Chapter 6: Long-Term Memory: Influences on Retrieval

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Suppose you want to become a memory champion like Andi Bell and Joshua Foer. You could achieve your goal by working hard to ______.

a. develop a photographic memory

b. develop superior autobiographical memory

c. use mnemonics

d. use prospective memory tasks

Learning Objective: 6-1: How does our memory influence us unintentionally?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Introduction: Superior Memory

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. You are designing a study that asks subjects, “Which of these psychological concepts have you heard of?” and then presents a list of concepts. Which type of retrieval task is this?

a. recall

b. recognition

c. implicit

d. prospective

Learning Objective: 6-1: How does our memory influence us unintentionally?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Retrieval From Long-Term Memory

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Your professor asks you to design a series of cued recall tasks. Which of these examples could you use?

a. "What is the name of your favorite artist?"

b. "Can you remember the names of three famous artists?"

c. "Do you recall which artist painted 'Guernica'? The name begins with a P."

d. "Why do you like the work of your favorite artist? Give three reasons."

Learning Objective: 6-1: How does our memory influence us unintentionally?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Recall Tasks

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. A question that asks you to remember specific information is a(n) ______ task, while a question that asks you whether you have encountered a particular name, image, or fact before is a(n) ______ task.

a. prospective memory; implicit memory

b. implicit memory; prospective memory

c. recognition; recall

d. recall; recognition

Learning Objective: 6-1: How does our memory influence us unintentionally?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Recognition Tasks

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Based on the information about comparing recall and recognition tasks, you can conclude that you will perform better on tests if you know ______ before you begin studying.

a. what format the test will be in (multiple choice, essay, and so on)

b. that you can study all night if necessary

c. why the professor believes the test is necessary

d. what type of room the test will be given in (large, small, crowded, and so on)

Learning Objective: 6-1: How does our memory influence us unintentionally?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Comparing Recall and Recognition Tasks

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. Your professor asks you to design an implicit memory test. How will you know if you have cued implicit memories in your test subjects?

a. if they struggle with recognizing which names in a list belong to famous people

b. if they excel at recognizing which names in a list belong to famous people

c. if they score higher on items that refer to material you presented earlier than on new items

d. if they score higher on new items than on items referring to material you presented earlier

Learning Objective: 6-3: Which methods of encoding information are effective in increasing retrieval from long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Implicit Memory Tasks

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. You meant to visit the campus bookstore before it closed, but you do not remember that you wanted to do that until two hours after closing time. This scenario is a failure of which type of memory?

a. prospective

b. implicit

c. explicit

d. serial position

Learning Objective: 6-3: Which methods of encoding information are effective in increasing retrieval from long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Prospective Memory Tasks

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. “A natural process that occurs when information is unable to be retrieved from memory” is the definition of ______.

a. cognition

b. remembering

c. forgetting

d. storage

Learning Objective: 6-2: Why does forgetting occur and what can you do to prevent it?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Why We Forget

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. During college, you took several semesters of a foreign language. According to Ebbinghaus, you would ______ a lot of information early on, but then the rate of loss ______ as the length of time since study ______.

a. forget; slows; increases

b. remember; slows; increases

c. forget; increases; increases

d. remember; increases; decreases

Learning Objective: 6-2: Why does forgetting occur and what can you do to prevent it?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Why We Forget

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. A neural process by which memories are strengthened and more permanently stored in the brain is ______.

a. interference

b. encoding

c. consolidation

d. memorization

Learning Objective: 6-2: Why does forgetting occur and what can you do to prevent it?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Why We Forget

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Which of these factors seems to be important in aiding the consolidation process?

a. sleep

b. multitasking

c. cramming

d. storage

Learning Objective: 6-2: Why does forgetting occur and what can you do to prevent it?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Why We Forget

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Of the three main processes of memory--encoding, storage, and retrieval--______ and ______ are the processes most under our control.

a. encoding; retrieval

b. storage; retrieval

c. encoding; storage

Learning Objective: 6-1: How does our memory influence us unintentionally?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Encoding Effects

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. The more ______ encoding processes are, the better we remember.

a. time-consuming

b. simple

c. shallow

d. effortful

Learning Objective: 6-3: Which methods of encoding information are effective in increasing retrieval from long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Encoding Effects

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. You are presented with the following questions:

(1) Is KITTEN in all capital letters?

