Memory

After years of practice, Stanley can drive his regular route home from school without consciously thinking about every turn or pedal press. What type of memory processing allows him to perform this task with minimal conscious awareness?

Automatic Processing

While taking a history quiz, Maureen is presented with a list of dates and must match the correct event associated with each date from a provided set of options. What type of processing is Maureen using?

Recognition

Our long term memories are believed to be limitless and infinite. What is the name for the retaining or holding onto information to allow it to be retrieved or accessed at a future time?

Storage

During an AP Psychology exam, Leo is asked to write a short essay explaining the function of the hippocampus without any word bank or prompt choices provided. Which measure of memory retention is Leo using to pull this information directly from his memory?

Recall

Sarah studied a list of twenty Spanish vocabulary words by just looking at the spelling of the words right before bed. The next day, she could only remember four of them. Which type of processing, characterized by encoding superficial sensory information rather than meaning, did Sarah use?

Shallow Processing

A patient had surgery that removed a specific brain structure, leaving him unable to form new memories. Which specific structure was removed?

Hippocampus

When studying for a biology exam on cellular respiration, David relates the steps of the process to how a car engine burns fuel and creates a mind map connecting the concepts to real-life examples. He does this to make the information more relevant and meaningful to him. What type of memory encoding is David utilizing to ensure long-term retention?

Semantic Encoding

A student hears a lecture and reads the slide presentation. What is the name for the memory process of taking information in?

Encoding

At the beginning of the school year, Chloe makes a point to focus on the material she is learning, read the textbook chapters carefully, and take detailed notes. What type of processing is Chloe using to encode this new, complex information?

Effortful Processing

An individual spends hours memorizing formulas for a physics exam, successfully retaining the information in their long-term memory over the weekend. However, during the test, anxiety prevents them from accessing that retained information. The student successfully completed the storage phase, but experienced a failure in which specific stage of memory?

Retrieval

During a study session, Nora looks at the word "Psychology" and notes only that it starts with a capital letter, is written in a bold font, and ends with the letter "y." Which level of processing is Nora using to encode this word?

Structural Processing

Two students are studying for the same AP exam. Student A spends six straight hours cramming the night before the test. Student B spends one hour per night studying over six consecutive nights leading up to the test. Which specific study practice is Student A engaging in?

Massed Practice

Liz is given a shopping list of 15 items to memorize. Immediately after hearing the list once, she finds that she easily recalls the first three items and the last two items, but struggles to remember the items in the middle. Which psychological phenomenon explains Liz's pattern of recall?

Serial Position Effect

Alex needs to remember a 10-digit phone number: 181217761945. Instead of trying to memorize all 10 individual numbers, he groups them into three meaningful historical years: 1812, 1776, and 1945. What memory strategy is Alex using?

Chunking

A speech contest participant memorizes her five-page opening address by visualizing herself walking through her own house. She mentally places the introduction in the driveway, the main arguments in the hallway and kitchen, and the conclusion in the living room. Which classic memory technique is she applying?

Method of Loci

Sean wants to do well on his first AP Psychology test. He studies his vocabulary every night for a week before the exam, while his friend only studied at lunch right before the test. Research shows that Sean should do better than his friend because he used which method of studying?

Distributed Practice

A new employee is trying to remember all the names of the people who work in his office. He decides to focus on the higher up employees first and work his way down to the entry level employees, so he has made a list categorizing the different positions in order such as President, Vice Presidents, Supervisors, etc. until he has listed every employee. What is the name of this memory technique?

Hierarchies

To prepare for an exam, Maya tries to connect the material to experiences from her own life, therefore making the information more meaningful to her. What type of processing is she utilizing?

Deep Processing

Joe's teacher is reading a list of vocabulary words out loud. Joe is focusing on how the words are pronounced and has no idea what most of the words mean. It is likely that Joe will not remember many of the vocabulary words because he is using which type of processing?

Phonemic Processing

Marcus is learning the order of the planets. To help himself remember, he memorizes the sentence, "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos," where the first letter of each word corresponds to a planet. What specific type of memory aid is Marcus using?

Mnemonic Device

A researcher presents participants with a list of twenty words. One participant, Brianna, successfully transfers the words into a permanent storage system with an unlimited capacity, allowing her to recall them several weeks later. Identify the memory stage where this information was permanently stored.

Long Term Memory

Missy is sitting in class when a sudden lightning bolt flashes outside the window, followed two seconds later by the sharp crack of thunder. Even after the sound stops, the auditory sound of the thunder lingers in her mind for a few seconds. Name the specific subcategory of sensory memory responsible for temporarily storing this auditory stimulus.

Echoic Memory

While mentally navigating her home to locate her lost car keys, Jill visualizes the spatial layout of her living room and bedroom in her mind's eye. Which specific component of working memory is Jill utilizing?

Visuospatial Sketchpad

Samantha needs to remember a single 7-digit confirmation code long enough to type it into a website. She repeats the digits "4-8-2-9-1-0-5" over and over in her head without thinking about their meaning until she finishes typing them. Which memory strategy is Samantha using?

Maintenance Rehearsal

Neurons are brain cells that create pathways in the brain and body. When a pathway is used repeatedly, the neurons grow and change to become stronger, faster and more efficient. What is the term for this process?

