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Chapter 9 & 10 Test Review
Please print on the front & back of the paper, using .5” margins & 11 pt font. Highlight the correct answer.
1. The three steps in memory information processing are: A) input, processing, output. B) input, storage, output.
C) input, storage, retrieval. D) encoding, storage, retrieval. E) encoding, retrieval, storage.
2. The process of getting information out of memory storage is called:
A) encoding. B) retrieval. C) rehearsal. D) storage.
3. Which of the following is the best example of a flashbulb memory? A) suddenly remembering to buy bread while
standing in the checkout line at the grocery store B) recalling the name of someone from high school while looking at
his or her yearbook snapshot C) remembering to make an important phone call D) remembering what you were doing
on September 11, 2001, when terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center towers
4. The concept of working memory is analogous to a computer's:
A) read-only memory (ROM). B) random-access memory (RAM).
C) mouse. D) keyboard.
5. The first thing Karen did when she discovered that she had misplaced her keys was to re-create in her mind the day's
events. That she had little difficulty in doing so illustrates:
A) automatic processing. B) effortful processing. C) state-dependent memory. D) priming.
6. Information is maintained in short-term memory only briefly unless it is:
A) encoded. B) rehearsed. C) iconic or echoic. D) retrieved.
7. Although you can't recall the answer to a question on your psychology midterm, you have a clear mental image of the
textbook page on which it appears. Evidently, your ________ encoding of the answer was ________.
A) semantic; automatic B) visual; automatic C) semantic; effortful D) visual; effortful
8. The spacing effect means that: A) distributed study yields better retention than cramming. B) retention is
improved when encoding and retrieval are separated by no more than one hour. C) learning causes a reduction in the
size of the synaptic gap between certain neurons. D) delaying retrieval until memory has consolidated improves recall.
9. According to the serial position effect, when recalling a list of words you should have the greatest difficulty with those:
A) at the beginning of the list. B) at the end of the list. C) at the end and in the middle of the list.
D) at the beginning and end of the list. E) in the middle of the list.
10. Experimenters gave people a list of words to be recalled. When the participants were tested after a delay, the items
that were best recalled were those: A) at the beginning of the list. B) in the middle of the list. C) at the end of the
list. D) at the beginning and the end of the list.
11. Darren was asked to memorize a list of letters that included v, q, y, and j. He later recalled these letters as e, u, i, and
k, suggesting that the original letters had been encoded:
A) automatically. B) visually. C) semantically. D) acoustically.
12. Craik and Tulving had research participants process words visually, acoustically, or semantically. In a subsequent
recall test, which type of processing resulted in the greatest retention?
A) visual B) acoustic C) semantic D) acoustic and semantic processing were equally beneficial
13. Memory techniques such as the method of loci, acronyms, and the peg-word system are called:
A) consolidation devices. B) imagery techniques. C) encoding strategies. D) mnemonic devices.
14. To help him remember the order of ingredients in difficult recipes, master chef Giulio often associates them with the
route he walks to work each day. Giulio is using which mnemonic technique?
A) peg-word system B) acronyms C) the method of loci D) chunking
15. One way to increase the amount of information in memory is to group it into larger, familiar units. This process is
referred to as: A) consolidating. B) organization. C) memory construction. D) encoding. E) chunking.
16. Textbook chapters are often organized into ________ in order to facilitate information processing.
A) mnemonic
devices B) chunks C) hierarchies D) recognizable units
17. When Gordon Bower presented words grouped by category or in random order, recall was:
A) the same for all words. B) better for the categorized words. C) better for the random words.
participants developed their own mnemonic devices.
18. Visual sensory memory is referred to as:
A) iconic memory. B) echoic memory. C) photomemory.
D) improved when
D) semantic memory.
19. Echoic memories fade after approximately: A) 1 hour. B) 1 minute. C) 30 seconds. D) 1 second. E) 3 to 4 secs.
20. It is easier to recall information that has just been presented when the information:
A) consists of random letters rather than words. B) is seen rather than heard. C) is heard rather than seen.
D) is experienced in an unusual context.
