Chapter 7.1 PSYC 107

C. unfamiliar.

Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables in his experiments on memory because nonsense syllables are A. highly interesting. B. immune to interference effects. C. unfamiliar. D. easy to remember.

B. semantic

What type of memory is your memory of your current mailing address? A. short-term B. semantic C. episodic D. state-dependent

A. He was the first to do experiments to measure memory.

What was Hermann Ebbinghaus's contribution to the study of memory? A. He was the first to do experiments to measure memory. B. He located the brain areas most important for memory. C. He was the first to distinguish between different types of memory. D. He found ways to uncover hidden or lost memories.

C. nonsense syllables

When Ebbinghaus pioneered the experimental study of memory, what did he memorize? A. poetry B. Bible passages C. nonsense syllables D. word pairs

C. Ask for a yes/no decision on each suspect, one at a time.

When a witness picks a susect from a lineup, what do many psychologists recommend? A. Tell the witness which person the police suspect. B. Present suspects who look as different from one another as possible. C. Ask for a yes/no decision on each suspect, one at a time. D. Let a group of witnesses make their decision together.

A. semantic memory.

Your memory of the rules of basketball or golf is a type of A. semantic memory. B. episodic memory. C. procedural memory. D. declarative memory.

B. procedural

"Once you learn to ride a bicycle, you never forget" pertains to __________ memory. A. declarative B. procedural C. semantic D. episodic

C. short-term memory.

"The magical number seven, plus or minus two" refers to the capacity of A. episodic memory. B. semantic memory. C. short-term memory. D. flashbulb memories.

B. People might or might not remember something, depending on how we test them.

Comparing several methods of testing memory leads to which of these conclusions? A. Each memory is stored in a single location in the brain. B. People might or might not remember something, depending on how we test them. C. Several testing methods are valid for use with children but not with adults. D. People who learn something in school usually forget it in real life.

D. recognition

A lineup measures memory in what way? A. recall B. cued recall C. savings D. recognition

B. can hold a few items.

According to research, our short term memory store A. can hold only one item at a time. B. can hold a few items. C. has nearly unlimited capacity. D. continues to increase in capacity as long as someone lives.

D. a computer.

According to the information-processing model of memory, human memory is most analogous to A. a library classification system. B. a food processor. C. an encyclopedia set. D. a computer.

B. Their memory fades for the first 3 to 6 years and remains fairly stable from then on.

After students graduate from college, what happens to their memory of a foreign language that they studied in college? A. They continue to remember it without any loss for the rest of their lives. B. Their memory fades for the first 3 to 6 years and remains fairly stable from then on. C. Their memory fades gradually and steadily throughout the rest of their lives. D. Their memory remains stable for the first 3 to 6 years and then begins to fade steadily from then on.

B. savings

After the end of the semester, certain students seem to have forgotten everything they learned. Then their professor teaches them the material again to see whether they learn faster the second time than the first time. What kind of memory test is this? A. recognition B. savings C. free recall D. cued recall

D. recognition

After you witness a robbery, you have trouble describing the thief. The police show you several photographs and ask whether any of them was the thief. They are checking your memory by which method? A. implicit memory B. cued recall C. savings D. recognition

B. controlling shifts of attention

An aspect of working memory known as executive functioning is responsible for what? A. recalling personal experiences that happened long ago B. controlling shifts of attention C. storing and manipulating visual information D. storing and rehearsing speech information

B. free recall

An essay exam is best described as what type of memory test? A. implicit B. free recall C. recognition D. relearning

D. meaningful.

An experimenter has subjects listen to some information then begin counting backward by threes. After 20 seconds the subject is most likely to remember the material if it was A. presented loudly. B. random letters, not digits. C. random digits, not letters. D. meaningful.

C. fail to rehearse the letters during the 20 seconds.

An experimenter reads a series of letters, such as TGWNR, and asks college students to recall it 20 seconds later. They are likely to forget the letters if they A. try to form a visual image of the letters. B. blink their eyes frequently during the 20 seconds. C. fail to rehearse the letters during the 20 seconds. D. store the letters in a way that makes use of chunking.

C. memory initially declined for the first few years but then became stable.

Bahrick's studies on people's ability to remember a foreign language showed that A. memory tended to improve over time. B. memory for verbs was greater than for nouns. C. memory initially declined for the first few years but then became stable. D. memory for words with a Latin origin were better than those with a Greek origin.

