Psychology chapter 8
testing effect
enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information
Karen is remembering what took place when her friends threw her a surprise birthday party. What type of memory is she using?
episodic
Which choice pairs a brain structure or region with the correct memory system?
frontal lobes—explicit memory
The _____ is the brain area involved in processing explicit memories for storage.
hippocampus
Having read a story once, certain amnesia victims will read it faster the second time, even though they cannot recall having seen the story before. They have MOST likely suffered damage to the:
hippocampus.
. repression
Involuntary pushing of unpleasant feelings out of conscious thought
retroactive interference
Is when more recent information gets in the way of trying to recall older information.
Psychologists involved in the study of memories of abuse tend to disagree with each other about which of the following statements?
We tend to repress extremely upsetting memories.
recognition
a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.
hippocampus
a medial temporal lobe structure with crucial roles in memory formation, particularly new long-term declarative memories. Hemispheric specialisation. the specialisation and dominance of certain functions of the left and right cerebral hemispheres
Employing the single word "HOMES" to remember the names of North America's five Great Lakes best illustrates the use of:
a mnemonic device
echoic memory
a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds
iconic memory
a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
Nine-year-old Jade has just discovered something very interesting. She can look at a picture in a book and, when she closes her eyes, she can still see the picture very clearly for a few tenths of a second. Jade is experiencing _____ memory.
iconic
Research conducted by George Sperling showed that people have something akin to a fleeting photographic memory. This ____________ memory provides a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli, like a picture-image that lasts only a few tenths of a second.
iconic
Sensory memory may be visual (________________ memory) or auditory (____________ memory).
iconic, echoic
What type of memory is not consciously accessible to us?
implicit memory
The unconscious memory for learned skills is known as:
implicit memory.
anterograde amnesia
cannot later remember event that occur after brain damage
The process that occurs when memories that are temporarily stored in the hippocampus migrate for storage elsewhere in the brain is called memory _____.
consolidation
The feeling that one has had the same experience before is known as:
deja vu
When a situation triggers the feeling that "I've been here before," you are experiencing _________ .
deja vu
Although Ryan typically smokes two packs of cigarettes each day, he recalls smoking only a little more than one pack per day. His poor memory best illustrates:
motivated forgetting
working memory
newer understanding of short term memory that adds conscious, active processing of incoming sensory info, and of info retrieved from long term memory
When people have recollections of long-ago child sexual abuse, what are two possible injustices?
Two possible injustices are (1) disbelieving people's true stories of victimization, and (2) accusing innocent people of abuse as a result of false "recovered memories."
The extensive rehearsal necessary to encode nonsense syllables BEST illustrates:
effortful processing.
shallow processing
encoding on a basic level based on the structure or appearance of words
deep processing
encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention
effortful processing
encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
Which of these will one MOST likely store as an implicit memory?
one's conditioned fear of guns
Episodic memory is exemplified by one's memory for:
one's first kiss.
In the process of retrieving a specific memory from a web of associations, a person needs to activate one of the strands that lead to it. This is known as _____.
priming
Owen has trouble remembering a friend's new phone number; he keeps recalling the old number instead. Completing a rental application, Pippa finds she cannot recall one of her previous addresses, as she's had several addresses since. Owen is experiencing _____ interference. Pippa is experiencing _____ interference.
proactive, retroactive
reconsolidation
process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again
parallel processing
processing many aspects of a stimulus or problem at once
If one has NOT studied well for a test, in which format is one likely to get a higher score?
recognition
implicit memory
retention independent of conscious recollection
Gina adequately studied for her short-answer psychology exam. However, while taking the final she could not remember the material she previously retained. According to the computer information-processing model of memory, Gina is having difficulty with _____.
retrieval
The happier Judie feels, the more readily she recalls experiences with former teachers who were warm and generous. This BEST illustrates that emotional states can be _____ cues.
retrieval
Specific odors, visual images, emotions, or other associations that help us access a memory are examples of ______________ .
retrieval cues
While taking an American history exam, Marla was surprised and frustrated by her momentary inability to remember the name of the first president of the United States. Her difficulty most clearly illustrates:
retrieval failure
Ivan recently suffered a severe stroke and is no longer able to remember events from his childhood. His memory problems are related to:
retrieval failure.
After studying biology all afternoon, Marcus is having difficulty remembering details of the organic chemistry material he memorized that morning. Marcus' difficulty BEST illustrates _____ interference.
retroactive
Consolidation is the process by which:
short-term memory can be encoded to form long-term memories.