21. Our short-term memory span is approximately ________ items.
A) 2 B) 5
C) 7 D) 10
22. Brenda has trouble remembering her new five-digit zip plus four-digit address code. What is the most likely
explanation for the difficulty Brenda is having? A) Nine digits are at or above the upper limit of most people's shortterm memory capacity. B) Nine digits are at or above the upper limit of most people's iconic memory capacity.
C) The extra four digits cannot be organized into easily remembered chunks. D) Brenda evidently has an impaired
implicit memory.
23. Lashley's studies, in which rats learned a maze and then had various parts of their brains surgically removed, showed
that the memory: A) was lost when surgery took place within 1 hour of learning. B) was lost when surgery took place
within 24 hours of learning. C) was lost when any region of the brain was removed. D) remained no matter which
area of the brain was tampered with.
24. Studies demonstrate that learning causes permanent neural changes in the ________ of animals' neurons.
A) myelin B) cell bodies C) synapses D) all of the above
25. Kandel and Schwartz have found that when learning occurs, more of the neurotransmitter ________ is released into
synapses. A) ACh B) dopamine C) serotonin D) noradrenaline
26. Long-term potentiation refers to: A) the disruptive influence of old memories on the formation of new memories.
B) the disruptive influence of recent memories on the retrieval of old memories. C) our tendency to recall experiences
that are consistent with our current mood. D) the increased efficiency of synaptic transmission between certain neurons
following learning. E) our increased ability to recall long-ago events as we grow older.
27. During basketball practice, Jan's head was painfully elbowed. If the trauma to her brain disrupts her memory, we
would expect that Jan would be most likely to forget: A) the name of her teammates. B) her telephone number.
C) the name of the play during which she was elbowed. D) the details of events that happened shortly after the incident.
28. Memory for skills is called:
A) explicit memory. B) declarative memory.
C) episodic memory.
D) implicit memory.
29. Studies of amnesia victims suggest that: A) memory is a single, unified system. B) there are two distinct types of
memory. C) there are three distinct types of memory. D) memory losses following brain trauma are unpredictable.
E) brain trauma eliminates the ability to learn.
30. Amnesia patients typically experience disruption of:
A) implicit memories. B) explicit memories. C) iconic memories.
D) echoic memories.
31. After suffering damage to the hippocampus, a person would probably:
A) lose memory for skills such as bicycle riding. B) be incapable of being classically conditioned.
to store new facts. D) experience all of the above changes.
C) lose the ability
32. Amnesia victims typically have experienced damage to the ________ of the brain.
A) frontal lobes B) cerebellum C) thalamus D) hippocampus E) cortex
33. Which of the following has been proposed as a neurophysiological explanation of infantile amnesia? A) The slow
maturation of the hippocampus leaves the infant's brain unable to store images and events. B) The deficient supply of
serotonin until about age 3 makes encoding very limited. C) The limited availability of association areas of the cortex
until about age 3 impairs encoding and storage. D) All of the above explanations have been proposed.
34. Which of the following measures of retention is the least sensitive in triggering retrieval?
A) recall B) recognition C) relearning D) déjà vu
35. Which of the following is not a measure of retention?
A) recall
B) recognition
C) relearning D) retrieval
36. Complete this analogy: Fill-in-the-blank test questions are to multiple-choice questions as: A) encoding is to
storage. B) storage is to encoding. C) recognition is to recall. D) recall is to recognition. E) encoding is to recall.
37. In a study on context cues, people learned words while on land or when they were underwater. In a later test of recall,
those with the best retention had: A) learned the words on land, that is, in the more familiar context. B) learned the
words underwater, that is, in the more exotic context. C) learned the words and been tested on them in different
contexts. D) learned the words and been tested on them in the same context.
38. Walking through the halls of his high school 10 years after graduation, Tom experienced a flood of old memories.
Tom's experience showed the role of:
A) state-dependent memory. B) context effects. C) retroactive interference. D) echoic memory. E) iconic memory.
39. The eerie feeling of having been somewhere before is an example of:
A) state dependency. B) encoding failure. C) priming. D) déjà vu.
