Chapter 6

Question 1

Dr. Gruber is running a memory experiment using fMRI. One participant is asked to remember a particular set of words, and Dr. Gruber notices that the occipital lobe is particularly active during the task. The participant is MOST likely using what type of encoding? 
 A. visual imagery 
B. organizational 
C. echoic 
D. elaborative

Answer 1

A. visual imagery

Question 2

Tamosin has a hard time remembering names. One night at a party, she met a guy that she really wanted to impress. In order to remember that his name was Joe, she imagined a steaming cup of coffee (“cup of Joe”) every time she looked at him. This illustrates:

Answer 2

visual imagery encoding

Question 3

Waitresses may use _____ to help remember orders by sorting the items by the seat at the table.

Answer 3

organizational encoding

Question 4

Once you learn information it is _____ so that it can be accessed later.

Answer 4

stored in the brain

Question 5

One day while gardening, Greg tripped over a coil of wound-up hose and fell face first on the pavement. He suffered damage to his hippocampal region, and while recovering in the hospital, he consistently greeted his friends and family as though he was seeing them again for the first time in ages, and he often forgot what he was doing during the day. However, he could still recall, without effort, adventures from his teenage years. Most likely, Greg has what would be called: 
 A. retrograde amnesia. 
B. anterograde amnesia. 
C. long-term potentiation. 
D. short-term potentiation.

Answer 5

B. antereograde amnesia

Question 6

Research indicates that the best place to look for memories in the brain is in the:

Answer 6

synapses

Question 7

You remember where you placed your keys more easily by seeing objects in the same room:

Answer 7

because they are retrieval cues

Question 8

According to the encoding specificity principle, it would be best to study for an exam in:
A. the same room you will take the exam.
B. any room, as long as it is a quiet and well lit.
C. the library.
D. a room with lots of background noise.

Answer 8

A. the same room you will take the exam

Question 9

Brain scans have shown that people who show increased activity in the hippocampus during a memory task are:

Answer 9

more likely to remember the information

Question 10

An elementary school class took a spelling test immediately after learning how to bake a cake. The teacher noticed that many of the students spelled the word “FLOUR” instead of the vocabulary word “FLOWER,” illustrating:

Answer 10

priming

Question 11

Priming makes memory more efficient by:
A. saving processing time.
B. deactivating parts of the frontal cortex.
C. creating an iconic memory.
D. making it easier to chunk information.

Answer 11

A. saving processing time

Question 12

Amnesia patients with hippocampal damage can still form procedural memories, suggesting that:
A. explicit and implicit memories are distinct systems.
B. explicit and implicit memories are part of the same system.
C. procedural and implicit memories are distinct systems.
D. episodic and implicit memories are part of the same system.

Answer 12

A. explicit and implicit memories are distinct systems

Question 13

When our memory fades over time, we generally lose most information closer to the time of learning rather than long after learning has occurred. This is an example of:

Answer 13

transience

Question 14

Mike is walking down the street and sees a woman he is sure he has met before. Mike asks the woman if they indeed know each other and she informs him she just arrived in the country and has never been here before. Mike’s feeling of familiarity is most likely a result of:

Answer 14

false recognition

Question 15

Bailey attends her 20th high school reunion and realizes she’d have great difficulty with names if people weren’t wearing nametags. Her inability to remember the names of people she spent so much time with 20 years ago is most likely due to the memory sin of:

Answer 15

transience

Question 16

Visual imagery encoding relates to _____, in that you are connecting the new information to previously existing information in both processes.

Answer 16

elaborative encoding

Question 17

Tami is serving a table at a restaurant and remembers the customer’s orders by imagining pictures of each item. Darnell, on the other hand, remembers the items according to where people are sitting. Tami is using _____ and Darnell is using _____ to complete their work.