A. shifting attention from one task to another

Executive functioning (one aspect of working memory) is responsible for what? A. shifting attention from one task to another B. storing and rehearsing speech information C. storing and manipulating visual and spatial information D. speaking or writing the answer to a memory question

C. He invented nonsense syllables.

How did Ebbinghaus ensure that the items on his lists to remember were unfamiliar? A. He memorized lists of foreign words. B. He spelled all the words backwards. C. He invented nonsense syllables. D. He had his students make up the lists.

C. free recall

If asked to tell your social security number (without looking it up), you are being asked to perform which type of memory test? A. recognition B. implicit C. free recall D. savings

A. the best students, who have the best working memory

If students perform a distracting task while trying to study, whose performance will DECREASE the most? A. the best students, who have the best working memory B. the average students C. the worst students, who have the least working memory D. all students equally

B. implicit memory

If you hear a word, you become more likely to use that word yourself, even if you don't consciously remember hearing it. This phenomenon illustrates which type of memory? A. declarative memory B. implicit memory C. episodic memory D. semantic memory

B. chunking.

If you remember the 12-digit number "100110021003" as the three numbers "1001-1002-1003" you improve your ability to recall it by means of A. implicit memory. B. chunking. C. the von Restorff effect. D. retroactive interference.

A. chunking.

If you remember the number "14916253649" as "1-4-9-16-25-36-49" (the squares of the first seven integers), you are improving your ability to store the information by means of A. chunking. B. the von Restorff effect. C. the savings method. D. confabulation.

D. You would learn to use chunking to store larger numbers in short-term memory.

If you spent the next year or two practicing your ability to memorize numbers and recite them immediately, how would your short-term memory probably change? A. You might be able to memorize as many as 10 digits at a time, but no more than that. B. The capacity of your short-term memory would increase for numbers, letters, and other types of information. C. You would eventually grow so confused that you could not memorize any more numbers. D. You would learn to use chunking to store larger numbers in short-term memory.

B. How much longer it takes to learn a long list than a short list.

In Ebbinghaus's pioneering studies of memory, which of these did he measure? A. How much longer someone remembers meaningful than meaningless material. B. How much longer it takes to learn a long list than a short list. C. What types of memory remain intact after brain damage. D. The earliest age at which children can learn something and remember it for days.

D. Ebbinghaus himself

In Ebbinghaus's studies of memorization of nonsense syllables, who did the memorizing? A. students in Ebbinghaus's General Psychology course B. mentally retarded adults C. Ebbinghaus's children D. Ebbinghaus himself

D. The material to be remembered was unimportant to them.

In certain experiments, people either rehearsed new information or forgot it within 15-20 seconds. However, people don't always forget so quickly. What aspect of the original experiment made it likely that people would forget? A. The participants were students weary from much previous study that day. B. The laboratory room was full of distracting stimuli. C. The experimenter was cold and unfriendly. D. The material to be remembered was unimportant to them.

B. He had improved his ability to use chunking to store more numbers in his short-term memory.

In one experiment an undergraduate spent a year and a half memorizing lists of numbers and recalling them immediately. By the end of the year, how had his memory changed—if at all? A. He had increased the capacity of his short-term memory not only for numbers (which he had practiced) but also for letters (which he had not practiced). B. He had improved his ability to use chunking to store more numbers in his short-term memory. C. The capacity of his short-term memory had decreased from seven to five. D. His ability to memorize had not changed in any way.

B. to prevent rehearsal

In the experiment by Peterson and Peterson that demonstrated the decay of short-term memory over 20 seconds, why did they ask their subjects to count backward by threes during the delay? A. to increase depth of processing B. to prevent rehearsal C. to enable subjects to engage in chunking D. to increase the probability of consolidation

C. someone can have an implicit memory without knowing it.

One unusual feature of implicit memories is that A. implicit memories grow stronger and stronger over time. B. implicit memories relate only to actions or skills, not to words. C. someone can have an implicit memory without knowing it. D. implicit memories are the ones most likely to be damaged in amnesia.

A. you forget many short-term memories almost as soon as your attention is distracted; long-term memories can be available at any time.

In the traditional information-processing model, one difference between short-term memory and long-term memory is that A. you forget many short-term memories almost as soon as your attention is distracted; long-term memories can be available at any time. B. your short-term memories pertain mostly to meanings, while your long-term memories pertain mostly to sounds. C. you can store an almost unlimited amount of information in short-term memory but your long-term memory has a limited capacity. D. you need reminders or retrieval cues to find information stored in short-term memory; you need no such help for long-term memory.

