chapter 6: memory

What do researchers currently believe regarding amnesia?

Amnesia reinforces the difference between semantic and episodic memory, as people with amnesia can have one type preserved with the other type impaired.

Which of the following are recommended for organizing for memory processes?

Review notes that you are preparing to memorize. Organize the material in a way that will allow you to memorize. Experiment with different organizational techniques.

Flashbulb memories may be, at times, very durable and accurate for which of the following reasons?

The memories are likely to be rehearsed in the days following the event. The memories are likely to be emotional.

A failure in prospective memory, when we become preoccupied with something else, is called _____; it often involves a breakdown between attention and memory storage.

absentmindedness

The general term ___ refers to the loss of memory.

amnesia

Why do some researchers believe that recovered memories should instead be called discovered memories?

because, regardless of their accuracy, individuals experience them as real

One subtype of implicit memory involves _____, which is the automatic learning of associations between stimuli. For example, a person who always gets bad news in work meetings may come to associate work meetings with anxiety.

classical conditioning

Memories are best classified as

collections of connected neurons working together

Memory research that suggests that assemblies of cells distributed over large areas of the cerebral cortex work together to represent information is consistent with

connectionism

__ theory states that the passage of time always increases forgetting.

decay

Explicit memory is the conscious recollection of information and is sometimes also referred to as _____ memory.

declarative

__ attention involves concentrating on more than one task or activity at a time.

divided

Dr. Marsh has her General Psychology class go through an exercise in which they look at a group of objects and attempt to remember them. Then she has the class look at another group of objects and create a story involving them. The class finds the second group easier to remember because of

elaboration

___ failure occurs when the information has never entered long-term memory.

encoding

Due to the neurosurgery that treated his severe form of epilepsy, H. M.'s _____ memory was impaired, but his _____ memory was less affected.

explicit; implicit

In forensic psychology, most of the interest in ___ testimony focuses on distortion, bias, and inaccuracy of memory.

eyewitness

Absentmindedness does not play a role in prospective memory failures.

false

Each memory in the brain is stored in a single, specific location.

false

The connectionist view is inconsistent with current knowledge about how the brain functions.

false

The memories of emotionally significant events that people often recall with more accuracy and vivid imagery than everyday events are referred to as __ memories

flashbulb

___ memories may feel very accurate because they are so much more vivid than other memories, but the details of those memories are not always correct.

flashbulb

You have a very vivid memory of the events of September 11, 2001. The memory may be traumatic or very iconic. The specific term for this kind of memory is

flashbulb memory.

Hermann Ebbinghaus was the first person to conduct scientific research on

forgetting

When Don was an undergraduate many years ago, his physics professor shot a flaming arrow across the lecture hall to illustrate a physics theory. Don vividly remembers the theory today. This is an example of the effect of

imagery

Which of the following is a task that would be handled by the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

imagining how your living room would look with the furniture in different places

You know how to tie your shoes, and when you do, the procedure can be carried out non-consciously. This illustrates _____ memory

implicit

Rehearsal increases the

length of time that information can be held in short-term memory.

Studies have shown that people of one ethnic group are _____ likely to recognize individual differences among people of another ethnic group.

less

Which of the following are levels of autobiographical memory?

lifetime periods general events event-specific knowledge

According to the connectionist network perspective, our _____ are organized sets of neurons that are activated together.

memories

From a connectionist network perspective, memories are organized sets of __ that are routinely activated together.

neurons

____ memory is a part of long-term memory that represents that portion of original learning that appears destined to be with the person virtually forever, even in the absence of rehearsal.

permastore

The activation of information that people already have in storage to help them remember new information better and faster is referred to as

priming

Which of the following are subsystems of implicit memory?

priming classical conditioning procedural memory

What are two types of interference?

proactive retroactive

You have studied French for years, but you are now taking a class in Spanish. When asked the Spanish word for red, you come up with the French word instead. This is an example of

proactive interference

Angel hasn't ridden a bicycle for five years; yet, when he hops on, he finds he can still ride. This illustrates _____ memory.

procedural

The type of implicit memory that involves the memory for skills is referred to as __ memory

procedural

In terms of how we engage with information we are trying to remember, the continuum from shallow, to intermediate, to deep, where deeper levels produce better memory, is called levels of

processing

The type of memory that involves remembering information about doing something in the future is _____ memory.