Answer 17

visual imagery encoding; organizational encoding

Question 18

Which list of the types of storage is in the correct order, from largest to smallest capacity?
 A. long term, short term, sensory 
B. short term, sensory, long term 
C. sensory, long term, short term 
D. sensory, short term, long term

Answer 18

A. long term, short term, sensory

Question 19

A fast-decaying store of auditory memory is referred to as:

Answer 19

echoic memory

Question 20

Research indicates that the best place to look for memories in the brain is in the:

Answer 20

synapses

Question 21

As Douglas watches television, he sees a commercial for a local dry cleaner and then remembers that he needs to move some laundry from the washer to the dryer. Seeing the dry-cleaning commercial has served as a _____ for Douglas.

Answer 21

retrieval cue

Question 22

Suparna is taking an allergy medication during the first part of the semester because that’s when it’s allergy season. What best accounts for why it is beneficial for her to continue taking the medication until she is finished with final exams?

Answer 22

state-dependent retrieval

Question 23

According to memory research, who will likely do best on a multiple-choice exam?
A. Tonya, who did not study
B. Dominique, who studied by answering multiple-choice questions
C. Toniece, who read over all of her notes several times
D. Mirari, who studied by writing essays about the material

Answer 23

B. Dominique, who studied by answering multiple-choice questions

Question 24

For memories to form, be stored, and later retrieved, a person may be \_\_\_\_\_ aware of the memory.
A. consciously 
B. unconsciously 
C. either consciously or unconsciously 
D. uninterruptedly

Answer 24

C. either consciously or unconsciously

Question 25

Compared with unprimed tasks, procedural memories and priming are associated with _____ activity in various brain regions, such as parts of the occipital and frontal lobes involved in visual processing and word retrieval.

Answer 25

reduced

Question 26

The hippocampus is not necessary for acquiring new: 
 A. procedural memories. 
B. semantic memories. 
C. episodic memories. 
D. false memories.

Answer 26

A. procedural memories

Question 27

Lauren returns home after work and hears the phone ringing. She runs for the phone while attempting to keep the cat from getting outside. Later she can’t remember where she put her car keys when she got home from work. Her forgetfulness is most likely due to:

Answer 27

absentmindedness

Question 28

If you really dislike the current president, but later come to appreciate the good things that he accomplished, you may report that you felt more positive toward him while he was in office. Which sin of memory does this scenario represent?

Answer 28

bias

Question 29

Amber took four years of Spanish in high school and two years of Spanish in college. Nevertheless, only a year after she graduated from college she realizes that she remembers very little of the Spanish language, illustrating:

Answer 29

transience

Question 30

Now that Liz and her husband are getting a divorce she remembers their marriage as tumultuous and unhappy. A year ago she repeatedly told her friends how happy she was. Liz’s current memory of her marriage best reflects:
A. the constructive nature of memory.
B. how quickly information is lost from memory.
C. how memory becomes less reliable as we get older.
D. how Liz’s husband deceived her.

Answer 30

A. the constructive nature of memory

Question 31

Making which of the following types of judgments about new information makes it easiest to remember?

Answer 31

semantic

Question 32

You learn a new fact about Wilhelm Wundt, your favorite psychologist. If you relate it to information you already know, you will be using:

Answer 32

elaborative encoding

Question 33

While driving in a new city, you briefly see a road sign that you think marked the exit you are looking for, but after a few seconds you can’t remember what the sign said. This illustrates the quick decay of _____ memory.

Answer 33

iconic

Question 34

Nate is going to the grocery store to pick up a few things. He decides not to write a list and instead repeats the 8 items he intends to buy over and over in his head on the way to the store. This is an example of:
A. blocking. 
B. chunking. 
C. rehearsal. 
D. bias.

Answer 34

C. rehearsal

Question 35

Devan and Liz are studying for their test in American history. Devan asks Liz, “Hey, do you remember who was the fourth President of the United States?” Liz pauses for a few seconds and then answers, “James Madison.” As soon as she answers, her cell phone rings. It is her friend Carla, and Liz talks to her for about 10 minutes. When she gets off the phone, Devan says, “Liz, I didn’t hear you. Who was the fourth President?” Liz thinks for a few moments, and then realizes that she has forgotten, illustrating the importance of memory: 
 A. misattribution. 
B. rehearsal. 
C. consolidation. 
D. reconsolidation.

