Psychology Unit 6: Human Memory

Forgetting older information because of more recent information is called

retroactive interference.

Rehearsal does which of the following?

1. Lengthens the time information can be held in short-term memory 2. Aids in the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory

Short-term memory can retain about how many pieces of information?

5-9

Which of the following describes interference in memory?

At the grocery store you have trouble recalling items you need to buy after suddenly seeing a classmate whose name you try to remember.

The more confident an eyewitness is in their recollection, the more likely that it will be accurate.

False because although eyewitnesses are often confident in their recollections, in many cases, their confidence is misplaced. In fact, the relationship between confidence and accuracy is often small and sometimes even negative; in some cases, the more confident a witness, the less accurate are their recollections.

Which of the following are the positive aspects of memory failure?

It is essential for remembering important information. It allows us to form general impressions and recollections. It provides a practical educational benefit.

What effect is when items presented at the end of a list is remembered best?

Recency

What is it called when items presented at the end of a list are remembered best?

Recency effect

What does rehearsal increase?

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

For questioning an eyewitness of a crime, which of the following would avoid leading the witness to give an inaccurate account?

What was the person wearing?

Eyewitness accuracy improves when which of the following factors are present in a lineup?

When the witness sees only one suspect at a time When the witness is told that the suspect is not necessarily in the lineup When suspects are not conspicuous in the lineup

What is the memory system that holds information while actively manipulating the information?

Working memory

A group of separate pieces of information stored as single unit in short-term memory is referred to as

a chunk

Eyewitness accounts

can be inaccurate because of the wording of questions.

When we retrieve information, the memory that is produced is affected not just by the direct prior experience we have had with the stimulus but also by our guesses and inferences about its meaning. Accordingly, our memories reflect

constructive processes

Being unable to recall your grocery list until you are at the store and see some of the items you need on the shelves is an example of what type of forgetting?

cue-dependent forgetting

Sometimes we forget because nothing triggers our memory of a specific bit of information. This is called

cue-dependent forgetting.

Memory loss through ______ is the result of nonuse of memory, whereas memory loss through ______ is due to the presence of other information in memory.

decay; interference

Memory for factual information, names, faces, dates, and the like is called ______ memory, whereas memory for skills and habits, such as riding a bike or hitting a baseball, is called procedural memory.

declarative

Declarative memory is sometimes referred to as ______ memory, whereas procedural memory is referred to as ______ memory.

explicit; implicit

When we cannot quite recall some information, but we once knew it, we are having a failure of

long-term memory retrieval

______________effect is when first part of information on a list is remembered.

primacy

What is the term used to describe the fact that Laura could only recall the first items listed on her grocery listed?

primary effect

Forgetting that occurs because previous learning conflicted with recalling newer information is called

proactive interference

What is is the repetition of information that has entered short-term memory?

rehearsal

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

retrieval

A stimulus that allows us to recall more easily information that is in long-term memory is referred to as a

retrieval cue

The smell of pumpkin pie reminds Harry of Thanksgiving dinners with his family. This is an example of what?

retrieval cue

Cue-dependent forgetting occurs when there is a lack of

retrieval cues in the environment

In the three-system memory theory, the first stage involves ___________ memory, which can store information for only an instant.

sensory

Rote memorization of a list of items is not likely to produce long-term recollection of the information because processing occurs at a ______ level.

shallow

Around 7 items can be stored in ______ memory.

short term

Memory that typically is forgotten in less than 25 seconds is

short-term memory

In the computer model of memory, a computer's hard drive represents

storage

What is one way to increase the amount of information that can be retained in short-term memory?

to break the information into chunks

Forgetting helps keep unwanted and unnecessary information from interfering with retrieving information that is wanted and necessary.

true

According to levels-of-processing theory, we are most likely to remember things if we consider

what they mean

Which memory holds information temporarily while actively rehearsing that information?

working

Our memories reflect _______, in which memories are influenced by the meaning we give to events.

constructive processses

If you have been exposed to a piece of information but it did not register with you, it would be said that the information was not properly

encoded

In a model of memory using a computer, the computer's keyboard would be similar to the ______ process of memory.

encoding

The first process in recording information in a form usable to memory is referred to as

encoding