prospective

A multiple-choice question that requires that you remember what you have seen before is an example of a _____ task.

recognition

While in therapy, Lara remembers that she was sexually abused while she was a very young child, even though she seems to have not remembered the abuse for most of her life. Lara may have uncovered a(n) ___ memory.

repressed

___ is the memory process by which information retained in memory is brought out of storage—that is, when we recall or remember something

retrieval

Marisol is reading her textbook while ignoring the argument her younger siblings are having in the same room. Marisol's situation is a good example of

selective attention

When you stand outside on a spring day, you smell flowers, see the sun, and feel the breeze. What type of memory is initially collecting all this information?

sensory

Which of the following holds information from the world in its original form for only a brief moment in time?

sensory memory

___ memory is a limited-capacity memory system in which information is usually retained for only as long as 30 seconds unless strategies are used to retain it longer.

short-term memory

Saving information in memory for future use is called

storage

Information must be encoded and __ in order to be retrieved later.

stored

According to Baddeley's conceptualization of working memory, there are three components: the phonological loop, the visuo-spatial sketchpad, and the central executive.

true

Discovered memories can be accurate memories.

true

Explicit memory has to do with remembering who, what, where, when, and why.

true

The __ stores visual and spatial information in working memory.

visuo-spatial sketchpad

The concept of __ memory refers to a combination of short-term memory and attention that allows us to hold information temporarily as we perform tasks.

working

__ memory can be thought of as a mental blackboard, a place where we can make decisions and solve problems

working

_____ memory is a kind of mental workbench where the brain manipulates and assembles information to guide understanding, decision making, and problem solving.

working

All three subsystems of implicit memory involve memories that

you are not aware of but that influence your behavior.

In a longitudinal study examining how long explicit memories last, researchers found that the forgetting of information tended to happen in the first ___ years and then leveled off.

3

In one longitudinal study, researchers found that the forgetting of academic information tended to level off within ____ years of taking a class.

3

There are _____ levels of autobiographical memory.

3

Working memory has a different capacity than short-term memory. In working memory, if chunks are relatively complex, most young adults can remember how many chunks of information?

3 to 5

Short-term memory can retain about _____ pieces of complex information.

5 to 9 (7 ± 2)

Which two of the following are recognition tasks?

A witness has to identify a criminal from a page of photographs. A student takes a multiple choice test.

Which of the following form part of executive attention?

Dealing with novel circumstances Allocating attention to goals Monitoring progress on tasks Planning actions

What can result in inaccurate memories for traumatic events?

Discussing the traumatic event with others may result in contaminating the memory with information from others. People can make perceptual errors during encoding because the event is so traumatic. Information may be distorted in retelling the event to make the event seem less traumatic.

Which of the following are functions of autobiographical memory?

It allows us to learn from our experiences. It provides us with identity. Sharing personal experience creates social bonds.

Which of the following are true regarding the effect of elaboration on encoding?

It creates retrieval paths. It makes material easier to remember.

Which of the following are strengths of the connectionist view of how long-term memory is organized?

It is consistent with current knowledge on brain function. It allows psychologists to simulate human memory in studies using computers. It helps to explain how priming a concept can influence behavior.

Which of the following statements are true regarding explicit memory?

It is the conscious recollection of specific facts and events that can be verbally communicated. It is sometimes referred to as declarative memory.

Which of the following are important strategies for successful test-taking (which means retrieving information)?

Look at the exam to find retrieval cues for the information that you have encoded. Take a deep breath and stay calm.

What is one criticism of the distinction that is made between episodic and semantic memories?

Many memories are neither purely episodic nor purely semantic.

Which statements are true regarding eyewitness testimony?

Memory can be distorted by new information. Memory can fade. Bias may be involved.

Which of the following are tips to help you encode information successfully?

Pay attention to the information. Make associations that connect the information to your own life. Use imagery. Make mental pictures of the information.

___ is a memory task in which the person has to retrieve previously learned information; _____ is a memory task in which the person has to identify learned items.

Recall; recognition

_____ memory involves remembering information from the past, whereas _____ memory involves remembering to do something in the future.

Retrospective; prospective

Which of the following circumstances illustrate motivated forgetting?