40. Being in a bad mood after a hard day of work, Susan could think of nothing positive in her life. This is best explained
as an example of:
A) priming. B) memory construction. C) mood-congruent memory. D) retrieval failure. E) repression.
41. When he was 8 years old, Frank was questioned by the police about a summer camp counselor suspected of molesting
children. Even though he was not, in fact, molested by the counselor, today 19-year-old Frank “remembers” the counselor
touching him inappropriately. Frank's false memory is an example of which “sin” of memory?
A) blocking B) transience C) misattribution D) suggestibility
42. According to memory researcher Daniel Schacter, blocking occurs when:
A) our inattention to details produces encoding failure. B) we confuse the source of information.
C) our beliefs influence our recollections. D) information is on the tip of our tongue, but we can't get it out.
43. Which of the following best describes the typical forgetting curve?
A) a steady, slow decline in retention over time B) a steady, rapid decline in retention over time C) a rapid initial
decline in retention becoming stable thereafter D) a slow initial decline in retention becoming rapid thereafter
44. At your high school reunion you cannot remember the last name of your homeroom teacher. Your failure to
remember is most likely the result of:
A) encoding failure. B) storage failure. C) retrieval failure. D) state-dependent memory.
45. When Carlos was promoted, he moved into a new office with a new phone extension. Every time he is asked for his
phone number, Carlos first thinks of his old extension, illustrating the effects of:
A) proactive interference. B) retroactive interference. C) encoding failure. D) storage failure.
46. After finding her old combination lock, Janice can't remember its combination because she keeps confusing it with
the combination of her new lock. She is experiencing:
A) proactive interference. B) retroactive interference. C) encoding failure. D) storage failure. E) repression.
47. Jenkins and Dallenbach found that memory was better in subjects who were ________ during the retention interval,
presumably because ________ was reduced.
A) awake; decay B) asleep; decay C) awake; interference D) asleep; interference
48. Which of the following sequences would be best to follow if you wanted to minimize interference-induced forgetting
in order to improve your recall on the psychology midterm?
A) study, eat, test B) study, sleep, test C) study, listen to music, test D) study, exercise, test
49. Lewis cannot remember the details of the torture he experienced as a prisoner of war. According to Freud, Lewis's
failure to remember these painful memories is an example of:
A) repression. B) retrieval failure. C) state-dependent memory. D) flashbulb memory. E) implicit memory.
50. Studies by Loftus and Palmer, in which people were quizzed about a film of an accident, indicate that:
A) when quizzed immediately, people can recall very little, due to the stress of witnessing an accident. B) when
questioned as little as one day later, their memory was very inaccurate. C) most people had very accurate memories as
much as six months later. D) people's recall may easily be affected by misleading information.
51. The misinformation effect provides evidence that memory:
A) is constructed during encoding. B) is unchanging once established. C) may be reconstructed during recall
according to how questions are framed. D) is highly resistant to misleading information.
52. Research on memory construction reveals that memories:
A) are stored as exact copies of experience. B) reflect a person's biases and assumptions. C) may be chemically
transferred from one organism to another. D) even if long term, usually decay within about five years.
53. Hypnotically “refreshed” memories may prove inaccurate--especially if the hypnotist asks leading questions--because
of: A) encoding failure. B) state-dependent memory. C) proactive interference. D) memory construction.
54. Memory researchers are suspicious of long-repressed memories of traumatic events that are “recovered” with the aid
of drugs or hypnosis because: A) such experiences usually are vividly remembered. B) such memories are unreliable
and easily influenced by misinformation. C) memories of events happening before about age 3 are especially unreliable.
D) of all of the above reasons.
55. The text defines cognition as: A) silent speech. B) all mental activity. C) mental activity associated with
processing, understanding, and communicating information. D) logical reasoning. E) problem solving.
56. A mental grouping of similar things, events, or people is called a(n):
A) prototype. B) concept. C) algorithm. D) heuristic. E) mental set.
57. When forming a concept, people often develop a best example, or ________, of a category.
A) denoter B) heuristic C) prototype D) algorithm
58. Complete the following analogy: Rose is to flower as:
A) concept is to prototype. B) prototype is to concept. C) concept is to hierarchy.
