Cognitive Psychology and Memory Flashcards
7 cards from real Psychology Degree practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Cognitive Psychology and Memory flashcards as text
Which theory proposes that forgetting occurs because memory traces fade over time without rehearsal, rather than because of interference from other memories?
Answer: Decay theory
Decay theory attributes forgetting to the gradual fading of the memory trace (engram) due to the passage of time and disuse.
What distinguishes 'recall' from 'recognition' as measures of memory?
Answer: Recall requires reproducing information without cues; recognition requires identifying previously encountered information from options
Recall (e.g., free recall, cued recall) requires active retrieval with few or no cues, while recognition provides the target among alternatives for identification.
Which phenomenon describes surprisingly vivid and detailed (though not always accurate) memories for personally significant, emotionally charged public events?
Answer: Flashbulb memory
Flashbulb memories are highly detailed, confident recollections of the circumstances surrounding a shocking public event, though their accuracy degrades over time like other memories.
A researcher finds that participants remember more words when tested in the same underwater environment where they originally learned them. This is evidence for:
Answer: Context-dependent memory
Godden and Baddeley's (1975) classic scuba-diver study demonstrated context-dependent memory: retrieval is best when the environmental context at test matches that at encoding.
Which neurotransmitter system is most directly implicated in the emotional enhancement of memory consolidation, particularly for fear-based memories?
Answer: Norepinephrine acting on the amygdala
Norepinephrine released during emotionally arousing events activates beta-adrenergic receptors in the amygdala, which modulates hippocampal consolidation and enhances long-term retention of emotional memories.
What is 'metamemory,' and why is it important for academic learning?
Answer: Knowledge and monitoring of one's own memory processes and capabilities
Metamemory is self-knowledge about how one's memory works, including judgments of learning and monitoring comprehension, which helps students allocate study time effectively.
In Tulving's distinction between episodic and semantic memory, which type stores general world knowledge independent of personal experience?
Answer: Semantic memory
Semantic memory contains context-free factual knowledge (e.g., 'Paris is the capital of France') not tied to any specific personal episode of learning.