(2) Does KITTEN rhyme with MOOSE?

(3) Is KITTEN a type of animal?

Which would you most likely remember?

a. 1

b. 2

c. 3

Learning Objective: 6-4: Which methods of retrieving information are effective in increasing memory performance?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Levels of Processing

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Processing the meaning of information is known as ______.

a. interpretive processing

b. elaborative encoding

c. iconic processing

d. linear encoding

Learning Objective: 6-3: Which methods of encoding information are effective in increasing retrieval from long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Levels of Processing

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. ______ processing is to questions about typeface as ______ processing is to questions about sentence completion.

a. Deep; shallow

b. Iconic; echoic

c. Shallow; deep

d. Echoic; iconic

Learning Objective: 6-3: Which methods of encoding information are effective in increasing retrieval from long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Levels of Processing

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. While studying for a psychology exam, you devise a poem about Piaget’s stages of development to help you remember them. This is an example of ______.

a. shallow processing

b. deep processing

c. spacing effects

d. storage

Learning Objective: 6-3: Which methods of encoding information are effective in increasing retrieval from long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Levels of Processing

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. One reason that spacing out your studying is best is that you ______.

a. won’t get tired

b. are increasing the number of retrieval cues

c. won’t be bored with studying

d. won’t have to go to class as often

Learning Objective: 6-5: In what ways do encoding and retrieval interact to affect long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Spacing Effects

Difficulty Level: Hard

19. The beginning of a word list is to the ______ as the end of a word list is to the ______.

a. initiation effect; termination effect

b. recency effect; primacy effect

c. termination effect; initiation effect

d. primacy effect; recency effect

Learning Objective: 6-1: How does our memory influence us unintentionally?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Serial Position Curve

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. Jason conducts an experiment in which his participants are asked to study a list of 30 words. He finds that participants tend to recall the beginning of the list rather than the middle or end of the list. Which effect is he showing support for?

a. recency

b. primacy

c. photographic memory

d. prospective memory

Learning Objective: 6-4: Which methods of retrieving information are effective in increasing memory performance?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Serial Position Curve

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. The primacy effect depends on ______ as the recency effect depends on ______.

a. working memory; long-term memory

b. short-term memory; working memory

c. working memory; short-term memory

d. long-term memory; short-term memory

Learning Objective: 6-3: Which methods of encoding information are effective in increasing retrieval from long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Serial Position Curve

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. After you have memorized a list of words, you are most likely to demonstrate ______ if you are tested on the list the next day.

a. decay of your ability to recall

b. the recency effect

c. the primacy effect

d. strongest recall of the middle of the list

Learning Objective: 6-3: Which methods of encoding information are effective in increasing retrieval from long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Serial Position Curve

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. After you have memorized a list of words, you are most likely to demonstrate ______ if you are tested on the list immediately.

a. fading of memory

b. the primacy effect

c. the recency effect

d. strongest recall for the middle of the list

Learning Objective: 6-1: How does our memory influence us unintentionally?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Serial Position Curve

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. Which of these plans of action is most likely to help you retrieve information from your long-term memory before you take a test?

a. Study, then create a prospective memory of doing well on the test, and then take the test.

b. Study, then practice retrieving the information, and then take the test.

c. Study, then work on photographic memory, and then take the test.

d. Sleep for at least two hours, study, and then take the test.

Learning Objective: 6-4: Which methods of retrieving information are effective in increasing memory performance?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Retrieval Effects

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. Jenna and Ellis give each other practice quizzes between studying and taking their exam. They are trying to take advantage of the ______ effect.

a. primacy

b. recency

c. serial position

d. testing

Learning Objective: 6-4: Which methods of retrieving information are effective in increasing memory performance?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Testing Effect

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. According to research summarized by Roediger and Pyc, which of these questions should you ask yourself to ensure that you retain as much relevant information as possible before a test?

a. "Why is this answer correct?"

b. "How much should I rest before the test?"

c. "Where can I study that is most similar to the testing room?"

d. "When did I learn this information?"