B. recognition

In the usual type of suspect lineup that the police use, a risk is that the witness picks the "best available" suspect, who may not be guilty. That risk arises because the suspect lineup uses which type of memory test? A. cued recall B. recognition C. savings D. implicit

B. Both are a form of a recognition memory test.

In what way is identifying a suspect from a lineup similar to taking a multiple choice test? A. Both are a form of an implicit memory test. B. Both are a form of a recognition memory test. C. Both are a form of a recall memory test. D. Police officers, like professors, enjoy asking trick questions just to confuse you.

B. executive functioning.

In working memory the component responsible for governing shifts of attention is called A. phonological loop. B. executive functioning. C. visuospatial sketchpad. D. encoding specificity.

B. episodic memory.

Memory of a specific experience such as graduating from high school is known as A. semantic memory. B. episodic memory. C. procedural memory. D. implicit memory.

B. long-term memory holds much more information than short-term memory does.

One difference between long-term memory and short-term memory is that A. we forget long-term memories by decay and short-term memories by interference. B. long-term memory holds much more information than short-term memory does. C. short-term memory holds language items and long-term memory holds skills. D. short-term memory holds skills and long-term memory holds language items.

B. people can display implict memory without realizing that they are using memory.

One unusual feature of implicit memory is that A. implicit memory grows stronger after the passage of time. B. people can display implict memory without realizing that they are using memory. C. implicit memory is absent in infancy and begins to develop after about age five. D. brain damage is more likely to impair implicit memory than any other memory type.

B. organize the material into chunks.

One way to expand the amount of material one can store in short-term memory is to A. pause a few minutes between learning the material and testing memory. B. organize the material into chunks. C. think only about the sound of the words and not their meaning. D. make sure you have more retroactive interference than proactive interference.

B. Even people who cannot remember the words on the list show signs of memory by this test.

People read a list of words including PENDULUM. Later they are shown something like __E__D__L__M and they try to fill in the missing letters. What is unusual about this method of testing memory? A. People who can recite the list of words perfectly often fail to show any memory by this fill-in-the-blanks test. B. Even people who cannot remember the words on the list show signs of memory by this test. C. People show a stronger memory on this test the longer they wait after originally reading the list. D. People often fill in the blanks incorrectly and then insist that the incorrect words were actually on the original list.

C. recognition

Professor Lord gives you a list of 400 names and asks you to check the ones that appeared in the book of Deuteronomy. What kind of memory test is this? A. free recall B. cued recall C. recognition D. savings

A. free recall

Professor Yawnmore asks you to write by memory a list of all the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. What kind of memory test is this? A. free recall B. implicit C. recognition D. savings

A. declarative

Recall, cued recall, and recognition all measure which type of memory? A. declarative B. procedural C. implicit D. state-dependent

D. episodic... semantic

Remembering a specific event in your life is _____ memory. Remembering a fact or principle is _____ memory. A. implicit... procedural B. procedural... implicit C. semantic... episodic D. episodic... semantic

C. procedural

Remembering how to ride your bike is an example of which type of memory? A. declarative B. episodic C. procedural D. semantic

A. episodic

Remembering the details of one of your experiences is which kind of memory? A. episodic B. semantic C. procedural D. implicit

C. episodic

Remembering the events when you moved into your current home is what type of memory? A. semantic B. implicit C. episodic D. short-term

B. about seven items.

Research in the 1950's suggested that the capacity of short-term memory is A. one or two items. B. about seven items. C. about the same as long-term memory. D. unlimited.

D. implicit

Someone asks you for a word that starts with "el-" and you reply "elementary," using a word you had just heard, even though you don't remember hearing it. What type of memory test is this? A. cued recall B. recognition C. savings D. implicit

B. short-term

Someone asks you what time it is. You check your watch and answer. A few seconds later, after you have been distracted, someone asks what time you said it was. You have forgotten. According to the traditional information-processing view, what type of memory was this? A. procedural B. short-term C. long-term D. semantic

D. cued recall

Suppose I asked you to tell me the names of the members of your third-grade class. To help you, I provide their first and last initials. This is an example of what kind of memory test? A. savings B. relearning C. free recall D. cued recall

D. Use open-ended questions such as "What happened?"

Suppose we suspect someone has abused a child. Which of these is good advice for someone interviewing the child? A. First let the child compare memories with other witnesses. B. Give the child a doll and ask him/her to act out what happened with the doll. C. Wait a few weeks after the event before questioning the child. D. Use open-ended questions such as "What happened?"

B. Ask the child to act out what happened using a doll.

Suppose we suspect someone has abused a child. Which of these would be BAD advice to someone interviewing the child? A. Interview the child soon after the suspected event. B. Ask the child to act out what happened using a doll. C. Ask open-ended questions such as "Tell me what happened." D. Talk with the child before he/she has had a chance to compare notes with others.

B. encouraging the witness if he/she points to the person you suspect

Suppose you are a police officer interviewing a witness to a crime. When you arrange a suspect lineup, which of the following should you AVOID? A. having a "blind" observer administer the lineup B. encouraging the witness if he/she points to the person you suspect C. presenting the choices one at a time, with no opportunity to go back to earlier ones D. using choices who all look somewhat like the main suspect

A. procedural

Suppose you gradually learn that a certain pattern of wind, cloud, and humidity means that you should probably take an umbrella today. Which type of memory is this? A. procedural B. implicit C. episodic D. declarative

C. shifting attention.

The "executive functioning" aspect of working memory is responsible for A. storing visual memories. B. controlling muscle movements. C. shifting attention. D. rehearsing sounds.

D. one's current sphere of attention.

The concept of working memory is roughly synonymous with A. long-term memory. B. episodic memory. C. procedural memory. D. one's current sphere of attention.

D. can detect weaker memories than the recall method can.

The savings method of testing memory A. is similar to the recall method. B. requires physiological monitoring of brain activity. C. can be completed in less time than other methods of testing memory. D. can detect weaker memories than the recall method can.

B. measures whether someone relearns faster than he or she learned the first time.

The savings method of testing memory A. measures whether someone can identify the correct item from a list of choices. B. measures whether someone relearns faster than he or she learned the first time. C. requires someone to generate the memory without any hints. D. is appropriate for use only with nonhuman animals.

B. implicit

Two people in the background are discussing Tibet. After they leave, someone asks what they had been talking about, and you say you don't know. Nevertheless, a few minutes later you start discussing Tibet yourself. What kind of memory are you displaying? A. procedural B. implicit C. explicit D. savings

C. It has greater capacity to store information.

What is distinctive of long-term memory, compared to short-term memory? A. It stores information in terms of sounds instead of meanings. B. Whenever it adds a new item it has to discard an older item. C. It has greater capacity to store information. D. Its information is always available, regardless of interference.

B. the information you are working with at the moment

What is meant by "working memory"? A. memory that you will retain for a lifetime B. the information you are working with at the moment C. memory about how to perform certain types of work D. memory that is accurate as opposed to faulty

B. It can demonstrate weak memories that other methods don't detect.

What is special about the savings method of testing memory? A. It requires special equipment to record brain activity. B. It can demonstrate weak memories that other methods don't detect. C. It demonstrates memories in childhood but not in adulthood. D. It demonstrates episodic memories but not semantic memories.

C. Implicit tests often show memory even when people say they don't remember.

What is unusual about implicit tests of memory, as compared to recall and recognition? A. Implicit tests measure the person's depth of processing. B. Implicit tests measure the activity of various brain areas. C. Implicit tests often show memory even when people say they don't remember. D. Implicit tests require people to explain how they remember.

B. to minimize picking the best available suspect, who may be innocent

When police conduct a suspect lineup, many psychologists recommend a yes-or-no decision on each suspect, one at a time. Why? A. to speed up the identification process B. to minimize picking the best available suspect, who may be innocent C. to increase the probability of identifying someone, who may be guilty D. to make the witness more cooperative with the police

A. fewer identifications of innocent people

When the police conduct a suspect lineup, psychologists recommend using a "blind" observer to administer the lineup and, if possible, showing suspects one at a time. What is the advantage of these procedures? A. fewer identifications of innocent people B. more identifications of guilty people C. more rapid identifications D. more confident identifications

A. Present the suspects sequentially (one at a time).

When witnesses choose a suspect from a lineup, they sometimes identify the wrong person. To minimize such errors, psychologists recommend which change in procedure? A. Present the suspects sequentially (one at a time). B. Tell the witness which suspect the police think is probably guilty. C. Provide more encouragement. D. Have several witnesses discuss the choice among themselves.