Someone forgets an event that is a consequence of an emotional trauma. A person forgets something that is anxiety-laden and painful.

How do researchers assess the accuracy of discovered memories?

Sometimes other evidence, such as physical evidence or information from other individuals, will verify a memory.

Which of the following are true with respect to memory in the aging process?

Staying physically active aids in memory. Staying mentally active aids in memory. Staying intellectually active may reduce the severity of Alzheimer disease.

Which of the following is the best example of the reminiscence bump?

Stephanie remembers more things that happened in her teens and 20s than she does for events in any other decade of her life.

Which of the following are recommended for rehearsing learned material?

Talk to people about what you have learned. Test yourself after looking at your notes. Rewrite or type your notes.

Which of the following are explanations for why the primacy effect occurs?

The first few items are rehearsed more. When the first items enter working memory, there is little competition for rehearsal time. The first few items are more elaboratively processed

Which of the following statements about how memory is best understood are correct?

There is no one memory center in the brain. Memory is a series of connections in the brain. Memory connections are best understood as active processes.

Which of the following roles do the preexisting mental frameworks called schemas have concerning the information we get from the environment?

They affect how we encode the information. They affect how we make inferences about the information. They affect how we retrieve the information.

Which statements are true of memories of traumatic events?

They may be detailed. They may include vivid recollections. They may be more accurate than memories of nontraumatic events.

Which of the following best explains the concept of long-term potentiation?

This concept states that if two neurons are activated at the same time, the connection between them and thus the memory may be strengthened.

Which of the following are examples of event-based prospective memory cues?

You see your mother and are reminded to give her the scarf she left in your car. You see your neighbor and remember to give her the letter that was accidentally placed in your mailbox.

H. M. could not remember things that happened after surgery to remove his hippocampus. This is an example of

anterograde amnesia.

Which of the following does NOT describe a factor in retrieval failure?

attending too closely to the information

A special form of episodic memory is __ memory, which includes individuals' recollections of their own life experiences.

autobiographical

A special form of episodic memory is ___ memory, which includes individuals' recollections of their own life experiences.

autobiographical

Uncle Charlie loves to tell family stories. His nephews observe that these stories evolve over time, but they enjoy hearing them because Charlie is a great storyteller. This is an example of how _____ memory fosters intimacy and creates social bonds.

autobiographical

Which of the following involves grouping information into higher-order units that can be remembered as single units?

chunking

__ involves grouping information into higher-order units that can be remembered as single units.

chunking

What are two ways to improve short-term memory?

chunking rehearsal

Uncle Ken will be 88 years old this year, yet he seems very sharp, is involved in volunteer work, attends a book club weekly, and plays bridge. He has been intellectually active his entire life, both in his career as physician and after retirement. This is an illustration of the

cognitive store

The memory of your grandmother's name is not just represented in a single spot in the brain but involves activity spread out over a vast network of neural links connected to numerous nodes. This is an example of

connectionism

_____ is the theory that memory is stored throughout the brain in connections among neurons.

connectionism

Schemas and __ networks explain how information is organized in memory.

connectionist

The process by which interconnected networks of neurons are formed is called

consolidation

Anterograde amnesia is a memory disorder that affects the retention of memories that

contain new information and events

Brenda was somewhat rattled when she discovered that the final exam for one of her classes would be held in a different lecture hall than the one the class is normally in. She just finished a learning and behavior class, so she understands the principle that applies to this situation. What principle would that be?

context-dependent memory

People remember better when they attempt to recall information in the same external circumstances in which they learned it. This describes

context-dependent memory

Which theory states that the passage of time always increases forgetting?

decay

Concentrating on more than one activity at a time is called

divided attention

The term used to denote auditory sensory memory, which is retained for up to several seconds, is __ memory

echoic

Generally speaking, the more __ the processing, the better memory will be; deep processing is a powerful way to remember information.

elaborate

when ___ is extensive, the person has attempted to make the to-be-remembered information meaningful and has engaged in detailed processing.

elaboration

According to connectionism, memories are best characterized as

electrical impulses

The amygdala plays an important role in __ memory

emotional

Flashbulb memories are memories of ______ events.

emotionally important

According to the concept of levels of processing, the process of _____ involves three levels.

encoding

Ari is watching a movie. Which initial memory process is Ari using?