Answer 35

D. reconsolidation

Question 36

You remember where you placed your keys more easily by seeing objects in the same room:
A. because they are retrieval cues.
B. because they are not associated with your memory of the keys.
C. only if it is within 5 minutes of the encoding period.
D. only if it has been at least 1 hour since you left your keys.

Answer 36

A. because they are retrieval cues

Question 37

When we _____ information, our left frontal lobe shows increased activity. When we _____ information, our hippocampal region shows increased activity.

Answer 37

try to retrieve; successfully retrieve

Question 38

Because of _____ Jon will be faster to respond to the word “cat” than the word “sun” if he just saw a picture of a cat.

Answer 38

priming

Question 39

When you remember what you know, you are using _____ memory. When you remember the circumstances under which you first heard what you know, you are using _____ memory.

Answer 39

semantic; episodic

Question 40

The tendency for people to remember events as either more positive or negative than their true feelings at the actual time of the event is due to:

Answer 40

bias

Question 41

Which of the following is NOT an adaptive feature of the sins of memory?
A. Our memory allows us to remember important details and forget insignificant ones.
B. We usually don’t have to remember all of the contextual details of every experience.
C. We remember events that could threaten our survival.
D. We usually remember information in a way that leads us to view ourselves negatively.

Answer 41

D. we usually remember information in a way that leads us to view ourselves negatively

Question 42

Participants in a memory study are presented with words that belong to one of four categories (e.g., insects, beverages, etc.) or are presented with words that have no apparent relationship to one another. The group that received the categories of words remembers more words than those who got the other list. This is most likely due to their use of:
A. visual imagery. 
B. chunking. 
C. organizational encoding. 
D. long-term potentiation.

Answer 42

C. organizational encoding

Question 43

Which of the following represents the flow of information through the memory system?
A. short-term memory, sensory memory, long-term memory
B. sensory memory, long-term memory, short-term memory
C. sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory
D. sensory memory, working memory, long-term memory

Answer 43

C. sensory memory, short-term memory, long-term memory

Question 44

Patients like HM, who cannot store new memories, suffer from a form of:

Answer 44

anterograde amnesia

Question 45

Long-term memory is possible because of the:
A. strengthened pathways in the brain achieved through repeated signals sent across synapses.
B. individual pathways created each time a signal is sent from the same neuron to another neuron.
C. brain tissue that directly connects all neurons to one another.
D. rich variety of pathways in the brain.

Answer 45

A. strengthened pathways in the brain achieved through repeated signals sent across synapses

Question 46

When you are trying to study by answering questions and suppressing incorrect responses, you may \_\_\_\_\_ recall, in a process known as \_\_\_\_\_.
A. enhance; recall recovery 
B. enhance; retrieval facilitation 
C. impair; retrieval failure 
D. impair; retrieval-induced forgetting

Answer 46

D. impair; retrieval-induced forgetting

Question 47

Because some people with damage to the hippocampus have no trouble learning new facts but can never recall personal events they experienced, researchers concluded that:
A. episodic and semantic memory, which both rely on the hippocampus, are not different processes.
B. episodic and semantic memory, which both rely on the hippocampus, are different processes.
C. episodic memory relies on the hippocampus; semantic memory does not.
D. semantic memory relies on the hippocampus,; episodic memory does not.

Answer 47

C. episodic memory relies on the hippocampus semantic memory does not

Question 48

As Tim is doing his homework while on the phone with his friend Sue, his pencil snaps and he gets up to get a new one in the basement, where his family keeps all the school supplies. When he gets down to the basement he forgets why he came down. What probably happened?

Answer 48

absentmindedness

Question 49

Repeated suggestibility may actually produce _____ in some people.

Answer 49

false memories

Question 50

You are hired to reform the police department’s eyewitness identification line-up procedure. Which of the following would be the best plan to use?
A. Include the prime suspect and 5 other people who resemble the prime suspect and have the witness give a response after looking at all members of the lineup.
B. Include the prime suspect and 5 other people who resemble the prime suspect and have the witness give a yes/no response for each member of the lineup.
C. Include the prime suspect and 5 other people who do not resemble the prime suspect and have the witness give a yes/no response for each member of the lineup.
D. Pick 6 suspects who look nothing alike and have the witness point out the one she thinks is the suspect.

Answer 50

B. Include the prime suspect and 5 other people who do not resemble the prime suspect and have the witness give a yes/no response for each member of the lineup

Question 51

Although 5-year-old Casey had never been to North Dakota, she was most easily able to remember this new-to-her state name because:
A. she repeated the name and also visualized in her mind its location on the map her dad had displayed in her room.
B. she made up a song that rhymed “Dakota” and “cherry soda.”
C. she wrote the name in capital letters on her chalkboard 10 times.
D. she repeated the name over and over until she had encoded it.

Answer 51

A. she repeated the name and also visualized in her mind its location on the map her dad had displayed in her room

Question 52

Visual imagery encoding relates to _____, in that you are connecting the new information to previously existing information in both processes.

Answer 52

elaborate encoding

Question 53

Rats given a drug to block _____ have difficulty remembering where they have just been and are more likely to get lost in a maze than rats not given the drug.

Answer 53

long term potentiation

Question 54

The effectiveness of retrieval cues supports the idea that:
A. everyone can have perfect memory if given enough hints.
B. memory is like a photograph or video.
C. echoic memories are stronger than iconic memories.
D. information in memory may be available but not accessible.

Answer 54

D. information in memory may be available but not acessible

Question 55

The research on divers who remembered more when their learning conditions (being on land or in the water) matched their recall conditions (being on land or in the water) supports:
 A. state dependent retrieval. 
B. the encoding specificity principle. 
C. levels of processing. 
D. the existence of working memory.

Answer 55

B. the encoding specificity principle

Question 56

Remembering how to ride a skateboard, even though it has been a few years since you last rode one, is a subtype of _____ memory termed _____.

Answer 56

implicit, procedural memory

Question 57

Twenty-five years from now, Breanna is on Jeopardy! One of the answers is “This person was the 44th President of the United States of America.” Breanna says confidently, “Who was Barack Obama?” and is correct. To “answer” the “question,” Breanna has to use what part of her memory?

Answer 57

semantic

Question 58

John is trying to remember his locker combination but keeps using the locker combination he had last year. John is suffering from:

Answer 58

proactive interference

Question 59

Memory functions by:
A. storing some information so that it may be retrieved at a later time.
B. recording information and retrieving it later, precisely as it occurred the first time.
C. encoding information and keeping it in working memory until needed.
D. storing everything that has ever been sensed in a long-term store.

Answer 59

A. storing some information so that it may be retrieved at a later time

Question 60

New memories are formed by:
A. recording exact copies of sensory information, as when using a video camera or photograph.
B. combining information we already know with new sensory information.
C. long-term potentiation in the occipital lobe.
D. episodic processing of stimuli.

Answer 60

B. combining information we already know with new sensory information

Question 61

Darcy needs to stop at the grocery store on the way home. As she drives to work that morning she does a “mental walk” through her home and imagines each grocery item in a different location in her home so she can remember what she needs to buy. Darcy is making use of:

Answer 61

visual imagery

Question 62

The process of chunking is limited to remembering:

Answer 62

approximately 7 pieces of meaningful information.

Question 63

In light of research findings on _____, it probably is best to study for your psychology exam at a desk in a quiet room.

Answer 63

state dependent retrieval

Question 64

Sarah can vividly remember the day her baby brother was born. This is an example of _____ memory.

Answer 64

explicit

Question 65

This type of memory has been likened to “mental time travel.”

Answer 65

episodic memory

Question 66

What regions of the brain are MORE active during elaborative encoding?
A. the inner left temporal lobe
B. the lower left frontal lobe
C. both the inner left temporal lobe and the lower left frontal lobe
D. the occipital lobe

Answer 66

C. both the inner left temporal lobe and the lower left frontal lobe

Question 67

_____ is a fast-decaying store of visual memory.

Answer 67

iconic memory

Question 68

Long-term memory can be kept for _____ and has _____ capacity.

Answer 68

hours to years; an unlimited

Question 69

If memories are not _____, they will not remain in the long-term memory system.

Answer 69

consolidated

Question 70

The phenomenon of _____ implies that if you are normally a little anxious when you take a test then it is best to be a little anxious when you study for your test.

Answer 70

state dependent retrieval

Question 71

State-dependent retrieval would suggest that if you are asked to recall a childhood memory when you are in a good mood, you will most likely remember:

Answer 71

a happy episode

Question 72

Brain scans have shown that people who show increased activity in the hippocampus during a memory task are:
A. less likely to remember the information.
B. prone to photographic memory of the information.
C. more likely to remember the information.
D. more likely to have errors in their memory for the information.

Answer 72

C. more likely to remember the situation

Question 73

Childhood or infantile amnesia refers to:
A. children who develop memory disorders during the first few years of life.
B. a lack of memory from birth through approximately 10 years of age.
C. the first few years of life that are inaccessible to memory.
D. a neuropsychological disorder resulting in the loss of childhood memories.

Answer 73

C. the first few years of life that are inaccessible to memory

Question 74

Having a pop-up reminder of a meeting that will occur in 15 minutes serves as an aid for:

Answer 74

prospective memory

Question 75

Your teacher tells you that you can’t forget something if you never “got it” to begin with. Most likely your teacher is referring to a failure in:

Answer 75

encoding

Question 76

Which list of the types of storage is in the correct order, from most brief to most enduring?
A. long term, short term, sensory 
B. short term, sensory, long term 
C. sensory, long term, short term 
D. sensory, short term, long term

Answer 76

D. sensory, short term, long term

Question 77

The tiny sea slug Aplysia is attractive to memory researchers because it: 
 A. behaves like humans. 
B. is so passive. 
C. has a simple nervous system. 
D. reproduces very rapidly.

Answer 77

C. has a simple nervous system

Question 78

Your psychology professor schedules an exam for the next class but does not say what type of test it will be. You study for the exam using a multiple-choice practice test, while your friend studies using a practice test with True/False questions. According to the transfer-appropriate processing principle, who is likely to do better on the exam if the questions are multiple choice?
 A. you 
B. your friend 
C. both of you 
D. neither of you

Answer 78

A. you

Question 79

Remembering what, where, and when information about the personal events that occurred in your life are types of:

Answer 79

episodic memory

Question 80

By relating new information to things that you already know and their meanings, it is easier to remember. This refers to what type of encoding?

Answer 80

elaborative

Question 81

Moshe is playing cards and is grouping the cards that have already been played by suit (hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades). Moshe is using what type of encoding?

Answer 81

organizational

Question 82

Based on what you know about survival encoding, which of the following words would you be most likely to remember?
 A. wheelbarrow 
B. gun 
C. pheasant 
D. hamburger

Answer 82

D. hamburger

Question 83

_____ is necessary for our frontal lobe and hippocampus to interact, so the frontal lobe can take over the responsibility of recall.

Answer 83

sleep

Question 84

If you drink a lot of coffee while studying for your exam, state-dependent learning would suggest that you would do best on your exam if you:

Answer 84

drink a lot of coffee during the exam

Question 85

Which of the following is probably NOT a personal recollection of these sophomore college students?
A. Troy’s memory of graduating from high school.
B. Travis’s memory of learning how to walk.
C. Tara’s memory of playing in band in 10th grade.
D. Taryn’s memory of moving to college.

Answer 85

B. Travis’s memory of learning how to walk

Question 86

Think about what you ate for breakfast this morning. What key steps must you have performed to remember this event?
A. maintenance, encoding, and processing
B. processing, encoding, and retrieval
C. encoding, storage, and retrieval
D. storage, chunking, and rehearsal

Answer 86

C. encoding, storage, and retrieval

Question 87

Based on the research on survival encoding, it seems like we are best able to remember:

Answer 87

information that helps us survive and reproduce

Question 88

Long-term potentiation in the hippocampus is regulated by the activity of the neurotransmitter _____ at _____ receptors.

Answer 88

glutamate; NMDA

Question 89

According to research on memory, when studying for a test:
A. it is best to rehearse the material over and over again.
B. you should study in conditions opposite to those in which you will take the test.
C. asking yourself questions to practice retrieving the information is the best strategy.
D. using elaborative encoding alone is the best strategy.

