COOP Memory 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When you smell fresh cookies and immediately remember your grandmother's kitchen, this is an example of:
- state-dependent memory
- context-dependent memory
- cue-dependent recall (Correct answer)
- flashbulb memory
Correct answer: cue-dependent recall
Cue-dependent recall occurs when a sensory cue (smell) triggers retrieval of an associated memory.
Question 2: A witness to an accident is asked leading questions by a lawyer, causing the witness to 'remember' details that never happened. This illustrates:
- source monitoring error
- misinformation effect (Correct answer)
- decay theory
- encoding failure
Correct answer: misinformation effect
The misinformation effect occurs when post-event information alters a person's memory of the original event.
Question 3: Long-term potentiation (LTP) is important because it:
- erases unused synaptic connections
- strengthens synaptic connections when neurons fire together (Correct answer)
- moves information from long-term to short-term memory
- increases the speed of sensory processing
Correct answer: strengthens synaptic connections when neurons fire together
LTP is the process by which repeated synaptic activity strengthens connections, forming the physical basis of memory.
Question 4: Which brain structure is MOST critical for forming new declarative memories?
- cerebellum
- amygdala
- hippocampus (Correct answer)
- occipital lobe
Correct answer: hippocampus
The hippocampus is essential for consolidating new explicit (declarative) memories into long-term storage.
Question 5: A student groups 20 vocabulary words into 4 categories of 5 words each before studying. This improves memory through:
- elaboration
- chunking (Correct answer)
- the method of loci
- shadowing
Correct answer: chunking
Chunking organizes information into meaningful groups, reducing the load on working memory.
Question 6: Which of the following is an example of IMPLICIT memory?
- Recalling what you ate for breakfast
- Knowing the capital of France
- Feeling nervous near dogs after being bitten as a child (Correct answer)
- Remembering a friend's birthday
Correct answer: Feeling nervous near dogs after being bitten as a child
Implicit memory includes conditioned emotional responses that influence behavior without conscious awareness.
Question 7: The 'forgetting curve' described by Hermann Ebbinghaus shows that most forgetting occurs:
- gradually over many months
- immediately and then levels off (Correct answer)
- only during sleep
- when new learning interferes
Correct answer: immediately and then levels off
Ebbinghaus found that forgetting is steepest shortly after learning and then slows down over time.
COOP Memory 3
When you smell fresh cookies and immediately remember your grandmother's kitchen, this is an example of: