Chapter 8, Memory

Elena finds it very difficult to remember a long string of numbers, so she tries to memorize three numbers at a time. Later, she is able to repeat the numbers correctly because she grouped the numbers into more manageable groups of three. This is an example of ________.

Chunking

From a cognitive psychology perspective, why is getting plenty of sleep the night before an exam important?

It allows for consolidation of studied material in long-term memory.

What is an engram?

a group of neurons that serves as physical representation of a memory

Terrance finds it difficult to learn the alphabet, until he hears the alphabet song. Then he can easily remember it. This is an example of ________ encoding.

acoustic

Sharmila cannot remember what she had for breakfast last week, but she can remember the day she got married ten years ago as clearly as if it just happened. This example illustrates the ________ theory.

arousal

The formulation of new memories is sometimes called ________, and the process of bringing up old memories is called ________.

construction; reconstruction

Amarah has an exam in a week, so she schedules 30 to 60 minutes each night to review her course material. She does this rather than waiting until the night before the exam so that she can avoid a "cram session." Amarah's approach to studying is called ________ practice.

distributed

Barney used to live in Pittsburgh, and his telephone number started with the area code 412. Now he has moved to Baltimore, and his new telephone number has an area code of 410. Barney remembers his new area code by connecting it to the old one and just "subtracting two." This is an example of ________ rehearsal.

elaborative

I am trying to learn the names of all 50 states. Because I am actively and consciously remembering and recalling this information, it is considered ________ memory.

explicit

Which part of my brain is probably damaged if I am unable to recognize basic objects around my house?

hippocampus

When you take a multiple-choice test, you are relying on ________, because you are comparing the information in front of you to that which is already stored in your long-term memory.

recognition

Which of the following is a good example of the use of a mnemonic?

remembering the names of the Great Lakes with the acronym HOMES

Katya studies Spanish for three years, and then switches to Pashto. When asked to remember Spanish vocabulary she can't; instead she can only remember Pashto vocabulary. This is an example of ________ interference.

retroactive

Elaine wakes up in the hospital with a head injury. She gets to know her doctors and nurses over time, but it soon becomes clear that she has no memories from before she woke up in the hospital. Elaine has ________ amnesia.

retrograde

Ben is asked to memorize the words canine, feline, and avian. He remembers the words by associating them with their synonyms: dog, cat, and bird. This is an example of ________ encoding.

semantic

Which of the following is not a way you can use what you know about memory to help you remember the names of all 50 states?

stay up the night before your exam to maximize the amount of time you have to study

Dozens of people witness a purse snatching. One of the eyewitnesses loudly yells "the man with the blue shirt did it." Later, when questioned by police, several other eyewitnesses remember the purse snatcher wearing a blue shirt, even though the purse snatcher was a woman in flowered dress. This is an example of ________, or the effects of misinformation from external sources that leads to the creation of false memories.

suggestibility

Elaborative rehearsal involves ________.

thinking about the meaning of the new information and its relation to knowledge already stored in your memory