain is by what process? (A) Deep processing, which increases levels of neurotransmitters in the hippocampus. (B) Encoding, which stimulates electric activity in the hippocampus. (C) Long-term potentiation, which strengthens connections between neurons. (D) Selective attention, which increases myelination of memory neurons. (E) Rehearsal, which causes the brain to devote more neurons to what is being rehearsed.
(C) Long-term potentiation strengthens neural connections by allowing them to communicate more efficiently. The other options do not describe brain processes accurately.
Which of the following would be the best piece of evidence for the nativist theory of language acquisition? (A) A child who acquires language at an extremely early age through intense instruction by her or his parents. (B) Statistical evidence that children in one culture learn language faster than children in another culture. (C) A child of normal mental ability not being able to learn language due to language deprivation at an early age. (D) A child skipping the babbling and telegraphic speech stages of language acquisition. (E) A child deprived of language at an early age successfully learning language later.
(C) The critical-period hypothesis states that children need to learn language during a certain developmental period or their language may be permanently retarded. A child learning language early due to parental instruction is better evidence for the behaviorist view of language acquisition. Language-learning rates between cultures or skipping stages are irrelevant to the critical-period hypothesis. A child deprived of language early on who successfully learns language later would be evidence against the critical-period hypothesis.
According to the three-box/information-processing model, stimuli from our outside environment is first stored in (A) working memory. (B) the hippocampus. (C) the thalamus. (D) sensory memory. (E) selective attention.
(D) Sensory memory is the split-second holding area for sensory information. Some information from sensory memory is encoded into working memory, and this process is controlled by selective attention. The three-box/information-processing model does not refer to specific brain structures like the hippocampus or the thalamus.
Which example would be better explained by the levels of processing model than the information-processing model? (A) Someone says your name across the room and you switch your attention away from the conversation you are having. (B) You forget part of a list you were trying to memorize for a test. (C) While visiting with your grandmother, you recall one of your favorite childhood toys. (D) You are able to remember verbatim a riddle you worked on for a few days before you figured out the answer. (E) You pay less attention to the smell of your neighbor's cologne than to the professor's lecture in your college class.
(D) The levels of processing model would predict that you would remember the riddle because it was deeply processed. Both the levels of processing model and the three-box/information-processing model could explain the other examples, but choice D best fits levels of processing.
Which of the following is an effective method for testing whether a memory is actually true or whether it is a constructed memory? (A) Checking to see whether it was deeply processed or shallowly processed. (B) Testing to see if the memory was encoded from sensory memory into working memory. (C) Using a PET scan to see if the memory is stored in the hippocampus. (D) Using other evidence, such as written records, to substantiate the memory. (E) There is no way to tell the difference between a true memory and a constructed one.
(D) The only way to determine if a memory is accurate or constructed is to look at other evidence for the "remembered" event. Brain scans and memory models cannot differentiate between true and false memories.
Which of the following is the most complete list of elements in the threebox/information-processing model? (A) Sensory memory, constructive memory, working memory, and longterm memory. (B) Short-term memory, working memory, and long-term memory. (C) Shallow processing, deep processing, and retrieval. (D) Sensory memory, encoding, working memory, and retrieval. (E) Sensory memory, working memory, encoding, long-term memory, and retrieval.
(E) All five elements listed in this answer are elements in the three-box/information-processing model. Constructive memory mentioned in choice A is not part of this model (although the model can explain this phenomenon). Choice B is less complete than choice E. Choice C describes the levels of processing model. Choice D is missing long-term processing.
Recall is a more difficult process than recognition because (A) memories retrieved by recognition are held in working memory, and recalled memories are in long-term memory. (B) memories retrieved by recognition are more deeply processed. (C) the process of recall involves cues to the memory that causes interference. (D) memories retrieved by recognition are more recent than memories retrieved by recall. (E) the process of recognition involves matching a person, event, or object with something already in memory.
(E) Recognition is matching a current experience with one already in memory. Choices A and B are incorrect descriptions of the process. The process of recall does not involve cues, and no difference in recency occurs between recalled and recognized memories.
Which of the following is a good example of functional fixedness? (A) failing to use a dime as a screwdriver when you have lost your screwdriver (B) not being able to solve a physics problem because you apply the same rule you always do (C) using a blanket as a pillow (D) adding water to a cake mix when it calls for milk (E) thinking of an apple first when you are asked to name fruits
A-Using a dime to substitute for a screwdriver shows a lack of functional fixedness because you are able to come up with an unconventional way to use a standard item when needed.
