MLAT Memory & Recall of Linguistic Information 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A language learner studies Swahili vocabulary and is tested immediately, then again after one week. The drop in scores between tests is primarily explained by:
- Encoding failure during initial study
- Forgetting curve (decay) without rehearsal (Correct answer)
- Semantic interference from English
- Phonological confusion with similar sounds
Correct answer: Forgetting curve (decay) without rehearsal
Without rehearsal or spaced review, Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve predicts rapid decay of newly learned material.
Question 2: Which condition would produce the BEST long-term recall of foreign vocabulary items?
- Massed study of 50 words the night before the test
- Spaced study with self-testing over multiple sessions (Correct answer)
- Reading vocabulary lists silently without testing
- Listening to vocabulary recorded at high speed
Correct answer: Spaced study with self-testing over multiple sessions
Combining the spacing effect with retrieval practice (self-testing) produces the strongest and most durable long-term memory.
Question 3: In a linguistic memory task, 'proactive interference' occurs when:
- New vocabulary prevents recall of older vocabulary
- Older vocabulary disrupts recall of newly learned vocabulary (Correct answer)
- Fatigue during the test reduces accuracy
- Pronunciation errors during study impair written recall
Correct answer: Older vocabulary disrupts recall of newly learned vocabulary
Proactive interference means old learning 'pushes forward' to block recall of newer material.
Question 4: A test-taker who excels at associating arbitrary symbols with sounds during the MLAT Number Learning subtest likely has strong:
- Inductive grammatical reasoning
- Rote auditory-visual associative memory (Correct answer)
- Phonemic discrimination
- Syntactic working memory
Correct answer: Rote auditory-visual associative memory
The Number Learning subtest requires linking arbitrary auditory symbols to visual symbols, directly measuring rote associative memory.
Question 5: Which of the following is an example of 'deep processing' that enhances vocabulary memory?
- Counting the letters in a foreign word
- Checking whether a word fits meaningfully into a sentence (Correct answer)
- Noting whether the word is printed in bold or italics
- Listening to how quickly the teacher pronounces the word
Correct answer: Checking whether a word fits meaningfully into a sentence
Deep (semantic) processing involves engaging with a word's meaning, which creates stronger memory encoding than shallow structural processing.
Question 6: When test-takers are asked to recall word pairs in any order they choose (free recall), they tend to cluster words by:
- The order in which they were originally presented
- Semantic or phonetic similarity (Correct answer)
- Word length from shortest to longest
- The confidence they felt during encoding
Correct answer: Semantic or phonetic similarity
Subjective organization in free recall shows learners naturally group semantically or phonetically similar items, reflecting how memory is organized.
Question 7: Which MLAT-relevant skill does a person demonstrate when they hear a foreign word once and accurately reproduce it five minutes later?
- Grammatical sensitivity
- Phonetic coding ability combined with short-term auditory memory (Correct answer)
- Inductive language learning
- Spelling-to-sound correspondence
Correct answer: Phonetic coding ability combined with short-term auditory memory
Accurately reproducing a heard word after a delay requires both encoding the phonetic pattern and holding it in short-term auditory memory.
MLAT Memory & Recall of Linguistic Information 5
A language learner studies Swahili vocabulary and is tested immediately, then again after one week.
The drop in scores between tests is primarily explained by: