[To the online textbook Psychology: An Introduction (2017) by Russ Dewey]
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Revised 11/23/2016. Welcome to the self-quiz on Memory. These questions accompany Chapter 6 (Memory) of the online textbook Psychology: An Introduction). They are general enough to be useful for students using other textbooks as well.
Read the question and click on an answer. You will jump to a correction or (if the answer is correct) a confirmation.
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[The remainder of the page is not meant to be read sequentially; it consists of answers and explanations separated by stretches of nothing. You will jump back and forth to these as you click on possible answers of the questions.]
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a controlled study of forgetting
No, the trial is not the entire study, it is part of it.
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a memory test
No, tests may seem like a "trial" in school, sometimes, but in memory research a "trial" is not the testing part.
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a test of a theory
No, an experiment as a whole may be a test of a theory, but a trial is just one part of a memory experiment.
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a presentation of stimulus materials to a subject
Yes. A trial, in memory research, is one "try" at memorizing, which is usually equated wtih "one presentation of the stimulus materials." So, for example, if you exposed to ten repetitions of a paragraph, this would be called ten "trials."
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a difficult subject
Like psychology? No, "trial" is used in a different sense, in memory research.
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memorizing a grocery list
No, that could be done in any order. Serial learning requires preservation of serial (sequential) order.
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memorizing the meanings of traffic symbols for a driver's test
No, that sounds more like paired associates learning, because the list of different symbols could be in any order, but you must associate each symbol with a meaning.
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memorizing the turns to get through a crowded city
Yes. Typically a route through a complex environment requires a series of decisions which are made in the same sequence each time. That is serial (sequential) learning.
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memorizing names of people you met only once
No, unless you had to memorize the names in a fixed order, this would not be serial learning. Is is more like paired associates learning (associating each stimulus, face, with one response, a name).
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learning to recognize faces
No, facial recognition does not require memorizing things in a fixed sequence, whch is the defining attribute of serial learning.
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it makes recognition into a matter of probabilities
Just the opposite...the yes/no method requires an all or none decision. It does not allow a subject say (for example) "I am 80% sure I recognize that object" which would be recognizing the probabilistic nature of the decision.
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it forces people to make a choice
No, this is not the problem. After all, the forced-choice method...a preferred alternative to the yes/no method...also forces people to make a choice.
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different people require different levels of confidence before saying "yes"
Exactly. Some people say "Yes, I recognize that" quite easily, others require themselves to be sure, before committing themselves to a "Yes" answer. So it is hard to compare individuals. This problem does not occur with the forced choice method, in which the subject knows that one of the alternatives is correct, and everybody must pick one alternative.
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it eliminates the effects of experience
No, even if required to give a yes or no judgment, one is stlil affected by prior learning.
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it prohibits mnemonic techniques
No, there is nothing about the yes/no method which prohibits the use of mnemonic (memory) techniques.
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had subjects relearn a language they heard as infants
No, Sperling's research involved the sense of sight...
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tested subject's memory for pictures
No, it was not conscious picture memory that Sperling studied....
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asked subjects to read briefly flashed letters
Yes. Sperling flashed an array of letters onto a screen, using a tachistoscope (an instrument built for that purpose). Subjects had to read letters off the screen as quickly as the could, before the image faded.
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studied memory for medieval Russian religious paintings
No, that's s different type of "icon."
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studied recognition errors
No, Sperling studied the visual sensory store.
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echoic memory
No, rehearsal involves an interpreted sound (such as a sentence) while echoic memory is an automatic "tape delay" which occurs before a sound is consciously interpreted.
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acoustic interference
No, acoustic interference causes errors in rehearsal, so the two do not "resemble" each other.
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autobiographical stories
Not unless one is rehearsing autobiographical stories. Rehearsal is not limited to that.
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encoding
No, many types of stimuli that are "encoded" in various ways are not rehearsed. The two are not equivalent.
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"re-hearing" something
Yes. Rehearsal is very much like hearing a voice in your head. Often rehearsal is described as "saying something to oneself."
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a partial memory, not complete
No, a chunk is any organized whole, either a whole memory or a whole component of a memory, but not a "partial memory." Chunks are often organized together and could be "part of a memory" in that sense, but there is a better answer here.
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a single organized thing or item
Yes. A "chunk" as George Miller used the term is any organized whole in memory. It could be a letter, a word, even a short sentence, treated as a single "item" in primary memory storage.
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a "magic number" which aids retrieval
No....you might be thinking of the title of George Miller's paper in which he discussed the "chunk" concept, "The Magical Number Seven Plus or Minus Two." Miller was making the point that primary memory can juggle about five to nine different chunks (organized units) of memory at once.
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a hierarchy
No, hierarchical organization is often used in to help memory retrieval, and you could argue that a chunk represents a node in a hierarchically ordered system, but this is a bit over the edge...there is another, more accepted definition of "chunk."
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a binary "bit" of information
No, the whole point of Miller's classic article about "chunking" was that chunks did not reflect the amount of binary information in a stimulus. A chunk could be a letter, a word, or a set of words...anything treated as one "thing" in memory.
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records facts
No, just the opposite. Declarative memory is for "facts."
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preserves images
No, procedural memory is not specifically about images of any type.
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includes sounds and smells
No, generally these things are not part of a procedure or skill, although conceivably making sounds could be.
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involves the hippocampus
No, just the opposite. Declarative memory involves the hippocampus, while procedural memory involves the cerebellum more.
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involves sequences or routines
Yes. Most procedures involve "programs" which must be executed in a certain order and could be described as "routines."
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to remember material, you must first pay attention to it
This may be true but mnemonic devices involve more than just paying attention to something.You picked...
memory depends on the strength of the memory trace and how often it is rehearsed
No, mnemonic devices involve a whole different approach.
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memory depends on retrieval strategies
Yes. What all mnemonic devices have in common is that they provide a system or strategy for retrieving information later. This is why they help memory performance.
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they all use imagery
No, they don't all use imagery; for example, the saying "i before e except after c..." is a mnemonic device, although it is based on language, not imagery.
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they stir up emotions
No, one can remain quite calm while using mnemonics, and they still work.
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quiz yourself
Yes. The basic idea of task-appropriate processing is that memory benefits from a good match between the type of processing and the type of testing. If you are going to be quizzed, you benefit by quizzing yourself (or having somebody else quiz you. That is the reason this self-quiz section exists).
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generate images
No, that may help memory, but "task appropriate processing" does not necessarliy involve imagery.
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devise mnemonic strategies
No, task-appropriate process would not necessarily imply using mnemonic strategies, unless a mnemonic strategy was particularly well suited to the requirements of a particular test.
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prepare a crib sheet
A "crib sheet" or condensed summary of important facts may help a student (even if it cannot be used during a test) because it requires the student to organize important knowledge. However, there is another answer here which better exemplifies the idea behind "task appropriate processing."
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sleep
No, this may be beneficial, but it is not the best example of "task appropriate processing."
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the use of "great effort" to memorize important material
Right. Few of them exerted great effort. They would concentrate, or calmly inspect something, but they did not strain or grow excited or in other obvious ways exert themselves.
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the use of imagery
No, all the "great memorists" in the literature seem to use imagery in some way.
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a trancelike state of absorption
No, all great memorists seem to get absorbed in what they are memorizing.
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attention to the inner structure of events
No, all great memorists seem to pay close attention to the "inner structure" or relationship between components in the material they are memorizing.
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taking an interest in the subject matter
No, all the great memorists report is is easier to memorize something if it interests you.
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