D) hierarchy is to concept.
59. If you want to be absolutely certain that you will find the solution to a problem you know is solvable, you should use:
A) a heuristic. B) an algorithm. C) insight. D) trial and error.
60. A dessert recipe that gives you the ingredients, their amounts, and the steps to follow is an example of a(n):
A) prototype. B) algorithm. C) heuristic. D) mental set.
61. Which of the following is an example of the use of heuristics? A) trying every possible letter ordering when
unscrambling a word B) considering each possible move when playing chess C) using the formula “area = length 
width” to find the area of a rectangle D) playing chess using a defensive strategy that has often been successful for you
62. Experts in a field prefer heuristics to algorithms because heuristics: A) guarantee solutions to problems.
B) prevent mental sets. C) often save time. D) prevent fixation. E) do all of the above.
63. Boris the chess master selects his next move by considering moves that would threaten his opponent's queen. His
opponent, a chess-playing computer, selects its next move by considering all possible moves. Boris is using a(n)
________ and the computer is using a(n) ________.
A) algorithm; heuristic B) prototype; mental set C) mental set; prototype D) heuristic; algorithm
64. During a televised political debate, the Republican and Democratic candidates each argued that the results of a recent
public opinion poll supported their party's platform regarding sexual harassment. Because both candidates saw the
information as supporting their belief, it is clear that both were victims of:
A) functional fixedness. B) mental set. C) belief bias. D) confirmation bias.
65. A common problem in everyday reasoning is our tendency to: A) accept as logical those conclusions that agree
with our own opinions. B) accept as logical those conclusions that disagree with our own opinions. C) underestimate
the accuracy of our knowledge. D) accept as logical conclusions that involve unfamiliar concepts.
66. Failing to see that an article of clothing can be inflated as a life preserver is an example of:
A) belief bias. B) the availability heuristic. C) the representativeness heuristic. D) functional fixedness.
67. Failing to solve a problem that requires using an object in an unusual way illustrates the phenomenon of:
A) mental set. B) functional fixedness. C) framing. D) belief perseverance. E) overconfidence.
68. Marilyn was asked to solve a series of five math problems. The first four problems could only be solved by a
particular sequence of operations. The fifth problem could also be solved following this sequence; however, a much
simpler solution was possible. Marilyn did not realize this simpler solution and solved the problem in the way she had
solved the first four. Her problem-solving strategy was hampered by:
A) functional fixedness. B) the overconfidence phenomenon. C) mental set. D) her lack of a prototype for the solution.
69. Rudy is 6 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 210 pounds, and is very muscular. If you think that Rudy is more likely to be a
basketball player than a computer programmer, you are a victim of: A) belief bias. B) the availability heuristic.
C) mental set. D) functional fixedness. E) the representativeness heuristic.
70. You hear that one of the Smith children is an outstanding Little League player and immediately conclude it's their one
son rather than any of their four daughters. You reached your quite possibly erroneous conclusion as the result of:
A) the confirmation bias. B) the availability heuristic. C) the representativeness heuristic. D) belief perseverance.
71. Airline reservations typically decline after a highly publicized airplane crash because people overestimate the
incidence of such disasters. In such instances, people's decisions are being influenced by:
A) belief bias. B) the availability heuristic. C) the representativeness heuristic. D) functional fixedness.
72. Your stand on an issue such as the use of nuclear power for electricity involves personal judgment. In such a case,
one memorable occurrence can weigh more heavily than a bookful of data, thus illustrating: A) belief perseverance.
B) confirmation bias. C) the representativeness heuristic. D) the availability heuristic. E) belief bias.
73. Assume that Congress is considering revising its approach to welfare and to this end is hearing a range of testimony.
A member of Congress who uses the availability heuristic would be most likely to: A) want to experiment with
numerous possible approaches to see which of these seems to work best. B) want to cling to approaches to welfare that
seem to have had some success in the past. C) refuse to be budged from his or her beliefs despite persuasive testimony
to the contrary. D) base his or her ideas on the most vivid, memorable testimony given, even though many of the
statistics presented run counter to this testimony.