Learning Objective: 6-4: Which methods of retrieving information are effective in increasing memory performance?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Using the Testing Effect

Difficulty Level: Medium

27. According to Roediger and Pyc, before you take a test, it is helpful to spend time doing what?

a. completing multiple-choice practice tests if the test will require short answers

b. completing all your studying for the test in one long block of time

c. identifying which information you have trouble recalling

d. covering the same topics in each study session

Learning Objective: 6-4: Which methods of retrieving information are effective in increasing memory performance?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Using the Testing Effect

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. Matching the circumstances of encoding and retrieval aids memory. This phenomenon is known as the ______.

a. primacy effect

b. recency effect

c. environmental context principle

d. encoding specificity principle

Learning Objective: 6-4: Which methods of retrieving information are effective in increasing memory performance?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Encoding-Retrieval Interactions

Difficulty Level: Easy

29. Jodie insists on getting to class two hours before an exam so she has plenty of time to review her notes in the same classroom where she learned the information and will be taking the exam. She must believe in ______.

a. environmental context effects

b. mood-dependent effects

c. transfer-inappropriate processing

d. the serial position curve

Learning Objective: 6-4: Which methods of retrieving information are effective in increasing memory performance?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Environmental Context Effects

Difficulty Level: Medium

30. Joseph was very anxious when taking his GRE exam, although he was not anxious while studying for it. According to the idea of ______, he will not do well on the GRE exam.

a. mood-dependent effects

b. environmental context effects

c. the testing effect

d. the recency effect

Learning Objective: 6-5: In what ways do encoding and retrieval interact to affect long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Mood-Dependent Effects

Difficulty Level: Medium

31. Both encoding and retrieval together influence memory performance in ______.

a. depth-of-processing effects

b. environmental-dependent effects

c. mood-dependent effects

d. transfer-appropriate processing

Learning Objective: 6-5: In what ways do encoding and retrieval interact to affect long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Transfer-Appropriate Processing

Difficulty Level: Easy

32. While studying for the exam that determines whether you will get into law school, you decide to take a practice exam that matches the format of the official exam. This is an example of ______.

a. transfer-appropriate processing

b. environmental context effects

c. mood-dependent effects

d. the primacy effect

Learning Objective: 6-5: In what ways do encoding and retrieval interact to affect long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Transfer-Appropriate Processing

Difficulty Level: Easy

33. Study is to ______ as tests are to ______.

a. retrieval; encoding

b. encoding; retrieval

c. mnemonics; processing

d. processing; mnemonics

Learning Objective: 6-5: In what ways do encoding and retrieval interact to affect long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Summary of Encoding-Retrieval Interactions

Difficulty Level: Medium

34. For thousands of years, humans have used memory techniques called ______ to help them remember information.

a. mnemonics

b. retrieval effects

c. serial position curves

d. memory languages

Learning Objective: 6-6: How effective are mnemonics in increasing long-term memory retrieval?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Mnemonics

Difficulty Level: Easy

35. The idea that the human mind tends to notice unusual things is known as the ______ effect.

a. strangeness

b. bizarreness

c. recency

d. primacy

Learning Objective: 6-6: How effective are mnemonics in increasing long-term memory retrieval?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Mnemonics

Difficulty Level: Easy

36. Your memories of everything you did yesterday are evidence of ______.

a. the recency effect

b. autobiographical memory

c. biographical memory

d. mood-dependent learning

Learning Objective: 6-7: Does photographic memory exist?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Superior Autobiographical Memory

Difficulty Level: Medium

37. In order to study brain areas associated with memory, Ramon devises a song that involves memories from his own life. This is an example of ______.

a. the testing effect

b. method of loci

c. a mnemonic

d. biographical memory

Learning Objective: 6-6: How effective are mnemonics in increasing long-term memory retrieval?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Mnemonics

