MLAT Memory & Recall of Linguistic Information 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A learner reviews 30 vocabulary pairs using spaced repetition over three days. Compared to massed practice in one session, spaced repetition typically:
- Produces lower immediate scores but higher long-term retention (Correct answer)
- Produces higher immediate scores and higher long-term retention
- Shows no measurable difference in retention
- Helps with recognition but not recall
Correct answer: Produces lower immediate scores but higher long-term retention
Spaced repetition leverages the spacing effect, improving durable long-term memory at the cost of feeling harder in the short term.
Question 2: Which brain region is most critical for forming new explicit (declarative) memories for vocabulary?
- Cerebellum
- Amygdala
- Hippocampus (Correct answer)
- Broca's area
Correct answer: Hippocampus
The hippocampus is essential for consolidating new explicit memories, including newly learned word-meaning associations.
Question 3: On the MLAT, a high score on memory subtests is most predictive of success in:
- Learning phonetically transparent languages only
- Rapid vocabulary acquisition across any target language (Correct answer)
- Mastering syntax rules before pronunciation
- Reading comprehension in native language
Correct answer: Rapid vocabulary acquisition across any target language
Strong rote memory for word-meaning pairs correlates with faster vocabulary growth regardless of the target language.
Question 4: A test-taker is shown 15 word pairs, then given an interpolated task for 2 minutes, then tested. This design specifically measures:
- Immediate recall
- Short-term memory with minimal interference (Correct answer)
- Long-term retention after consolidation
- Implicit memory for pronunciation
Correct answer: Short-term memory with minimal interference
A brief delay with an intervening task tests short-term memory durability before long-term consolidation occurs.
Question 5: The keyword method for vocabulary memorization works by:
- Repeating words aloud 10 times without context
- Linking a foreign word's sound to an image connected to its meaning (Correct answer)
- Writing each word in five example sentences
- Color-coding words by grammatical category
Correct answer: Linking a foreign word's sound to an image connected to its meaning
The keyword method creates a phonetic and visual bridge between the foreign word's sound and its English meaning.
Question 6: Which type of memory is tested when a learner completes a familiar word stem (e.g., 'pre___') without consciously trying to remember?
- Explicit episodic memory
- Semantic working memory
- Implicit priming memory (Correct answer)
- Procedural declarative memory
Correct answer: Implicit priming memory
Word-stem completion taps implicit memory through priming, without conscious recollection effort.
Question 7: If a student forgets a word they studied yesterday but remembers it after seeing its first letter, this is an example of:
- Encoding failure
- Storage decay
- Retrieval failure aided by a cue (Correct answer)
- Retroactive interference
Correct answer: Retrieval failure aided by a cue
The memory was stored but inaccessible without a retrieval cue, demonstrating cue-dependent forgetting.
MLAT Memory & Recall of Linguistic Information 3
A learner reviews 30 vocabulary pairs using spaced repetition over three days.
Compared to massed practice in one session, spaced repetition typically: