Memory Chapter — Practice MCQ

Set (65 Questions)

Covers: definitions, models of memory, sensory/STM/LTM, retrieval,
forgetting, neuroscience, amnesia, applied psychology

Q1. Rehearsing a phone number over and over in your head just long
enough to dial it is an example of which process/technique? - a)
Elaborative rehearsal - b) Chunking - c) Encoding specificity - d)
Maintenance rehearsal

Q2. Which model of memory proposes that information is processed

simultaneously across a network of neural connections rather than in
discrete stages? - a) Levels-of-processing model - b) Information-
processing model - c) Parallel distributed processing model - d)
Three-stage model

Q3. A person witnesses a car accident. A week later, a leading

question changes a small detail in how they recall the event. This best
illustrates: - a) Proactive interference - b) The misinformation effect -
c) Encoding failure - d) The serial position effect

Q4. The very brief visual sensory memory that lasts only a fraction of
a second is called: - a) Echoic memory - b) Working memory - c)
Iconic memory - d) Eidetic memory

Q5. According to George Miller, the average capacity of short-term

memory is: - a) 3 ± 1 items - b) 9 ± 3 items - c) 5 ± 3 items - d) 7 ± 2
items

Q6. Riya can vividly recall exactly where she was and what she was
doing when she heard about a major earthquake. This is best
described as a: - a) Semantic memory - b) Flashbulb memory - c)
Nondeclarative memory - d) State-dependent memory

Q7. Which brain structure is most strongly associated with the

storage of nondeclarative (implicit) memories such as motor skills? -
a) Amygdala - b) Hippocampus - c) Prefrontal cortex - d) Cerebellum

Q8. A student studies for 3 hours straight the night before an exam
instead of spreading study sessions across several days. This is an
example of: - a) Distributed practice - b) Elaborative rehearsal - c)
Chunking - d) Massed practice

Q9. Recoding the digits “1-9-4-7” as the year “1947” instead of four
separate digits is an example of: - a) Priming - b) Maintenance
rehearsal - c) Encoding specificity - d) Chunking

Q10. Which of these is NOT one of the three basic processes of

memory identified in the chapter? - a) Consolidation - b) Storage - c)
Retrieval - d) Encoding

Q11. In Sperling’s partial report experiments, participants could

accurately report any single row of letters when cued immediately,
suggesting that: - a) The entire grid existed briefly in iconic memory -
b) Echoic memory lasts longer than iconic memory - c) Only four to
five letters could ever be stored - d) Selective attention filters
information before storage

Q12. A person who was in a car accident cannot remember the hours
leading up to the crash, but can still form new memories going
forward. This is: - a) Infantile amnesia - b) Anterograde amnesia - c)
Retrograde amnesia - d) False-memory syndrome
Q13. Which of the following best demonstrates state-dependent
learning? - a) Studying and testing in the same physical classroom - b)
Remembering information better when in the same mood as when it
was learned - c) Forgetting a list because a longer list interfered with
it - d) Recalling the first and last items of a list most easily

Q14. The tendency to remember words at the beginning of a list

better because they received more rehearsal time is called the: - a)
Recency effect - b) Testing effect - c) Encoding specificity effect - d)
Primacy effect

Q15. Which theorist proposed the levels-of-processing model, arguing

that deeper (meaning-based) processing leads to better retention? - a)
Broadbent - b) Craik and Lockhart - c) Atkinson and Shiffrin - d)
Sperling

Q16. A patient with damage to the hippocampus can still learn to

solve a puzzle through repeated practice but has no conscious
memory of ever having seen it before. This illustrates that: - a)
Procedural (nondeclarative) memory can function independently of
the hippocampus - b) The cerebellum is no longer functional - c)
Declarative memory does not require consolidation - d) Working
memory is unaffected by hippocampal damage

Q17. Which of the following is an example of retroactive interference?

- a) Struggling to recall your old address after moving because your
new address keeps coming to mind - b) Forgetting something because
you never paid attention to it - c) A memory fading simply due to the
passage of time - d) Remembering your old locker combination
instead of your new one

Q18. The “tip-of-the-tongue” phenomenon is best described as a

temporary failure of: - a) Encoding - b) Consolidation - c) Recognition
- d) Recall

Q19. Multiple-choice exams are generally easier than essay exams

mainly because multiple-choice questions rely more on: - a)
Recognition rather than recall - b) Elaborative rehearsal - c) Working
memory capacity - d) Recall rather than recognition

Q20. According to Ebbinghaus’s curve of forgetting, the greatest

amount of forgetting occurs: - a) After several weeks - b) At a
constant rate throughout the retention period - c) Gradually over
several months - d) Very soon after learning, within the first hour

Q21. A child who cannot verbally explain how to tie shoelaces but can
demonstrate the action perfectly is displaying which type of memory?
- a) Episodic memory - b) Semantic memory - c) Nondeclarative
memory - d) Explicit memory

Q22. Which brain region is most closely linked to the storage of

memories involving conditioned fear responses? - a) Cerebellum - b)
Amygdala - c) Occipital lobe - d) Posterior cingulate

Q23. Which of the following would be classified as an episodic

memory rather than a semantic memory? - a) Knowing that Paris is
the capital of France - b) Knowing the multiplication tables - c)
Remembering your own high school graduation ceremony - d)
Knowing the meaning of the word “gravity”

Q24. A memory theorist argues that memories are not stored as fixed
“boxes” of information but instead exist along a continuum from
active attention to permanent storage. This view is most consistent
with criticism of the: - a) Levels-of-processing model - b) Semantic
network model - c) Parallel distributed processing model - d)
Information-processing model
Q25. Sundar keeps reaching for the wrong app icon after switching to
a new phone layout because his memory of the old layout keeps
intruding. This illustrates: - a) Retroactive interference - b) Decay - c)
Encoding failure - d) Proactive interference

Q26. Echoic memory typically lasts approximately: - a) 30 seconds -

b) A fraction of a second - c) 2 to 4 seconds - d) Up to a minute

Q27. Which of the following is the best real-world example of

encoding specificity? - a) Performing better on an exam when tested
in the same room where the material was studied - b) Forgetting a
name because you never really listened to it - c) Confusing two similar
foreign languages while learning both - d) Remembering the last few
items on a shopping list most easily

Q28. In Loftus’s classic study using a slide sequence of a car accident,

participants who were later given a misleading description of a “yield
sign” (when a stop sign was actually shown) tended to: - a) Correct
the misinformation without difficulty - b) Show no change in accuracy
- c) Misremember having seen a yield sign - d) Recall both signs
equally well

Q29. Which structure of working memory acts as the “central

coordinator” that controls the other subsystems? - a) Phonological
loop - b) Visuospatial sketchpad - c) Central executive - d) Episodic
buffer only

Q30. A person with hyperthymesia, who remembers nearly every day

of their life in extraordinary detail, best illustrates that: - a)
Forgetting serves an adaptive function that most people rely on - b)
Semantic memory is always more accurate than episodic memory - c)
Flashbulb memories are always accurate - d) The hippocampus is not
necessary for long-term storage

Q31. Which of the following statements about eidetic imagery (often

confused with “photographic memory”) is TRUE? - a) It is common in
most adults - b) It allows someone to understand material better just
by having a strong visual memory - c) It typically becomes stronger
with age - d) It is rare and tends to diminish after childhood

Q32. The semantic network model proposed by Collins and Quillian

suggests that verifying “a canary is an animal” takes longer than
verifying “a canary is a bird” because: - a) Birds are remembered
better than animals in general - b) It requires activating more nodes
in a hierarchical network - c) Semantic memory decays faster than
episodic memory - d) Animal facts are stored in the amygdala

Q33. Which of the following would most likely cause encoding failure
rather than true forgetting? - a) Losing access to a memory due to
newer, similar information - b) A memory trace decaying due to disuse
- c) Being unable to accurately describe the exact design on a coin
you’ve seen thousands of times - d) Forgetting the middle items of a
memorized list

Q34. Research on the testing effect suggests that long-term retention

is improved mainly through: - a) Reviewing notes passively before a
test - b) Practicing the retrieval of information - c) Cramming the
night before an exam - d) Listening to information while asleep

Q35. Which of the following best distinguishes recall from

recognition? - a) Recall involves external cues, recognition does not -
b) Recall is always more accurate than recognition - c) Recognition
requires matching a stimulus to stored information, while recall
requires retrieving it with minimal cues - d) Recognition and recall
both rely equally on external cues
Q36. A patient who has just undergone electroconvulsive therapy
(ECT) is most likely to experience: - a) Improved consolidation of new
memories - b) Enhanced episodic memory - c) Retrograde amnesia -
d) Infantile amnesia

Q37. Which of the following best explains why most people cannot
remember events from before age 2 or 3? - a) The cerebellum has not
yet developed - b) Semantic memory has not yet formed - c) Early
memories tend to be implicit, and the hippocampus/language systems
are still developing - d) Sleep deprivation in infancy disrupts
consolidation

Q38. Which neurotransmitter is notably reduced in patients with

Alzheimer’s disease? - a) Norepinephrine - b) Dopamine - c)
Acetylcholine - d) GABA

Q39. According to research on false-memory syndrome, a false

memory is more likely to be successfully implanted in someone if the
event is: - a) Extremely traumatic in nature - b) Suggested only once,
briefly - c) Perceived as plausible - d) Completely implausible

Q40. Which term describes the tendency, after learning an outcome,

to believe you “knew it all along”? - a) Confirmation bias - b)
Hindsight bias - c) Serial position effect - d) Misinformation effect

Q41. The process by which short-term memories become stabilized

into long-term memories through physical changes in neurons is
called: - a) Encoding specificity - b) Chunking - c) Attenuation - d)
Consolidation

Q42. Which of the following is an example of the recency effect? - a)

Recognizing a face you saw only once before - b) Remembering the
last few items on a grocery list better than the middle items - c)
Recalling material better because you studied it in the same room as
the test - d) Remembering a poem because you sang it as a child

Q43. In Godden and Baddeley’s (1975) scuba diving study,

participants who learned words underwater recalled them best when:
- a) Tested a week later regardless of location - b) Tested underwater
again - c) Tested on land - d) Tested while listening to music

Q44. Broadbent’s filter theory of selective attention proposed that

information is filtered: - a) After it has already entered long-term
memory - b) Equally regardless of importance - c) Only based on
emotional content - d) At a “bottleneck” between sensory memory and
short-term memory, based on importance

Q45. Which of the following best represents proactive interference? -

a) A new phone number being forgotten because you keep thinking of
your old one - b) Forgetting to attend to a message because you
weren’t paying attention - c) A memory fading due to disuse over
years - d) Struggling to remember your old password after
memorizing a new one

Q46. Damage to which brain region is most associated with the

inability to form new long-term declarative memories, as seen in the
case of H.M.? - a) Cerebellum - b) Occipital lobe - c) Hippocampus -
d) Thalamus

Q47. Which of the following supplements has research shown to have

little to no benefit for memory in healthy individuals, despite
widespread popular belief? - a) Vitamin C - b) Gingko biloba - c)
Protein powder - d) Iron

Q48. A person recalls a childhood memory that they later discover

never actually happened, having been implanted through repeated
suggestive questioning. This illustrates: - a) The recency effect - b)
The testing effect - c) State-dependent learning - d) False-memory
syndrome

Q49. Which type of long-term memory involves general facts and

knowledge not tied to personal experience, such as knowing that
water boils at 100°C? - a) Episodic memory - b) Procedural memory -
c) Semantic memory - d) Nondeclarative memory

Q50. Which of the following best illustrates automatic encoding? - a)

A student memorizing formulas using flashcards - b) Effortlessly
knowing roughly how many times you passed a particular store today -
c) Rehearsing a phone number to keep it active in STM - d) Learning
a new language through years of active study

Q51. A researcher shows participants a list of words while playing sad

music, then later tests recall while playing either sad or happy music.
Better recall occurs when mood matches at both encoding and
retrieval. This demonstrates: - a) Context-dependent learning - b) The
misinformation effect - c) State-dependent learning - d) The primacy
effect

Q52. Which of the following statements about working memory is

accurate? - a) It is identical to sensory memory in every respect - b) It
refers only to the storage aspect of short-term memory - c) It involves
active processing and manipulation of information held in short-term
memory - d) It has unlimited capacity, unlike short-term memory

Q53. The fact that people can accurately recognize previously seen
human faces at very high rates (85–95%) even after seeing thousands
of images suggests that: - a) Recognition memory for faces tends to be
highly accurate - b) Iconic memory stores faces permanently - c)
Recall and recognition are functionally identical - d) The amygdala is
solely responsible for facial memory

