Chapter Seven Practice Test

Question 1

Getting information into memory is called ___________; getting
information out of memory is called ___________.
A. storage; retrieval
B. encoding; storage
C. encoding; retrieval
D. storage; encoding

Answer 1

C. encoding; retrieval

Question 2

The word big is flashed on a screen. A mental picture of the word
big represents a ___________ code; the definition “large in size”
represents a ___________ code; “sounds like pig” represents a
___________ code.
A. structural; phonemic; semantic
B. phonemic; semantic; structural
C. structural; semantic; phonemic
D. phonemic; structural; semantic

Answer 2

C. structural; semantic; phonemic

Question 3

The capacity of short-term memory is:
A. about 50,000 words.
B. unlimited.
C. about 25 stimuli.
D. about 7 “chunks” of information.

Answer 3

D. about 7 “chunks” of information.

Question 4

Which statement best represents current evidence on the durability
of long-term storage?
A. All forgetting involves breakdowns in retrieval.
B. LTM is like a barrel of marbles in which none of the marbles ever
leaks out.
C. There is no convincing evidence that all one’s memories are
stored away permanently.
D. All long-term memories gradually decay at a constant rate.

Answer 4

C. There is no convincing evidence that all one’s memories are
stored away permanently.

Question 5

An organized cluster of knowledge about a particular object or
sequence of events is called a:
A. semantic network.
B. conceptual hierarchy.
C. schema.
D. retrieval cue.

Answer 5

C. schema.

Question 6

The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon:
A. is a temporary inability to remember something you know,
accompanied by a feeling that it’s just out of reach.
B. is clearly due to a failure in retrieval.
C. reflects a permanent loss of information from LTM.
D. is both A and B.

Answer 6

D. is both A and B.

Question 7

Loftus’s work on eyewitness testimony has clearly demonstrated that:
A. Memory errors are surprisingly infrequent.
B. Memory errors are mainly due to repression.
C. Information given after an event can alter a person’s memory of
the event.
D. Information given after an event cannot alter a person’s memory
of the event.

Answer 7

C. Information given after an event can alter a person’s memory of
the event.

Question 8

If decay theory is correct:
A. information can never be permanently lost from long-term
memory.
B. forgetting is simply a case of retrieval failure.
C. the principal cause of forgetting should be the passage of time.
D. all of the above.

Answer 8

C. the principal cause of forgetting should be the passage of time.

Question 9

Pseudoforgetting is information loss due to ineffective:
A. encoding.
B. storage.
C. retrieval.
D. all of the above.

Answer 9

A. encoding.

Question 10

Amnesia in which people lose memories for events that occurred
prior to their injury is called ___________ amnesia.
A. anterograde
B. retrospective
C. retrograde
D. episodic

Answer 10

C. retrograde

Question 11

Your memory of how to brush your teeth is contained in your
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ memory.
A. declarative
B. procedural
C. structural
D. episodic

Answer 11

B. procedural

Question 12

Your knowledge that birds fly, that the sun rises in the east, and that
2 + 2 = 4 is contained in your ___________ memory.
A. structural
B. procedural
C. implicit
D. semantic

Answer 12

D. semantic

Question 13

Dorothy memorized her shopping list. When she got to the store,
however, she found she had forgotten many of the items from the
middle of the list. This is an example of:
A. inappropriate encoding.
B. retrograde amnesia.
C. proactive interference.
D. the serial-position effect.

Answer 13

D. the serial-position effect.

Question 14

The method of loci involves:
A. taking an imaginary walk along a familiar path where you have
associated images of items you want to remember with certain
locations.
B. forming a mental image of items to be remembered in a way
that links them together.
C. creating a phrase in which the first letter of each word functions
as a cue to help you recall more abstract words that begin with
the same letter.
D. creating a story that includes each of the words to be
remembered in the appropriate order.

Answer 14

A. taking an imaginary walk along a familiar path where you have
associated images of items you want to remember with certain
locations.

Question 15

The tendency to mold one’s interpretation of the past to fit how
events actually turned out is called:
A. the overconfidence effect.
B. selective amnesia.
C. retroactive interference.
D. the hindsight bias.

Answer 15

D. the hindsight bias.