Psychology Degree Cognitive Processes and Memory 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The 'tip-of-the-tongue' (TOT) state is best explained as a failure of:
- Encoding
- Retrieval (Correct answer)
- Storage decay
- Sensory registration
Correct answer: Retrieval
TOT states occur when information is stored in long-term memory but retrieval cues are temporarily insufficient to access it fully.
Question 2: George Miller's classic research on working memory capacity suggested that people can hold approximately how many chunks of information at once?
- 3 ± 1
- 5 ± 1
- 7 ± 2 (Correct answer)
- 12 ± 3
Correct answer: 7 ± 2
Miller (1956) famously described working memory capacity as 'the magical number seven, plus or minus two.'
Question 3: In Endel Tulving's framework, memory for personally experienced events tied to specific times and places is called:
- Semantic memory
- Implicit memory
- Episodic memory (Correct answer)
- Procedural memory
Correct answer: Episodic memory
Episodic memory is the autobiographical memory system that records personally experienced events with their temporal and spatial context.
Question 4: The 'encoding specificity principle' (Tulving & Thomson, 1973) predicts that recall will be best when:
- Retrieval cues match conditions present at encoding (Correct answer)
- More time is spent on rehearsal
- Emotional arousal at retrieval is high
- Items are presented in random order
Correct answer: Retrieval cues match conditions present at encoding
Memory retrieval is maximized when the cues available at retrieval match the context present when the memory was originally encoded.
Question 5: Which of the following is an example of proactive interference?
- Learning French makes it harder to remember previously learned Spanish
- Old Spanish vocabulary interferes with learning new French vocabulary (Correct answer)
- Fatigue during study reduces encoding efficiency
- Stress at retrieval blocks access to stored memories
Correct answer: Old Spanish vocabulary interferes with learning new French vocabulary
Proactive interference occurs when previously learned information disrupts the learning or recall of new information.
Question 6: Which brain structure is most critically associated with the consolidation of new declarative memories?
- Amygdala
- Cerebellum
- Hippocampus (Correct answer)
- Basal ganglia
Correct answer: Hippocampus
The hippocampus is essential for encoding and consolidating new declarative (explicit) memories, as demonstrated by patient H.M.'s case.
Question 7: Mnemonic strategies like the 'method of loci' improve memory primarily by:
- Increasing the emotional intensity of stimuli
- Linking new information to existing spatial and visual schemas (Correct answer)
- Reducing cognitive load through repetition
- Slowing encoding to allow full consolidation
Correct answer: Linking new information to existing spatial and visual schemas
The method of loci creates rich associations between new information and well-known spatial locations, leveraging existing long-term memory structures.
Psychology Degree Cognitive Processes and Memory 3
The 'tip-of-the-tongue' (TOT) state is best explained as a failure of: