Psychology Ch 6 Quiz answers and vocabulary

Short Term Memory

-temporarily maintains and processes a limited amount of information -duration (20-30 sec) -capacity "magical"number 7 +/-2

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

-the information is there, but you can't get it out at the moment

Working memory

active processingof memory in short-term memory

Flashbulb Memory

adetailed account of circumstances surrounding an emotionally significant or shocking, sometimes historic event.

Disuse

another name for decay, assuming that memories that arenot used will eventually decay and disappearmemories recalled after many years are not explained by memory trace theory

Rhonda can't remember anything about the first several minutes immediately following a car crash in which she was injured. Rhonda is experiencing _____ amnesia.

anterograde

The textbook describes the case of Henry Molaison, also known as H.M. After brain surgery, H. M suffered severe memory loss. However, H.M. experienced greater difficulty encoding new memories than in retrieving old ones. H.M.'s _____ amnesia was more profound than his _____ amnesia.

anterograde; retrograde

Source Amnesia

attributing to the wrong sourcean event that we experienced, heard about,read about, orimagined

The textbook describes the case of Henry Molaison, also known as H.M. After brain surgery, H. M suffered severe anterograde amnesia. This means that H.M. had

creating new long-term memories.

The similarity between the learning and retrieval contexts influences how well information will be remembered. This is known as the:

encoding specific principle

Which of the following sequences BEST reflects the order in which memory processes occur, from first to last?

encoding> storage> retrieval

Because she drank too much alcohol, Deanna barely remembers her 21st birthday. That is, her _____ memory of that evening is sketchy.

episodic

Long term memory

essentially unlimited capacity that stores enduring information about facts and experiences

In a study described in your text some participants were asked to learn hierarchically organized words. Other participants were asked to learn the same words arranged randomly. All participants were later required to recall the words. In this study, the group learning the organized words was the _____ group.

experimental

The spacing effect refers to the benefit of _____ practice.

distributed

Spacing study sessions over long periods with breaks in between is called:

distributed practice

Spacing Effect

distributed practice yields better long-term retention than massed practice

Maintenance rehearsal

echnique of repeating information to be remembered, increasing he length of time it can be held in short-term memory

The phenomenon of _____ imagery is fairly similar to what people commonly call "photographic memory."

eidetic

According to the textbook, organizing information hierarchically improves memory by aiding the process of:

encoding

Memories "recovered" under hypnosis or drugs are especially unreliable

hypnotizedsubjects incorporate suggestions into their memory

The amygdala is associated with _____ while the hippocampus is associated with _____.

implicit memory; explicit memory

A research participant is required to report as much of a poem as he can remember immediately after having read the poem once. The greatest number of recall errors should occur for lines:

in the middle of the poem

How do Chinese people's life memories differ from those of Americans, and why?

Chinese people's memories more often relate to social and historical events because China is a more collectivist culture.

Which statement is the BEST reason for viewing classical conditioning as a type of implicit memory?

Classical conditioning occurs outside one's awareness

Elaborative rehearsal

Connects information to knowledge in long-term memory; deep level of encoding

Compared with iconic memory, echoic memory:

lasts longer

Glenn has heard students and teachers say that students' test performance is better when students are tested in the same room in which they learned the material. This idea is supported by the results of a pioneering study conducted by:

Godden and Baddeley (1975).

Chunking

Grouping numbers, letters, or other items into meaningful subsets as a strategy for increasing the quantity of information that can be maintained in STMorganizing items into familiar, manageable units

Cissy looks up a number in the phone book, pushes the book away, and then dials the number. Why does she discourage any interruptions during this process?

Information lasts only 20-30 seconds in short-term memory

How does short-term memory differ from sensory memory?

Its duration is longer than that of sensory memory

How does short-term memory differ from sensory memory?

Its duration is longer than that of sensory memory.

Jerry is at a party. He is introduced to three different people in the span of a minute. Later, he is approached by the first person he met and cannot remember her name. Which explanation is MOST likely the source of Jerry's difficulty?

Jerry failed to encode the woman's name.

Research conducted by _____has demonstrated the reconstructive nature of memory.

Loftus

Misinformation Effect

Memories can be changed inresponse to new information.Eyewitness accounts can be altered by a variety of factorsthat may follow anevent.

Motivated Forgetting

people unknowingly revise history: "cookie" example

Memory trace theory

physical change in the brain that occurs when a memory is formed

Nana is taking a Spanish final at the end of the spring semester. The problem is, the French vocabulary she learned the semester before keeps getting in the way, causing her to forget Spanish words. Nana is experiencing _____ interference.

proactive

In ____ interference, information learned earlier disrupts the recall of information learned more recently; in ____ interference, recently learned information disrupts the recall of information learned earlier.

proactive; retroactive

State Dependent

Remembering things is also easier when physiological and psychological conditions, including moods and emotions, are similar at the time of encoding and retrieval.

Retrograde amnesia

Retro means "before," so retrograde amnesia is the inability retrieve memories for events that occurred before an amnesia-causing injury or loss of memory for the past

How does the brain's memory system differ from that of a computer?

The brain's neurons communicate in a more complex manner than what occurs within electrical circuits.

George Sperling conducted a study in which he varied the interval between the presentation of a letter matrix and an auditory recall cue. Sperling measured the proportion of letters participants could recall from the matrix. Which statement regarding this study is TRUE?

The interval between the matrix and the cue is a dependent variable.

In a memory experiment, Dr. Aziz shows participants a list of words. One group is then given a recognition test and one group is asked to recall the words. What would be a reasonable prediction regarding the relative performance of the two groups on the memory test?

The recognition group should outperform the recall group

Owen has trouble remembering a friend's new phone number; he keeps recalling the old number instead. Completing a rental application, Pippa finds she can't recall one of her previous addresses, as she's had several addresses since. Owen is experiencing _____ interference. Pippa is experiencing ____ interference.

proactive; retroactive

Almost everybody has had the feeling of knowing the answer to a question, but not being quite able to say it. This is called the "tip-of-the-tongue" phenomenon, and is a failure of:

retrieval

Bruce watches a new television program with enthusiasm. He then watches a second, similar program. Bruce later finds it difficult to remember the details of the first program; he finds that details about the second program keep intruding. What has probably occurred?

retroactive interference

Mood-congruent memory

tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current moodEmotions and/or moods serve as retrieval cues

Principle:

the amount remembered depends on the time spent learning.

The primacy effect refers to the fact that:

the first-presented items in a list are more likely to be remembered than items in the middle of the list.

The unconscious process whereby disturbing memories are prevented from entering awareness is called:

repression

In rich false memory experiments, about _____ of participants remember events that never happened.

25%

According to the National Institute on Aging (2013), Alzheimer's disease affects as many as _____ million Americans.

5

Using the partial report technique, George Sperling estimated that sensory memory stored at least _____ of the letters in a briefly-flashed array.

75%

One in every _____ people older than 65 suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

8

Anterograde amnesia

Antero means "after," so anterograde amnesia is the inability to form memories for events that occur after an injury or the inability to form new long-term memories

The first person to quantify relearning was the psychologist named:

Ebbinghaus

One psychologist associated with the view that memory is reconstructive is:

Elizabeth Loftus

Forgetting theories

Forgetting as Encoding Failure-we can't speak to something we didn't pay attention to Forgetting as Storage Decay-if we don't use it, we lose it Forgetting as Memory Trace Theory

Implicit Memory (non-declarative memory)

Memory of something you know or know how to do, but that might be automatic or unconscious; this type of memory is often difficult to bring to awareness and express

Explicit Memory (declarative memory)

Memory you are aware of having and can consciously express in words or declare, including memories or facts and experiences

What does Ebbinghaus' forgetting curve demonstrate about the way people forget material over time?

Most forgetting happens immediately after people learn material; the rate of forgetting slows down as time goes by.

Recognition

Process of matching incoming data to information stored in long-term memory.

Recall

Process of retrieving information held in long-term memory without the help of explicit retrieval cues.Recognition-Process of matching incoming data to information stored in long-term memory.

Retrieval

Refers to the process of accessing information encoded and stored in memory

Priming

Stimulation of memories as result of retrieval cues in the environmentthe activation of particular associations in memory and does not depend on awareness and is usually automatic

Retrieval Cues

Stimuli that aid in the retrieval of information that is difficult to accessReminders of information we could not otherwise recall

Facts About Memory Loss

There is no definitive way to know whether you or a family member will suffer from a neurocognitive disorder. Studies of both animals and people have linked physical exercise to a variety of positive changes in the brain. Some research suggests that people who begin exercising in their thirties experience less cognitive decline than their sedentary peers. Intellectually engaging activities have been associated with a lower risk of memory loss. Being socially active and hooked into social networks may reduce the risk of developing dementia.

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.

Suppose someone asks you, "On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being 'all nature' and 10 being 'all nurture,' where would you put dementia?" Based on information provided in the text, the BEST answer probably is:

a 5, I guess

Information may last for _____ seconds in sensory memory, and the capacity of sensory memory is _____.

a few; large

The term engram refers to:

a single site in the brain corresponding to a particular memory.

Memories of things happening before age 3 are unreliable

called infantile amnesia

The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease:

can be reduced with physical and intellectual activity.

Psychologists first learned about the hippocampus's involvement in memory through the detailed study of a single individual with brain damage, namely Henry Molaison (H.M.). The in-depth study of H.M. exemplifies the _____ research method in psychology.

case study

The misinformation effect highlights the:

changeability of memory

The misinformation effect highlights the:

changeability of memory.

Consolidation

changes that take place in the structure and functioning of neurons when a memory is formed

Grouping pieces of information together to expand the capacity of short-term memory is called:

chunking

Mnemonic strategies facilitate retention by encouraging:

chunking and elaborative rehearsal

When Roy tells an acquaintance his telephone number, he does not recite the digits one by one at a constant rate, as in "3, 3, 7, 2, 3, 4, 8, 3, 9, 2." Instead, Roy might say, "3, 3, 7 . . . 2, 3, 4 . . . 83, 92." This exemplifies _____, a strategy to enhance _____ memory.

chunking; short-term

Which of the following statements BEST describes the relationship between iconic and echoic memory on the one hand, and sensory memory on the other?

conic and echoic memory are different types of sensory memory.

The textbook describes the case of Henry Molaison, also known as H.M. After brain surgery, H. M suffered severe anterograde amnesia. This means that H.M. had

creating new long-term memories

Jerome cannot open his term paper on his computer because the file has become corrupt. Kaci cannot find her term paper on her computer because of all the other documents she has stored on the hard drive. Jerome's failure to retrieve his paper is analogous to the _____ theory of forgetting, whereas Kaci's failure better resembles the _____ theory.

decay; interference

Repression (from Psychoanalytic Theory)

defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

In a study described in the text some participants were asked to learn hierarchically organized words. Other participants were asked to learn the same words arranged randomly. All participants were later required to recall the words. Word recall was the _____ variable in this study.

dependent

In one study described in the textbook, participants who experienced a 15-minute period of waking rest showed better retention of newly learned material than did participants who played a game for 15 minutes (Dewar et al., 2012). In this study, the _____ variable is _____.

dependent; participants' retention of the material

Loftus and Palmer (1974) conducted an experiment in which participants estimated the speed of a car described as either hitting or smashing into another. The _____ variable in this experiment was _____.

dependent; speed estimates

Decay

loss of memory due to the passage of time, during which the memory trace is not used