B. semantic

When you remember how a clock works, what type of memory is that? A. episodic B. semantic C. short-term D. implicit

B. procedural

When you remember how to tie your shoes, what type of memory is this? A. factual B. procedural C. episodic D. state dependent

A. semantic

When you remember the rules of tennis, what type of memory is that? A. semantic B. episodic C. implicit D. procedural

C. recognition

Which kind of memory test are you taking right now? A. free recall B. cued recall C. recognition D. savings

C. recognition D. savings

Which method of testing memory is most likely to detect a very weak memory? A. free recall B. cued recall C. recognition D. savings

A. implicit

Which method of testing memory is most likely to show signs of memory even in people who claim that they do not remember something at all? A. implicit B. recall C. recognition D. cued recall

D. remembering the rules for playing basketball

Which of the following is an example of a semantic memory? A. remembering the current score of a basketball game B. remembering the final score of a basketball game played last week C. remembering the first time you went to a basketball game D. remembering the rules for playing basketball

C. remembering what happened your first day of elementary school

Which of the following is an example of episodic memory? A. remembering how to ride a bicycle B. remembering the name of your elementary school C. remembering what happened your first day of elementary school D. remembering how to shoot a basketball

D. It has a capacity of only a few items.

Which of the following is characteristic of short-term memory, as opposed to long-term? A. It maintains material for a certain period of time, regardless of interference. B. It maintains material for a certain period of time, regardless of rehearsal. C. It can maintain a huge amount of information. D. It has a capacity of only a few items.

D. holds only about 7 items

Which of the following is most characteristic of short-term memory? A. does not begin to develop until children are about 10 years old B. tends to improve over a delay C. pertains only to motor skills D. holds only about 7 items

D. They develop gradually.

Which of these is most characteristic of procedural memories? A. People can easily describe them in words. B. They occur only in adult humans. C. They are quickly forgotten. D. They develop gradually.

A. procedural memory

Which of these is most likely to be learned gradually over many experiences? A. procedural memory B. episodic memory C. implicit memory D. declarative memory

A. People have no previous learning of nonsense syllables.

Why did Ebbinghaus use nonsense syllables in his memory experiments? A. People have no previous learning of nonsense syllables. B. It is easy for computers to generate nonsense syllables. C. Nonsense syllables are distinctive. D. Nonsense syllables do not generate proactive or retroactive interference.

A. savings

You cannot remember the geography you learned in junior high school. Someone tests whether you can relearn it faster than you learned it the first time. Which type of memory test is this? A. savings B. recognition C. free recall D. cued recall

B. free recall.

You don't have a telephone directory and you are trying to remember the phone number of your local pizza parlor. You must rely on A. recognition. B. free recall. C. savings. D. implicit memory.

C. recognition test

You forget where you parked your car, so you scan the parking lot hoping to find yours among the others. Your task is like which type of memory test? A. free recall test B. implicit memory test C. recognition test D. relearning test

A. executive functioning

You hear a list of words. After each word, you are to say the word previous to it. What is this test measuring? A. executive functioning B. capacity of short-term memory C. implicit memory D. episodic memory

C. savings

You think you have totally forgotten the Spanish vocabulary you learned in elementary school. Suppose we measure how much faster you learn Spanish than someone never exposed to it before. What type of memory test is this? A. cued recall B. recognition C. savings D. implicit

A. implicit

You try to sketch a picture of your Psychology lecture hall. While you never tried to remember the types of chairs or color of the carpet, your drawing is mostly correct. Your drawing is an example of __________ memory. A. implicit B. episodic C. procedural D. state-dependent

A. chunking.

You want to remember a shopping list of 9 items. To aid memory, you group them as 3 fruits, 3 vegetables, and 3 dairy items. This strategy makes use of A. chunking. B. flashbulb memory. C. the von Restorff effect. D. encoding specificity.

A. free recall

Your friend asks you to name the seven dwarves from "Snow White". What type of memory test is this? A. free recall B. implicit C. recognition D. relearning

D. cued recall

Your friend asks, "What's the name of our chemistry lab instructor? I think it starts with a J." This is which type of memory test? A. implicit memory B. source amnesia C. savings D. cued recall

B. cued recall

Your history professor gives you a list of the initials of all the U.S. presidents and vice presidents and asks you to fill in the names. What kind of memory test is this? A. free recall B. cued recall C. recognition D. savings