Because it has all of the features commonly associated with the concept bird, a robin is considered (A)a prototype (B) a schematic (C) an algorithm (D) a phenotype (E) a heuristic
A-When asked to mention types of birds, an average or typical one likely to come to mind (a prototype) would be a robin because it has all the characteristics of the category.
Compared to convergent thinkers, to solve a problem, divergent thinkers are more likely to: (A) process information to arrive at the single best answer (B) think creatively and generate multiple answers (C) problem solve in a systematic step-by-step fashion (D) frequently suffer from functional fixedness (E) use algorithms rather than heuristics to arrive at a solution
B-Divergent thinkers think out of the box, generate more possible solutions, and are more creative thinkers than convergent thinkers
Which of the following exemplifies retroactive interference? (A) After suffering a blow to the head, Jean cannot form new memories. (B) Elle failed a Spanish test because she studied for her Italian test after studying Spanish. (C) Lee cannot remember an important date on the history exam. (D) Gene cannot remember his new locker combination but remembers last year's. (E) Jodi remembers the first few items on her school supply list, but can't remember the rest of them.
B-In retroactive interference we can't recall previously learned information, because newer information (Italian) disrupts the older information (Spanish) and makes it more difficult to retrieve.
The three stages of the Atkinson-Shiffrin process of memory are (A) iconic, echoic, encoding (B) sensory, short term, long term (C) shallow, medium, and deep processing (D) semantic, episodic, procedural (E) cerebellum, temporal lobe, hippocampus
B-The three stages of the Atkinson-Shiffrin process of memory are sensory memory, short-term (working memory), and long-term memory.
our tendency to stick with a belief even when presented with contrary evidence
Belief bias
Which of the following brain structures plays a key role in transferring information from shortterm memory to long-term memory? (A) hypothalamus (B) thalamus (C) hippocampus (D) frontal lobe (E) parietal lobe
C--Although explicit memories are not necessarily stored in the hippocampus, we know that hippocampal damage does affect processing of explicit memories for semantic and episodic events into long-term memory.
According to the levels of processing theory of memory, (A) we remember items that are repeated again and again (B) maintenance rehearsal will encode items into our long-term memory (C) deep processing involves elaborative rehearsal, ensuring encoding into long-term memory (D) input, output, and storage are the three levels (E) we can only hold 7 items in our short-term memory store before it is full
C-Elaborative rehearsal enables deeper processing of information into long-term memory. It makes both encoding into and retrieval from long-term memory easier.
Unlike B. F. Skinner, Noam Chomsky believes that children (A) learn to speak by mimicking the sounds around them (B) speak more quickly if their parents correct their mispronunciations early (C) are hard-wired for language acquisition (D) learn language more quickly if positive rewards are given to them (E) can learn to speak correctly only during a critical age
C-Nativist Noam Chomsky has suggested that babies come equipped with a language acquisition device in their brains that is preprogrammed to analyze language as they hear it and determine its rules.
Which of the following examples best illustrates episodic memory? (A) telling someone how to tie a shoe (B) answering correctly that the Battle of Hastings was in 1066 (C) knowingthatthewordforblackinFrenchisnoir (D) remembering that a clown was at your fifth birthday party (E) long-term memory for the times tables learned in second grade
D-Episodic memories, like having a clown at your fifth birthday, are memories of events which happened to you personally-rather than factual semantic memories like dates, math problems, and French vocabulary-or procedural memories like how to tie a shoe.
This is associated with creative thinking
Divergent thinking
Phonemes are: (A) the rules of grammar that dictate letter combinations in a language (B) the smallest unit of sound in a language (C) the smallest unit of meaning in a language (D) semantically the same as morphemes (E) about 100 different words that are common to all languages
E-- There are about 100 phonemes worldwide; the English language uses about 45 of them.
Which of the following is a holophrase one-yearold Amanda is likely to say? (A) "Mmmmm" (B) "Gaga" (C) "Eat apple" (D) "I eated the cookie" (E) "Bottle"
E-The one-year-old communicates that she wants a drink using a holophrase, one word.
What determines which of the memories in sensory memory we will pay attention to?
Selective Attention
judging a situation based on how similar the aspects are to prototypes the person holds in his or her mind
representativeness heuristic