Forest often has vivid dreams. In the morning, he can recall them in great detail. This sometimes gets him in trouble because he cannot figure out if he is remembering a dream or something that he actually experienced. This problem is known as _____ amnesia.
source
MaryAnne Garry explicitly states that viewing memory as a _______________ is mistaken.
tape or video recording
The hippocampus seems to function as a
temporary processing site for explicit memories.
automatic processing
unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of well-learned information, such as word meanings
What is the capacity of long-term memory? Are our long-term memories processed and stored in specific locations?
- long term memory capacity is essentially unlimited. Memories are not stored intact in the brain in single spots. Many parts of the brain interact as we encode, store, and retrieve memories
Why did you choose an experimental design rather than a correlational design to test this research question?
An experimental design allows us to determine what causes false memories, rather than just learning about relationships between memory-related variables.
According to _____, one reason that people forget is because they are repressing painful memories.
Freud
With respect to memory, hippocampus is to cerebellum as _____ is to _____.
explicit; implicit
Hippocampus damage typically leaves people unable to learn new facts or recall recent events. However, they may be able to learn new skills, such as riding a bicycle, which is an ____________________(explicit/implicit) memory.
implicit
Two-year-old Jackson's older brother popped a balloon in his face. This caused Jackson to become afraid when he next saw his brother with a balloon. This classically conditioned fear of the balloon is an example of a(n) _____ memory.
implicit
Sonya is trying to remember events from her life as an 18-month-old. However, as hard as she might try, she has no conscious memory for anything that occurred before her third birthday. This is likely due to the fact that her hippocampus, which is involved in storing explicit memories, was not fully developed at that age. This inability to remember events when she was 3 years old and younger is called _____.
infantile amnesia
source amnesia
is the inability to recall where, when, or how one has learned knowledge that has been acquired and retained.
memory consolidation
is the process by which memories become stable in the brain. ...
When someone is unsuccessfully trying to remember something, there is activity in the
left frontal lobe
Colin suffered hippocampal damage from a head injury in a near-fatal motorcycle crash. He is not able to remember verbal information, but he does retain the ability to recall visual designs and locations. His damage is likely to the:
left hippocampus
When you feel sad, why might it help to look at pictures that reawaken some of your best memories?
memories are stored within a web of many associations, one of which is mood.
mnemonics
memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
misinformation effect
misleading information presented after a person witnesses an event can change how the person remembers the event later
chunking
organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically
If someone asks you whether our memory is accurate, how might you respond based on what you learned in this activity?
We've learned that memory is in fact not always accurate. We sometimes make the mistake of thinking we remember seeing words that we did not actually see. We tend to form false memories when we see a word that is related to a list of words we saw, but wasn't actually on that list.
semantic memory
category of long-term memory that includes memories of general knowledge of facts, names, and concepts. explicit memory. information or knowledge that can be consciously recollected; also called declarative memory
Chad is puzzling over a difficult question on a multiple-choice sociology test; however, as he rereads the response options he remembers the correct answer. Chad has made use of a:
retrieval cue.
After switching dorm rooms and getting a new phone number, Samantha found that it was harder to remember her previous dorm room's phone number. Samantha was experiencing _____ interference.
retroactive
retrieval
the process of getting information out of memory storage
encoding
the processing of information into the memory system
long-term memory
the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system
storage
the retention of encoded information over time
spacing effect;
the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice.
In your study, you found that some participants were more likely to recall seeing the word ties or the word socks than others. This happened because these words _________ as _________.
were in the same word category; the other words on the list.
Marisela seeks treatment for depression. To explore possible early childhood roots, the therapist hypnotizes her and in the process, Marisela recalls being sexually abused by her father at age 2. Why might some memory researchers be skeptical of Marisela's resulting accusation of her father?
Memories tend to be unreliable for things that occurred at very young ages (before age 4), and when constructed long afterward with suggestions implanted during hypnosis or therapy.
Research has proven which of the following statements to be untrue?
Memory in the brain works like memory in a computer; we take in information and then file it away for recollection.
_____ refers to one's tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current emotions.
Mood-congruent memory
episodic memory
category of long-term memory that includes memories of particular events
explicit memory
retention of facts and experiences that we can consciously know and declare
An oldie playing on the radio reminds Donald of events that occurred when the song was current. For Donald, the song is acting as a:
retreival cue
What are some effortful processing strategies that can help us remember new information?
- include chunking, mnemonics, hierarchies, and distributed practice sessions.
Ebbinghaus' "forgetting curve" shows that after an initial decline, memory for novel information tends to
- level off.
Memory aids that use visual imagery or other organizational devices (such as acronyms) are called ___________________.
- mnemonics
When forgetting is due to encoding failure, information has not been transferred from
- short-term memory into long-term memory.
In one study by Ceci and others, nearly _____ percent of preschoolers produced false memories of events that never happened.
60
Our short-term memory for new information is limited to about _____________ digits
7
Kaleb decided to go to his 25-year high school reunion. He looked in his yearbook to see whose pictures he might recognize. According to one study, he should expect to recognize approximately _____ percent of his classmates' pictures.
90
recall
A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.
relearning
A memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material for a second time.
serial position effect
A pattern of recall for list items, where recall is better for items at the beginning or end of a list than for items in the middle.
The retention of encoded information over time is called:
Storage
déjà vu
a feeling of having already experienced the present situation.
short-term memory
activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten
Memories of emotional events are especially likely to be facilitated by activation of the:
amygdala
A retrieval cue
is something outside your head in the surrounding environment that is related to the memory you are trying to retrieve.
memory
the power of retaining and recalling past experience
How can you use memory research findings to do better in this and other courses?
- memory research findings suggest the following strategies for improving memory: earse repeatedly, make the material meaningful, activate retrieval cues, use mnemonic devices, minimize proactive and retroactive interference, sleep more, and test yourself to be sure you can retrieve, as well as recognize material
Freud proposed that painful or unacceptable memories are blocked from consciousness through a mechanism called______________ .
- repression
We may recognize a face at a social gathering but be unable to remember how we know that person. This is an example of ____________ .
- source amnesia
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
External events are first processed by sensory memory
flashbulb memory
Flashbulb memory is a special kind of emotional memory, which refers to vivid and detailed memories of highly emotional events that appear to be recorded in the brain as a picture taken by camera.
_____ can be defined as the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.
Memory
_____ interference is the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information.
Proactive
It's often supposed that people repress memories of trauma, to banish the pain. How does evidence support or challenge this idea?
The available evidence challenges this idea, indicating that people seldom forget traumas, and are instead much more likely to be haunted by intrusive memories.
proactive interference
The reverse direction of interference to retroactive interference. This is when old information prevents the recall of newer information.
You chose to measure whether participants recalled words they saw and words they had not seen. Why?
This provided measures of recall accuracy and whether participants had a false memory.
By using an experimental design, you could determine whether seeing some words, but not others, caused some participants to have:
a false memory.
Long-term potentiation (LTP) refers to
an increase in a cell's firing potential.
During a basketball game, Tyree suffered a concussion. Afterward, he could not remember the game or what happened when he was treated in the hospital. Tyree was experiencing:
anterograde amnesia.
A psychologist who asks you to write down as many objects as you can remember having seen a few minutes earlier is testing your _________________.
recall
Ricardo distributes his study time rather than cramming because he wants to retain the information for the long term. He is taking advantage of the _____ effect.
spacing
encoding specificity principle
the belief that retrieval will be more successful when cues available during recall are similar to those present when the material was first committed to memory. context-dependent memory effect.
long-term potentiation (LTP);
the biomolecular process that your neurons go through as you learn, how connections between neurons are strengthened through repeated pairing / firing neurons that fire together. wire together (through LTP) macro changes after LTP (repeated simulation of neurons)
When we place ourselves in the physical space our original learning process occurred, we prime ourselves to more readily retrieve memories that were encoded in the same space. This is called:
the encoding specificity principle.
22. When tested immediately after viewing a list of words, people tend to recall the first and last items more readily than those in the middle. 22. When retested after a delay, they are most likely to recall
the first items on the list.
sensory memory
the immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system. 2, 1/2 seconds
An attorney uses misleading questions to distort a court witness's recall of a previously observed crime. This BEST illustrates:
the misinformation effect.
priming
(Implicit Memory) change in stimulus processing due to prior exposure to same or related stimulus without conscious awareness.
What is our short-term memory capacity?
- (STM) holds five to seven items for about 15 to 20 seconds.
Why do we forget?
- Anterograde amnesia is an inability to form new memories. Retrograde amnesia is an inability to retrieve old memories. Normal forgetting can happen bc we have never encoded info (encoding failure); bc the physical trace has decayed (storage decay); or bc we cant retrieve what we have encoded and stored (retrieval failure. Retrieval problems may result from proactive (forward acting) interference, as prior learning interferes w recall of new info, or from retroactive (backward- acting) interference, as new learning disrupts recall of old info. Motivated forgetting occurs, but researchers have found little evidence of repression.
Eliza's family loves to tell the story of how she "stole the show" as a 2-year-old, dancing at her aunt's wedding reception. Even though she was so young, Eliza says she can recall the event clearly. How is this possible?
- Eliza's immature hippocampus and lack of verbal skills would have prevented her from encoding an explicit memory of the wedding reception at the age of two. It's more likely that Eliza learned information (from hearing the story repeatedly) that she eventually constructed into a memory that feels very real.