Difficulty Level: Medium

38. Your textbook describes the case of AJ, who claimed to be able to report what occurred in her life on any date past 1980. The researchers tested AJ and found that she had a superior ______.

a. frontal lobe

b. autobiographical memory

c. sensory cortex

d. recency effect

Learning Objective: 6-7: Does photographic memory exist?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Superior Autobiographical Memory

Difficulty Level: Easy

39. Your textbook describes how memory champions devise a(n) ______ to help them remember and navigate through a great deal of information.

a. memory palace

b. memory plan

c. outline

d. study guide

Learning Objective: 6-7: Does photographic memory exist?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Mnemonics

Difficulty Level: Easy

40. Your friend says that she wants to develop a photographic memory. According to what you have read in this chapter, what is the best response you can make?

a. Use mnemonics whenever possible, as many ancient peoples did.

b. Study information in stages rather than all at once.

c. Build memory palaces to help you recall important skills and concepts.

d. There is no clear evidence that photographic memory exists.

Learning Objective: 6-7: Does photographic memory exist?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Superior Autobiographical Memory

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. We forget a great deal of information very quickly after study, but then the rate of loss slows as the length of time since study increases.

Learning Objective: 6-2: Why does forgetting occur and what can you do to prevent it?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Why We Forget

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Interference occurs when other information prevents the retrieval of the target information.

Learning Objective: 6-2: Why does forgetting occur and what can you do to prevent it?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Why We Forget

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Many researchers believe that lack of consolidation is a way that we forget information.

Learning Objective: 6-2: Why does forgetting occur and what can you do to prevent it?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Why We Forget

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Sleeping between the study period and the test of information you want to remember will make it more difficult for you to retrieve that information from long-term memory.

Learning Objective: 6-2: Why does forgetting occur and what can you do to prevent it?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Why We Forget

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Of the three main processes of memory--encoding, storage, and retrieval--storage and retrieval are the processes most under our control.

Learning Objective: 6-3: Which methods of encoding information are effective in increasing retrieval from long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Encoding Effects

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. The more active and effortful encoding processes are, the better we remember.

Learning Objective: 6-3: Which methods of encoding information are effective in increasing retrieval from long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Encoding Effects

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. The more shallow the level of processing, the easier it is to remember data.

Learning Objective: 6-4: Which methods of retrieving information are effective in increasing memory performance?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Levels of Processing

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Bethany spends 30 minutes a day for a month studying for her psychology final, whereas Shane spends six hours the day before the exam studying. Shane is more likely to do better than Bethany on the exam.

Learning Objective: 6-5: In what ways do encoding and retrieval interact to affect long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Spacing Effects

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. If given a list of words, people are more likely to remember the middle of the list rather than the beginning or the end.

Learning Objective: 6-5: In what ways do encoding and retrieval interact to affect long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Serial Position Curve

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Highlighting concepts in your textbook is the best way to study for an exam.

Learning Objective: 6-5: In what ways do encoding and retrieval interact to affect long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Testing Effect

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer

1. Explain what prospective memory is. What could you do in your everyday life to improve your prospective memory?

Learning Objective: 6-1: How does our memory influence us unintentionally?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Prospective Memory Tasks

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Discuss the hypotheses presented about the reasons we forget information. Provide examples from your own life.

Learning Objective: 6-2: Why does forgetting occur and what can you do to prevent it?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Why We Forget

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. Discuss the “levels of processing” theory of memory storage and retrieval. Define and explain each of the three types of processing, and explain how you could use this theory to improve your own studying.

Learning Objective: 6-5: In what ways do encoding and retrieval interact to affect long-term memory?

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Levels of Processing

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Define the serial position curve and discuss why it is relevant to everyday living. Give examples.

Learning Objective: 6-4: Which methods of retrieving information are effective in increasing memory performance?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Serial Position Curve

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Define the term “mnemonic” and provide examples. Explain how you could use mnemonics to improve your study habits, and describe a situation in which mnemonics provide little help.

Learning Objective: 6-6: How effective are mnemonics in increasing long-term memory retrieval?

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Mnemonics

Difficulty Level: Hard