Psychologists use the word _____ to refer to the processes whereby the brain collects, stores, and retrieves information for later use.

memory

Retroactive (backwards-acting) Interference

memory retrieval problem that occurs when newer information prevents or interferes with the retrieval of older information (I can't remember the old stuff)

Proactive (forward-acting) Interference

memory retrieval problem that occurs when older information prevents or interferes with the retrieval of newer information (Ican't remember the new stuff)

Based on the textbook's discussion, memory competitors appear to differ from other people mainly in their:

memory strategies

Context Effects

memory works better in the context of original learningPart of the web of associations of a memory is the context. What else was going on at the time we formed the memory?

Method of loci

mnemonic device in which a person visualizes items with landmarks in some familiar place

Texting while driving increases the likelihood of an accident by a factor of:

more than 20

The text describes a study where researchers found a _____ correlation between college students' GPA and the amount of time they spend texting and using Facebook.

negative

Long-term potentiation refers to the process whereby:

neural pathways become activated more efficiently as learning occurs.

In the retrieval phase of Godden and Baddeley's (1975) "scuba diver" study of the encoding specificity principle, participants were asked to supply all the words they could remember from the encoding condition. This was a _____ measure of memory.

recall

The question on the midterm in an economics course is "Discuss several factors that contributed to the economic collapse of late 2008." This question is a _____ test of _____ memory.

recall; explicit

The serial position effect

refers to the tendency, when learning a body of information, tomore likely recall the first items (primacy effect) and the last items(recency effect).

Omar experienced a dissociative fugue state. He suddenly snapped out of it in front of a pet supplies display in a Boise, Idaho, discount store; he had no memory whatsoever of his previous life in Greensboro, North Carolina. Omar's amnesia is best described as:

retrograde

In _____ amnesia, memory is lost for events preceding an injury or accident; in _____ amnesia, memory is lost for events following an injury or accident.

retrograde; anterograde

Aplysia is a(n):

sea slug

Which of the following sequences BEST reflects the order of stages in the information processing model of memory?

sensory memory > short-term memory > long-term memory

In the words of George Miller, the capacity of short-term memory is the "magical number _____."

seven, plus or minus two

Which of the following expressions BEST reflects the capacity of short-term memory?

seven, plus or minus two

An acronym helps recall because it is easier to remember an acronym than a long string of information. Thus, acronyms help circumvent the capacity limitations of _____ memory.

short-term

The similarity between the learning and retrieval contexts influences how well information will be remembered. This is known as the:

short-term

Tommy is repeating a series of digits in the order in which he heard an experimenter read them. The experimenter is testing the capacity of Tommy's _____ memory. Tommy should be able to repeat about _____ digits correctly.

short-term; seven

Clarice presses the Ctrl and S keys on her keyboard to save a document. A file is then created on her computer's hard drive. Clarice's action is MOST analogous to the memory activity of:

storage

Long-term potentiation:

the increased efficiency of neural communication over time, resulting in learning and the formation of memories (changes in number and sensitivity of receptor sites/synapses through repeated stimulation)

The recency effect refers to the fact that:

the last items on a list are more likely to be remembered than the middle items.

One evening, Zoe examines the schedule for her favorite football team. The team plays 16 games each season. Later she tries recalling that schedule for a friend who likes the same team. It is highly likely that Zoe will recall opponents at the beginning of the schedule particularly well. What is this phenomenon called?

the primary effect

Encoding

the process through which information enters our memory system

In one study, Bowman and colleagues (2010) found that college students holding IM conversations while studying a textbook passage:

took longer to read the passage

Context-dependent

we retrieve a memory more easily whenin the same context as when we formed the memory.Did you forget a psychology concept? Just sitting down and opening your book might bring the memory back.

"She did WHAT??" Sebastian's roommate exclaims as he relates an anecdote about a mutual friend. Sebastian's roommate processes the story using _____ memory.

working