Module 5 Study Guide
Chapters 7 and 8
Learning Objective 1
Sections 7.1, 7.2, Creating Memories; Memories are Unique
- What are the three processing phases for the creation of memories? (pp. 260-261)
- How does encoding differ from storage? (p. 260)
- What process accesses memory? (p. 261)
- What are some examples of the brain being unlike a computer? (p. 262)
- Why is attention crucial for memory creation? (pp. 262-263)
- Can you control what you pay attention to? What are some examples of information the brain will prioritize even while you are selectively paying attention to something else? (pp. 263-264)
- What does Donald Broadbent’s filter theory of attention demonstrate? (pp. 263-264)
- What is the cocktail party phenomenon? (pp. 263-264)
Learning Objective 2
Sections 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, Three Memory Stores; Sensory Storage; Working Memory
- What are the three memory stores? (pp. 264-265)
- What is the content of a sensory memory? (p. 266)
- What does duration refer to in memory systems? What does capacity refer to in memory systems? (p. 266)
- How does working memory broaden our view of short-term memory? (pp. 267-26)
- What is the capacity and the duration of short term storage? (pp. 268-269)
- What is the advantage of chunking? Why would master chess players have trouble chunking irrational chess board arrangements? (pp. 268-269)
Learning Objective 3
Sections 7.6, 7.7, Long-term Storage, Organizing Long-term Storage
- What is long-term storage? (pp. 269-270)
- How do different levels of processing relate to encoding? (pp. 270-272)
- Why is maintenance rehearsal way less effective than elaborative rehearsal? (p. 270)
- What is dual coding? How can we use dual coding to our advantage? (p. 272)
- What are some differences between long term and short term storage? (pp. 272-273)
- What are primacy and recency effects in memory? (p. 273)
- What are schemas? How do they help us encode and retrieve memories? (pp. 274-275)
- How does an association network explain your memories of details? (pp. 275-276)
- How does spreading activation explain how an association network functions? (p. 276)
Learning Objective 4
Sections 7.8, 7.9, 7.10, Amnesia; Explicit Memory; Implicit Memory
- Why are anterograde amnesia and retrograde amnesia probably caused by damage to different areas of the brain? (pp. 276-278)
- How does amnesia help to make the distinction clear between explicit memory and implicit memory? (pp. 279-280)
- How does explicit episodic memory differ from semantic memory? What are some examples of each type of memory? (figure 7.18, pp. 280-281)
- Are motor skills and motor habits implicit memories or explicit memories? (pp. 281-282)
- How did H.M.’s abilities (like other patients with amnesia) demonstrate that implicit memories are unaffected by amnesia? (pp. 282-283)
- What is an example of a procedural memory? (pp. 282-283)
- How is classical conditioning related to implicit memory? (pp. 282-283)
Learning Objective 5
Sections 7.12, 7.13, Retrieval Cues; Forgetting
- How does a retrieval cue work? Why are these study guide questions retrieval cues? (pp. 287-289)
- If your memory for something is context dependent, what is necessary to retrieve it? And what if a specific memory is state dependent? What is required for retrieval to work in that case? (p. 287)
- How do mnemonics help you encode and retrieve memories? (pp. 288-289)
- What is the mnemonic method of loci? Could you use it for studying psychology? How? (p. 289)
- What is forgetting, and how is it different from amnesia? (pp. 289-291)
- Does forgetting from long-term memory occur because of decay or because of interference? What is interference in memory retrieval? (pp. 291-292)
- What is “blocked” in the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon? (p. 292)
- What typically causes absentmindedness? (p. 293)
Learning Objective 6
Sections 7.11, 7.14, Memory Processing in the Brain; Distorted Memories
- Which physical locations in the brain are associated with memory processing? (back to pp. 283-284)
- How do the amygdala and cerebellum differ in the types of memories processed? (figure 7.22, p. 283)
- What is memory consolidation? (pp. 284-285)
- How does reconsolidation potentially change memories? (pp. 285-286)
- What are the major sources of memory distortions? (forward to pp. 293-297)