encoding

The process by which information gets into memory storage is

encoding

The __ principle is the idea that information present at the time of learning tends to make an effective retrieval cue.

encoding specificity

Autobiographical memory is a special form of _____ memory.

episodic

Hazel vividly remembers her first week in college. This is an example of _____ memory.

episodic

__ memory is the retention of information about the where, when, and what of life's happenings.

episodic

Remembering what you ate for breakfast this morning is an example of

episodic memory

Which of the following are subtypes of explicit memory?

episodic memory semantic memory

During his first week of college, Patricio attended a lecture on meteors. His memory of being at that lecture is _____ memory. His memory for the actual information about meteors is _____ memory.

episodic; semantic

Which of these are factors in retrieval failure?

errors in storage effects of time personal reasons for remembering

What are the three levels of autobiographical memory?

event-specific knowledge lifetime periods general events

__ attention involves planning actions, allocating attention to goals, detecting errors, and monitoring progress on tasks.

executive

Anthony is excellent at preparing multicourse meals. He excels at planning and knowing when to start cooking each item so everything is ready at just the right time. All of these skills are involved in

executive attention

The two main components of long-term memory are __ memory, which consists of our semantic and episodic memories, and __ memory, which consists of our procedural memories, classical conditioning, and priming.

explicit; implicit

The type of very brief visual memory that allows us to "write" in the air with a fireworks sparkler is __ memory

iconic

The term used to denote visual sensory memory that is retained for about one-quarter of a second is

iconic memory

In order to remember the way to the library, Kareem created a mental picture of all of the things he sees on his usual route. Kareem used mental __ to remember the necessary route.

imagery

__ memory is when behavior is affected by prior experience without a conscious recollection of the experience.

implicit

If you are asked to remember a list of words, the words memorized _____ are the least likely to be remembered.

in the middle

__ theory states that people forget not because memories are lost from storage but because other information gets in the way of what they want to remember.

interference

Working memory

is an active memory system

A relatively permanent type of memory that stores huge amounts of information is _____ memory.

long-term

Before using memory processes, you must first ____________ the information you are about to study.

organize

Long-term memory is a _____ type of memory that stores huge amounts of information.

permanent

In his study on alumni of Ohio Wesleyan University for memory of Spanish, psychologist Bahrick found that adults maintained considerable knowledge of Spanish vocabulary words up to 50 years later. He referred to information that is retained for such a long time as:

permastore content

The __ is specialized to briefly store speech-based information in working memory.

phonological loop

Alzheimer disease involves deterioration of which of the following?

physical functioning memory language reasoning

Alan had a list of items to buy at the grocery store, but when he arrived at the store, he found he had forgotten to bring his list. "Oh, well," he said, "I remember the first three, so I may as well get those." This illustrates the _____ effect.

primacy

In terms of the effects of serial position, the __ effect refers to better recall for items at the beginning.

primacy

The __ effect occurs because those items in a list are rehearsed more, they are more elaborately processed, and they are able to get the benefit of more rehearsal time with less competition from other items.

primacy

There are two aspects of the serial position effect: Better recall for items at the beginning is referred to as the ___ effect, and better recall for items at the end is referred to as ___.

primacy; recency

If a researcher activates information in participants' minds and the activation helps participants remember new information more efficiently later, we would say that the researcher used _____, a type of implicit memory, to improve participant performance.

priming

Serenity is given a set of words to study, and dog is one of those words. On a later task, she is asked to complete the following item: -og. Serenity is more likely to make -og into dog than hog or bog because of the concept known as

priming

Your best female friend is getting married and has decided to take her husband's surname. Now, whenever you try to remember her full name, her maiden name pops into your mind instead of her newer surname. This is an example of

proactive interference.

Aaron has elaborate systems set up on his computer to remind him of all the things he has to do and when he has to do them. The computer is helping Aaron with _____ memory.

prospective

Oskar was asked to memorize a list of words for a psychology experiment. He was then asked to repeat them. He found he could repeat the last three words. This illustrates the __ effect.

recency

The conscious repetition of information is also known as

rehearsal

When you have completed a class or lecture, you should enhance encoding by __ the material by rewriting or retyping the information.

rehearsing

Lee Anne is telling her children stories about when she was young. Although the children keep asking Lee Anne for stories about when she was a little girl, Lee Anne can more easily remember events that occurred when she was a teenager and in her 20s. Lee Anne's memories are consistent with the idea of the

reminiscence bump

Kenji seemed to forget that he was abused by a family member when he was very young. When he later remembered that he was the victim of this abuse, he uncovered what psychologists call a _____ memory.

repressed

Memory is defined as the

retention of information or experience over time.