74. Most people tend to: A) accurately estimate the accuracy of their knowledge and judgments. B) underestimate the
accuracy of their knowledge and judgments. C) overestimate the accuracy of their knowledge and judgments. D) lack
confidence in their decision-making strategies.
75. In relation to ground beef, consumers respond more positively to an ad describing it as “75 percent lean” than to one
referring to its “25 percent fat” content. This is an example of:
A) the framing effect. B) confirmation bias. C) mental set. D) overconfidence.
76. Which of the following illustrates belief perseverance? A) Your belief remains intact even in the face of evidence
to the contrary. B) You refuse to listen to arguments counter to your beliefs. C) You tend to become flustered and
angered when your beliefs are refuted. D) You tend to search for information that supports your beliefs. E) Your
beliefs tend to distort logical reasoning.
77. Because of their lightning speed, computers can retrieve and manipulate stored data faster than people can, but the
human brain beats the computer hands down when it comes to:
A) using heuristics. B) following algorithms. C) serial processing. D) simultaneous processing.
78. Neural network computers: A) can be programmed to mimic excitatory and inhibitory neural messages.
B) have a greater capacity than conventional computers to learn from experience. C) are not limited to serial
processing. D) can do all of the above. E) can do none of the above.
79. Phonemes are the basic units of ________ in language.
A) sound B) meaning C) grammar D) semantics E) syntax
80. The English language has approximately ________ phonemes.
A) 25
B) 30 C) 40 D) 45
81. The word “predates” contains ________ phonemes and ________ morphemes. A) 7; 3
E) 50
B) 3; 7 C) 7; 2
D) 3; 2
82. The rules most directly involved in permitting a person to derive meaning from words and sentences are rules of:
A) syntax. B) grammar. C) phonemic structure. D) semantics.
83. Syntax refers to the: A) sounds in a word. B) rules for grouping words into sentences.
meaning is derived from sentences. D) overall rules of a language.
C) rules by which
84. A listener hearing a recording of Japanese, Spanish, and North American children babbling would: A) not be able
to tell them apart. B) be able to tell them apart if they were older than 6 months. C) be able to tell them apart if they
were older than 8 to 10 months. D) be able to tell them apart at any age.
85. Which of the following is not true of babbling?
A) It is imitation of adult speech. B) It is the same in all cultures. C) It typically occurs from about age 4 months to 1 yr.
D) Babbling increasingly comes to resemble a particular language. E) Deaf babies babble with gestures.
86. One reason an English-speaking adult may have difficulty pronouncing Russian words is that:
A) the vocal tracts of English- and Russian-speaking people develop differently in response to the demands of the two
languages. B) although English and Russian have very similar morphemes, their phonemic inventories are very
different. C) although English and Russian have very similar phonemes, their morphemic inventories are very different.
D) after the babbling stage, a child who hears only English stops uttering other phonemes.
87. The child who says “Milk gone” is engaging in ________. This type of utterance demonstrates that children are
actively experimenting with the rules of ________.
A) babbling; syntax B) telegraphic speech; syntax C) babbling; semantics D) telegraphic speech; semantics
88. Telegraphic speech is typical of the ________ stage.
A) babbling B) one-word
C) two-word
D) three-word
89. Children first demonstrate a rudimentary understanding of syntax during the ________ stage.
A) babbling B) one-word C) two-word D) three-word
90. Skinner and other behaviorists have argued that language development is the result of:
A) imitation. B) reinforcement. C) association. D) all of the above.
91. Which of the following utterances is an example of overgeneralization of a grammatical rule?
A) “We goed to the store.” B) “Ball pretty.” C) “The sky is crying.” D) “We eat 'paghetti.”
92. Which of the following is not cited by Chomsky as evidence that language acquisition cannot be explained by
learning alone? A) Children master the complicated rules of grammar with ease. B) Children create sentences they
have never heard. C) Children make the kinds of mistakes that suggest they are attempting to apply rules of grammar.
D) Children raised in isolation from language spontaneously begin speaking words.