- Why do your thoughts and attitudes and the stories you tell bias your memories? (p. 293-294)
- What do flashbulb memories tell us about memory accuracy? (Are flashbulb memories episodic or semantic?) (pp. 294-295)
- What is a memory misattribution? Can you think of a time when you were affected by source amnesia or cryptomnesia? (p. 295)
- How did Elizabeth Loftus and her colleagues show that misinformation can affect a person’s memory of an event? (pp. 295-296)
- How reliable are eyewitness accounts of criminal events? What circumstances make these memories worse, or better? (pp. 295-296)
- What are false memories? Can they happen to anyone? (pp. 296-297)
Learning Objective 7
Sections 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, Thinking; Schemas and Concepts; Schemas as Basis of Stereotypes
- Compare a mental representation to an object in the world. What is a mental map representing? (pp. 304 & 305-306)
- What do schemas do? (pp. 306-308)
- How do concepts contribute to categories of mental representations? (figure 8.3, pp. 306-307)
- Are the concepts in your head prototypes, or are they exemplars? (pp. 306-308)
- Why do we say that stereotypes are schemas? What effects do stereotypes have on our perceptions of one-another? (pp. 308-309)
Learning Objective 8
Sections 8.4, 8.5, Biased Reasoning; Biases in Decision Making
- What are the three main forms of thinking? (figure 8.10, pp. 309-310)
- Why should formal reasoning lead to less bias than informal reasoning? (p. 310)
- How does the confirmation bias make you feel more certain of your own beliefs? (p. 310)
- What is an example of an illusory correlation? (pp. 310-311)
- How does an algorithm differ from a heuristic? (p. 313)
- How does the availability heuristic limit the information you’ll use when making a decision? (pp. 313-314)
- Can you see how the representativeness heuristic relates to stereotyping? (p. 314)
- What are you considering if you make a decision that is based on the affective heuristic? (pp. 314-315)
- Are heuristics more active during informal reasoning or during formal reasoning? (pp. 313-315?)
Learning Objective 9
Sections 8.9, 8.10, 8.11, One General Factor of Intelligence; Alternative Types of Intelligence; Intelligence is a Result of Genes and Environment
- How do psychologists describe intelligence? (pp. 322-323)
- What is the difference between an IQ score and general intelligence? (p. 323)
- What kind of evidence supports Charles Spearman’s idea of a general factor of intelligence? (pp. 323-324)
- What is the difference between Raymond Cattell’s ideas of fluid and crystallized intelligences? How do fluid and crystallized intelligences relate to general intelligence? (pp. 323-324)
- What are some of the “multiple intelligences” proposed by Howard Gardner? (pp. 327-328)
- What three intelligences did Robert Sternberg claim in his triarchic theory? How would each apply to your life? (p. 328)
- What is the focus of emotional intelligence? (p. 328)
- How can differences in genetics between individuals cause differences in general intelligence? (pp. 329-330)
- How do behavioral genetics studies try to distinguish genetic and environmental influences on characteristics like intelligence? (pp. 329-330)
- How can environmental factors, such as prenatal health, breastfeeding, or early education affect the IQs of children as they age? (pp. 330-331)
Learning Objective 10
Sections 8.12, 8.13, Psychometric Tests; Cognitive Performance; Group Differences
- Why are reliability and validity important for psychometric tests? (pp. 331-335)
- What is the difference between achievement tests and aptitude tests? (p. 332)
- What is the WAIS? What are its components? (p. 332)
- What does an IQ score of 100 mean? (What does it mean for a child? What does it mean for an adult?) (pp. 332-333)
- What does a high degree of reliability mean for a psychological measurement instrument? What does a high degree of validity mean? (p. 331)
- Why are the examples of IQ questions in Figure 8.36 much less culturally biased than old IQ test items? (p. 335)
- What are the two different ways psychologists test reaction time? (p. 336)
- How might a larger capacity of working memory help to produce a higher IQ score? (p. 336)
- What makes a savant different from someone who scores high on an IQ test? (p. 337)