Jason is actively trying to remember his teammates' names, so he writes down the numbers from their jerseys and the position they play on the team, along with the first letter of their names. He is using the numbers as Blank______ cues to help his memory for the names of his teammates.

retrieval

The tip-of-the tongue phenomenon is a failure of

retrieval

Which of the following is the memory process by which information held in memory is brought out of storage?

retrieval

After years of taking French, you study Spanish. When the word for red in Spanish is required, you correctly say rojo. But you can't remember the French word for red. This is an example of

retroactive interference.

After David sustained a traumatic brain injury, he has discovered that he can't remember anything that happened in the past four years, but he can learn new information just as well as he did before the injury. David is likely experiencing __ amnesia

retrograde

____ amnesia is characterized by memory loss for a segment of the individual's past

retrograde

Remembering information from the past is a function of _____ memory.

retrospective

The term used for remembering to do something is prospective memory. The term used for remembering the past is ___ memory.

retrospective

Gladys has a lot on her mind. She has to remember the name of the garage where she gets her car's oil changed, which is an example of _____ memory. She also has to remember that she needs to get the car's oil changed next Tuesday, which is an example of _____ memory.

retrospective; prospective

A __ is a preexisting mental framework that helps people to organize and interpret information.

schema

Toddler Christine loves to play restaurant. She knows the whole routine: find a restaurant, be seated, look at menus, order food, eat food, pay, and leave. The best term for this is a(n) ___ , which is a schema for an event.

script

The central executive is involved in which of the following tasks?

selecting information to pay attention to planning and organizing

__ attention involves focusing on a specific aspect of experience while ignoring other stimuli.

selective

Ashleigh is studying for an exam. As she studies, she thinks about how different concepts remind her of events and situations that have occurred in her own life. Ashleigh is using ___ to help her remember the course concepts.

self- referencing

Minh knows that Mount Everest is the world's tallest peak. This is an example of _____ memory.

semantic

Sandeep has a lot of general knowledge, not tied to a particular time or place, about international affairs. This is an example of __ memory

semantic

You are at a concert, where you hear the orchestra rehearsing, feel the velvet seat you are on, and smell the perfume of the woman in front of you. The best description of this is __ memory

sensory

__ memory holds information from the world in its original form for only an instant, not much longer than the brief time it is exposed to the visual, auditory, and other senses.

sensory

The __ position effect refers to the tendency to recall the items at the beginning and end of a list better than the items in the middle.

serial

According to researchers such as George Miller, short-term memory's capacity is _____ plus or minus _____.

seven; two

You are driving down the highway and see a billboard with a phone number on it. You tell yourself to remember it, but after you drive a little farther, you find you've forgotten it. This describes the limitations of __ memory

short-term

Dr. Bian is carefully grading student papers. He has been entering the grades from each paper for over two hours, and she is concentrating so hard that she doesn't even hear the music playing from the radio in her office. Dr. Bian's situation is a good example of

sustained attention

Which of the following could be used as a metaphor for the capacity of working memory?

the RAM of a computer

In the brain, the ___ is involved in the implicit memory required to perform skills.

the cerebellum

Which of the following concepts suggests that if two neurons are activated at the same time, the connection between them (and thus the memory) may be strengthened?

the concept of long-term potentiation

Rehearsal involves _____ information.

the conscious repetition of

Bradford has three dogs, so he is well acquainted with his veterinarian. However, when he sees her at the grocery store without her scrub suit and out of her office, he can't remember who she is. This is an example of

the encoding specificity principle.

Ariadna tried to remember her grocery list, but she was only able to remember eggs and butter (which were listed at the top) and juice and cereal (which were listed at the bottom). This illustrates

the serial position effect

Eli knows the name of the capital of his state, but he forgets it when his teacher asks. This is known as

the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon.