How do explicit and implicit memories differ?
- Explicit memories are those we are consciously aware of and can recall intentionally. Implicit memories are those that are not conscious and we do not deliberately remember or reflect on.
How do external cues, internal emotions, and order of appearance influence memory retrieval?
- External cues activate associations that help us retrieve memories; this process may occur without our awareness, as it does in priming. ... Anterograde amnesia is an inability to form new memories.
What is memory, and how is it measured?
- Learning that has persisted over time, through encoding, storage, and retrieval of info. Evidence of memory may be seen in an ability to recall info, recognize it, or relearn it more easily on a later attempt.
How do changes at the synapse level affect our memory processing?
- Long-term potentiation (LTP) appears to be the neural basis of learning. In LTP, neurons become more efficient at releasing and sensing the presence of neurotransmitters, and more connections develop between neurons.
How do psychologists describe the human memory system?
- Psychologists use memory models to demonstrate memory. Information-processing models involve three processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval. Our brain processes many things simultaneously (some of them unconsciously) because of the process parallel processing
How does sensory memory work?
- Sensory memory feeds information into working memory for active processing. An iconic memory is a brief (a few tenths of a second) memory of visual stimuli. an echoic memory is a three/four second sensory memory of auditory stimuli.
What roles do the cerebellum and basal ganglia play in memory processing?
- The cerebellum and basal ganglia are parts of the brain network in order to help out implicit memory formation. The cerebellum is important for storing classically conditioned memories. The basal ganglia are helping in motor movement and help form procedural memories for skills. Many reactions and skills learned during our first three years continue into our adult lives.
What roles do the frontal lobes and hippocampus play in memory processing?
- The frontal lobes and hippocampus are parts of the brain network dedicated to explicit memory formation. Many brain regions send information to the frontal lobes for processing. The hippocampus registers and temporarily holds elements of explicit memories before moving them to other brain regions for long-term storage.
How do misinformation, imagination, and source amnesia influence our memory construction? How do we decide whether a memory is real or false?
- When we reassemble a memory during retrieval, we may successfully retrieve something we have heard, read or imagined, but attribute it to the wrong source (source amnesia). False memories feel like true memories and are equally durable. Constructed memories are usually limited to the gist of the event
Children can be accurate eyewitnesses if
- a neutral person asks nonleading questions soon after the event.
How reliable are young children's eyewitness descriptions?
- childrens eyewitness descriptions are subject to the same memory influences that distort adult reports. If questioned soon after an event in neutral words they understand, children can accurately recall events and ppl involve in them.
The concept of working memory
- clarifies the idea of short-term memory by focusing on the active processing that occurs in this stage.
Why have reports of repressed and recovered memories been so hotly debated?
- debate focuses on whether memories of early childhood abuse are repressed and can be recovered during therapy. unless the victim was a child too young to remember, such traumas are usually remembered vividly, not repressed. Psychologists agree that childhood sexual abuse happens. Injustice happens forgetting happens recovered memories are common. memories of evets that happened bf age 4 are unreliable; memories recovered under hypnosis are especially unreliable; and memories, whether real or false, can be emotionally upsetting
What are the levels of processing, and how do they affect encoding?
- depth of processing affects long term retention. In shallow processing, we encode words based on their structure or appearance. Retention is best when we use deep processing, encoding wrds based on their meaning. We also more easily remember material that is personally meaningful- The self reference effect.
How do emotions affect our memory processing?
- emotional arousal causes an outpouring of stress hormones, which lead to activity in brains memory forming areas. Significantly stressful events can trigger very clear flashbulb memories.
The psychological terms for taking in information, retaining it, and later getting it back out are _______________, _________, and___________ .
- encoding, storage, retrieval
What information do we process automatically?
- in addition to skills and classically conditioned associations, we automatically process incidental info ab space, time, and frequency.
The hour before sleep is a good time to memorize information, because going to sleep after learning new material minimizes _________________ interference.
- retroactive
One reason false memories form is our tendency to fill in memory gaps with our reasonable guesses and assumptions, sometimes based on misleading information. This tendency is an example of
- the misinformation effect
Some individuals have an amazing ability to remember things. For example, college student Feng Wang could repeat back _____ digits.
200
After a week of being asked about the false photo, what percent of students recalled having had a hot-air balloon ride?
50
Imagine a study in which participants are shown 2000 slides of houses and storefronts, each for only 10 seconds. Later, these same participants are shown 300 of the original slides paired with slides they have not seen before. According to research, these participants would be able to recognize _____ percent of the slides they had seen before.
90
retrograde amnesia
; cannot remember events prior to brain damage
mood-congruent memory
the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one's current good or bad mood.