93. Which of the following best describes Chomsky's view of language development?
A) Language is an entirely learned ability. B) Language is an innate ability. C) Humans have a biological
predisposition to acquire language. D) There are no cultural influences on the development of language.
94. The study in which people who immigrated to the United States at various ages were compared in terms of their
ability to understand English grammar found that: A) age of arrival had no effect on mastery of grammar. B) those
who immigrated as children understood grammar as well as native speakers. C) those who immigrated as adults
understood grammar as well as native speakers. D) whether or not English was spoken in the home was the most
important factor in mastering the rules of grammar.
95. Deaf children who are not exposed to sign language until they are teenagers: A) are unable to master the basic
words of sign language. B) learn the basic words but not how to order them. C) are unable to master either the basic
words or syntax of sign language. D) never become as fluent as those who learned to sign at a younger age.
96. Whorf's linguistic determination hypothesis states that: A) language is primarily a learned ability. B) language is
partially an innate ability. C) the size of a person's vocabulary reflects his or her intelligence. D) our language shapes
our thinking.
97. The linguistic determinism hypothesis is challenged by the finding that: A) chimps can learn to communicate
spontaneously by using sign language. B) people with no word for a certain color can still perceive that color
accurately. C) the Eskimo language contains a number of words for snow, whereas English has only one. D) infants'
babbling contains many phonemes that do not occur in their own language and that they therefore cannot have heard.
98. Several studies have indicated that the generic pronoun “he”: A) tends for children and adults alike to trigger
images of both males and females. B) tends for adults to trigger images of both males and females, but for children to
trigger images of males. C) tends for both children and adults to trigger images of males but not females. D) for both
children and adults triggers images of females about one-fourth of the time it is used.
99. Which of the following is true regarding the relationship between thinking and language? A) “Real” thinking
requires the use of language. B) People sometimes think in images rather than in words. C) A thought that cannot be
expressed in a particular language cannot occur to speakers of that language. D) All of the above are true.
100. Regarding the relationship between thinking and language, which of the following most accurately reflects the
position taken in the text? A) Language determines everything about our thinking. B) Language determines the way
we think. C) Thinking without language is not possible. D) Thinking affects our language, which then affects our
thought.
101. The chimpanzee Sultan used a short stick to pull a longer stick that was out of reach into his cage. He then used the
longer stick to reach a piece of fruit. Researchers hypothesized that Sultan's discovery of the solution to his problem was
the result of: A) trial and error. B) heuristics. C) functional fixedness. D) mental set. E) insight.
102. Researchers who are convinced that animals can think point to evidence that: A) monkeys demonstrate the ability
to “count” by learning to touch pictures of objects in ascending numerical order. B) chimpanzees regularly use
branches, stones, and other objects as tools in their natural habitats. C) chimps invent grooming and courtship customs
and pass them on to their peers. D) all of the above occur.
103. Biologist Karl von Frisch shared the Nobel prize for his discovery that honeybees communicate with each other by:
A) varying the acoustic pitch of their buzzing noises. B) secreting chemical odors called pheromones. C) performing
an intricate dance. D) leading other worker bees on lengthy flights to find nectar.
104. Researchers taught the chimpanzee Washoe and the gorilla Koko to communicate by using:
A) various sounds. B) plastic symbols of various shapes and colors. C) sign language. D) all of the above.
105. Which of the following has been argued by critics of ape language research? A) Ape language is merely imitation
of the trainer's behavior. B) There is little evidence that apes can equal even a 3-year-old's ability to order words with
proper syntax. C) By seeing what they wish to see, trainers attribute greater linguistic ability to apes than actually
exists. D) All of the above have been argued.
Essay: write a mock essay on the topic below. Use complete sentences. DO NOT bullet or number.
In simplest terms, human memory takes essentially meaningless sensory information (such as the sound
of your professor’s voice) and changes it into meaningful patterns (words, sentences and concepts) that
you can store and use later. This process is referred to by cognitive psychologists as the informationprocessing model of memory.
Using your knowledge of the chapter, describe the information-processing model of memory, and provide
a specific example of each of the following: sensory storage, short-term memory, and long-term memory.
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