Q54. Which type of amnesia would most likely prevent someone from
remembering the specific details of an accident they were just in,
moments before it happened? - a) Retrograde amnesia - b) Infantile
amnesia - c) Anterograde amnesia - d) Source amnesia

Q55. Which of the following best reflects the constructive processing

view of memory retrieval? - a) Memories are retrieved exactly as they
were originally encoded, like a video replay - b) Once consolidated,
memories cannot be altered - c) Memories are rebuilt each time they
are retrieved and can be altered by new information - d) Only implicit
memories are subject to distortion

Q56. In Miller’s digit-span research, the point at which recall

accuracy sharply declines helped establish that STM capacity is best
described as: - a) Unlimited but brief - b) Limited in both capacity and
duration - c) Limited in duration only - d) Limited in capacity but
unlimited in duration

Q57. Which of the following is most likely to reduce proactive

interference when learning new material? - a) Practicing exclusively
at night - b) Deliberately spacing out study of highly similar material
over time - c) Cramming similar subjects back-to-back - d) Avoiding
all forms of rehearsal

Q58. Regular moderate exercise has been linked to improved memory

performance, likely due to increased release of which
neurotransmitter? - a) Serotonin - b) Acetylcholine - c) GABA - d)
Norepinephrine

Q59. Which of the following best describes “false positives” in

recognition memory? - a) Correctly rejecting an unfamiliar stimulus -
b) Mistakenly believing something is familiar when it was never
actually encountered - c) Accurately recalling a studied item without
cues - d) Forgetting a studied item entirely
Q60. A diet rich in DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish) has been
linked to improved memory primarily through its effect on which brain
structure? - a) Cerebellum - b) Amygdala - c) Hippocampus - d)
Thalamus

Q61. Which of the following best illustrates the difference between

“available” and “accessible” long-term memories? - a) A memory that
has completely decayed and no longer exists anywhere in the brain -
b) An implicit memory that can never become conscious - c) Knowing
a memory exists somewhere in storage but being temporarily unable
to retrieve it - d) A memory that was never encoded in the first place

Q62. Which researcher is most closely associated with extensive

research on the unreliability and reconstructive nature of eyewitness
testimony? - a) George Sperling - b) Hermann Ebbinghaus - c) Donald
Broadbent - d) Elizabeth Loftus

Q63. According to the chapter, which of the following would most

likely interfere with maintenance rehearsal and cause information to
be lost from short-term memory? - a) Repeating the information faster
- b) A sudden distraction or interruption - c) Writing the information
down - d) Associating the information with something meaningful

Q64. Which of the following best describes the relationship between

sleep and memory, based on research discussed in the chapter? - a)
Sleep has no measurable effect on memory consolidation - b) New,
unfamiliar information is best learned entirely during sleep - c) Sleep
supports consolidation and can even help reduce interference-based
forgetting - d) Only REM sleep contributes to memory, while other
stages are irrelevant

Q65. A person trying to recall the name of an old classmate says, “I

know it starts with a ‘J’ and has two syllables, but I just can’t get it
out.” This is a classic example of: - a) Encoding failure - b) The
recency effect - c) Retroactive interference - d) The tip-of-the-tongue
phenomenon

Answer Key
Q Ans Q Ans Q Ans Q Ans Q Ans
1 d 14 d 27 a 40 b 53 a
2 c 15 b 28 c 41 d 54 a
3 b 16 a 29 c 42 b 55 c
4 c 17 a 30 a 43 b 56 b
5 d 18 d 31 d 44 d 57 b
6 b 19 a 32 b 45 a 58 d
7 d 20 d 33 c 46 c 59 b
8 d 21 c 34 b 47 b 60 c
9 d 22 b 35 c 48 d 61 c
10 a 23 c 36 c 49 c 62 d
11 a 24 d 37 c 50 b 63 b
12 c 25 d 38 c 51 c 64 c
13 b 26 c 39 c 52 c 65 d

Tip: Cover the answer key and attempt all 65 first. Re-attempt only
the ones you got wrong after a day, to take advantage of the testing
effect and distributed practice discussed in the chapter!