Which of the following describes implicit memory?

the unconscious recollection of how to do something

Marie has a lot of memory tasks today. She has to remember to rinse the dye out of her hair in 15 minutes, which is an example of a(n) _____-based prospective memory task. She also needs to give her neighbor a message when she sees him, which is an example of a(n) _____-based prospective memory task.

time; event

In 1890, American philosopher and psychologist William James said that an experience can be so emotionally arousing that it leaves a scar on brain tissue. He was referring to ___ events.

traumatic

Marcus is enthusiastic about baking and has used his grandmother's apple pie recipe for a number of years. Recently, Marcus has been enrolled in pastry classes where he has learned to make six varieties of apple pie, and when he tries to make his grandmother's recipe, he becomes confused about the ingredients. This is an example of retroactive interference.

true

People with amnesia may forget episodic information but have semantic information still completely intact, and vice versa.

true

Racial prejudice is a factor in faulty memory.

true

When Suzanne mentally "sings" the lyrics to her new favorite song silently in her head, she is using the phonological loop of working memory.

true

Sustained attention is also known as

vigilance

Which of the following are components of Baddeley's view of working memory?

visuo-spatial sketchpad phonological loop central executive

According to Baddeley's view of working memory, the component that is in charge of integrating information, planning, and organizing is the:

central executive

Another term for implicit memory is __ memory

nondeclarative

Vera is 90 years old, but she is very active; she is involved in volunteer work, attends a book club weekly, and plays tennis. She has been intellectually active her entire life. This is an illustration of

a cognitive store

Five-year-old Emmie loves to play "dentist's office." She knows the whole routine: go to the office, pretend to read a magazine, then get called into the office and sit in the dentist's chair. This describes _____, which is a schema for an event.

a script

__ disease is a progressive, irreversible brain disorder that is characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and eventually physical functioning.

alzheimers

Traumatic memories appear to be linked to the release of stress-related hormones. Which brain areas are involved in the release of stress related hormones?

amygdala hippocampus

Traumatic memories appear to be linked to the release of stress-related hormones. In the brain, the ___ and the ___ are involved in the release of stress-related hormones.

amygdala; hippocampus

Interference occurs when

an instructor keeps talking as you are trying to write down what they just said.

Flashbulb memories tend to be extremely accurate

false

Memory for traumatic events tends to be highly accurate over time.

false

Explicit memory information, such as prospective and retrospective memories, is transmitted from the hippocampus to which lobes?

frontal

Implicit memory has to do with remembering

how

Proactive interference occurs when _____ material interferes with recall of _____ material.

old; new

Which of the following are characteristics of semantic memory?

memories of facts, ideas, concepts education relevant emotion less important

Special cases of memory retrieval have been researched and debated by cognitive psychologists. Select all of the following that describe a special case in which special memory retrieval is utilized.

memories with high relevance to the self traumatic character of memories emotional memories

___ is defined as the retention of information or experience over time.

memory

Special cases of memory retrieval have been researched and debated by cognitive psychologists. Which of the following does NOT identify a special case in which special memory retrieval is utilized?

memory for words

Which of the following are characteristics of episodic memory?

memory of events deliberate retrieval intelligence irrelevant

Dr. Quincy loves to have students in her Abnormal Psychology class work with case studies and reflect upon diagnostic questions, instead of reading and studying material. This is because Dr. Quincy is familiar with the research on memory and understands that

memory of material is better when we think deeply and connect new information with information we already have

The number of digits an individual can report back after a single presentation of them is a reflection of

memory span

Dr. Wu asks students to look at real-world problems related to political science, instead of reading and studying textbooks and note cards with definitions. This is because Dr. Wu is familiar with the research on memory and understands that

memory we can connect to knowledge we already have is recalled better.

Leah was sexually assaulted while she was a college student. When her friends and family try to get her to talk about her experiences, she honestly tells them that the situation was so terrible that she now can remember hardly anything about it. This is an example of ___ forgetting

motivated

Marcellus has returned from the war in Iraq with serious physical injuries. When questioned by family and friends, he says he doesn't remember his war experiences because they are too painful. This is an example of

motivated forgetting

Which term refers to the process that occurs when a person forgets something because it is painful or anxiety-laden?

motivated forgetting

___ may be the ink with which memories are written, because they play a crucial role in forging the connections that represent memory.

neurotransmitters