Answer 89

C. asking yourself questions to practice retrieving the information is the best strategy

Question 90

Kristen vividly remembers her first day of high school. This event in her life is different from other people’s experiences, so it is a(n) _____ memory.

Answer 90

episodic

Question 91

James was involved in a car accident three years ago. He recently saw a man he believed had been in the accident, but when he approached him, the man had no idea what James was talking about. It turned out that the man was working at a coffee shop James had visited that day and was in no way involved in the car accident. James’s confusion was the result of:

Answer 91

misattribution

Question 92

Elaborative, visual, and organizational encoding all depend on _____ of the brain.

Answer 92

different regions

Question 93

After a memory is recalled, it may be vulnerable to distortion or forgetting, unless it is:

Answer 93

reconsolidated

Question 94

Trying to remember something and actually remembering something are:
A. the same process and use the same brain areas.
B. the same process but use different brain areas.
C. different processes but use the same brain areas.
D. different processes and use different brain areas.

Answer 94

D. different processes and use different brain areas.

Question 95

Brain research indicates that retrieval:
A. consists of several different processes.
B. is strongest in the morning.
C. for abstract words is better than for concrete words.
D. is localized in the left frontal lobe.

Answer 95

A. consists of several different processes

Question 96

Ral has been golfing for most of his life and thinks he’s a good golfer. So, Ral was surprised when his friend asked him to describe how to swing the club without slicing and he couldn’t really put it into words. Ral’s memory of how to avoid slicing the ball is probably:

Answer 96

a procedural memory.

Question 97

Priming is a technique that makes certain memories:

Answer 97

more accesible

Question 98

The flashing red light on the multiline telephone operator’s phone reminded him that there was an important call waiting to be transferred. The flashing light served as a cue for his:

Answer 98

prospective memory

Question 99

Transience describes how our memories _____ detail over time, and we reconstruct memories based on _____ experience.

Answer 99

lose; general

Question 100

Michael has met his brother’s girlfriend three times. He remembers that her name starts with an S but can’t actually remember her name. This is most likely due to a failure in:

Answer 100

retrieval

Question 101

Susan’s mom called Susan on her cell phone to ask her to pick up eight items from the grocery store on her way home from work. Since Susan was on the bus with no way to make a list when her mom called, she had to remember the items. She grouped them into categories of food, drinks, and supplies, thereby making use of:

Answer 101

organizational encoding

Question 102

The hippocampus is vital for:

Answer 102

forming new memories

Question 103

_____ is the process by which we transform our experiences into enduring memories.

Answer 103

Encoding

Question 104

_____ memory is the type of memory that describes that tasks can be learned even if the person cannot explicitly remember when or where he learned the task.

Answer 104

Implicit

Question 105

Just before an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, a fake crime was committed in which a man with brown hair, dressed in blue jeans and a green long-sleeved shirt, stole a woman’s handbag. The “crime” was staged right next to the talkative line of bystanders, including a few people planted by Oprah. When questioned by “police” almost immediately after the event about the “robber in the red shirt,” many “witnesses” described the man as wearing a red shirt and gave differing descriptions of the culprit. Which flaw of memory best explains this fault?

Answer 105

suggestability

Question 106

_____ is the experience of knowing something but not being able to identify it, which is a result of _____.

Answer 106

Tip-of-the-tongue; blocking

Question 107

Every time she studies, Connie listens to her MP3 player. She always listens to the same playlist of all of Lil Wayne’s songs. Connie believes in state-dependent learning and recall. What should she do at exam time?

Answer 107

Listen to the Lil Wayne playlist while taking the exam.

Question 108

The _____ is important for the formation of a new memory but becomes less important when the memory becomes an older memory.

Answer 108

hippocampus

Question 109

Krissy’s _____ becomes active when she tries to recall what she received for Christmas when she was 10 years old. Successful remembering of this information, however, requires the activity of the _____.

Answer 109

frontal lobe; hippocampus

Question 110

Jenny remembers her 16th birthday party vividly and recalls how her parents surprised her with a brand new car. This is an example of

Answer 110

explicit memory