Long Term Potentiation

Alison got a new numerical password. She remembers the 7 digits for about 20 seconds without looking, but after that she can't remember them all. Which stage of memory allows her to remember the password digits for about 20 seconds?

Short Term Memory

Every time a student studies their vocabulary words for the test, they try to make a mental image of the concept. They use the same mental image each time they study a word. Which memory strategy is the student utilizing?

Elaborative Rehearsal

During a Spanish vocabulary quiz, Liam silently repeats the pronunciation of the new words in his head using an internal voice to keep them active in his working memory. Which component of working memory is Liam utilizing?

Phonological Loop

While walking past a billboard, Jordan glances at a bright red advertisement for a split second. Immediately after looking away, he retains a brief, visual image of the advertisement in his mind for less than a second before it fades. Which specific type of sensory memory is Jordan experiencing?

Iconic Memory

Ashley arrived at the carnival and was overwhelmed with all the lights, sounds and the delicious smell of fried oreos. What stage of memory collects information from Ashley's senses for a very brief time before it is sent on to short term memory or it is forgotten?

Sensory Memory

Which part of the brain stores our memories of how to walk, jump, type and other motor skills?

Cerebellum

Student A reads through their psychology textbook chapter four times to prepare for a final exam. Student B reads the chapter once and then spends the rest of their study time completing practice flashcards and self-quizzes without looking at the answers. Research shows that Student B is more likely to perform better on the final exam because they are using what study strategy?

Testing Effect

Steve was feeling anxious the day that he learned the material in class because he had broken his mother's new lamp and hadn't told her about it. What memory concept would state that Steve would have a better recall of the material he learned that day if he was also feeling anxious while taking the test?

State Dependent Memory

Even though Jack has not ridden a bicycle in over ten years, he is able to hop on one and smoothly balance, steer, and pedal without consciously thinking about the required physical movements. Name the specific type of memory that allows Jack to perform this physical skill.

Procedural Memory

Richard is mentally calculating the total cost of three items while walking down the grocery store aisle, keeping the running sum in his head just long enough to compare it to his budget. Which memory system is Richard actively using to hold and manipulate this information?

Working Memory

Before leaving her house in the morning, Darcy places a sticky note on her mirror to remind herself to drop off a package at the post office on her way home from school. What specific type of memory is Darcy using to remember to do something in the future?

Prospective Memory

When asked to write a personal narrative essay, Lori weaves together her factual knowledge of her family history with vivid memories of specific personal experiences from her childhood to tell the story of her identity. Which term best describes memories of these personal events and self-referential facts?

Autobiographical Memory

Joyce clearly remembers the specific details of her 18th birthday party, including what she was wearing, who was there, and the song that was playing when she blew out her candles. What type of long-term memory is Joyce demonstrating?

Episodic Memory

A scuba diver memorizes a list of specialized terminology while submerged underwater during a training exercise. Later, she demonstrates significantly higher recall of those terms while underwater than when tested sitting in a dry classroom. What memory concept accounts for this difference in recall performance?

Context Dependent Memory

During a school trivia competition, Jordan instantly recalls that the capital of France is Paris and that the human heart has four chambers, without remembering when or where he first learned these facts. What specific memory type is Jordan utilizing?

Semantic Memory

Michael recently got a new cell phone number. Whenever someone asks for his contact details, he accidentally gives them his old phone number that he used for five years.

Proactive Interference

Julian distinctly remembers his grandfather teaching him how to bait a fishing hook on a lake deck. However, his mother later shows him a family video and explains that his older sister actually taught him during a beach vacation. Julian correctly remembers the skill itself, but attributed the memory to the wrong origin.

Source Amnesia

A patient named Arthur suffered a stroke that damaged his hippocampus. While he vividly recalls his childhood, his college years, and his wedding day, he is entirely unable to form new lasting memories and forgets conversations just minutes after they occur.

Anterograde Amnesia

An adult named Elena is asked to recall her 10th birthday party. She combines real details from old photographs, stories told by her parents, and her general knowledge of typical birthday parties to fill in missing gaps, ultimately generating a seamless memory of an event she didn't actually remember directly.

Constructive Memory

During a trivia game, Tim is asked to name the actor who played the lead role in the movie Inception. Tim knows the actor's age, remembers his other films, and insists the name starts with a "L," but he cannot quite produce the name "Leonardo DiCaprio" in the moment.

Tip of the Tongue Phenomenon

Two witnesses view the same car collision. Witness A is asked, "How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?" Witness B is asked, "How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?" A week later, Witness A incorrectly recalls seeing broken glass at the scene, while Witness B does not.

Framing

Kristen witnessed a handbag theft at a park. During her initial police interview, the officer casually asks, "Did you see the red baseball cap the suspect was wearing?" Although the thief was actually bareheaded, Kristen later testifies in court that the suspect was wearing a red cap.

Misinformation Effect

As part of a psychological study, participants were asked to repeatedly visualize a detailed scene of themselves falling out of a tree and breaking an arm during early childhood. Weeks later, several participants reported believing that this event actually happened to them, despite their parents confirming it never occurred.

Imagination Inflation

After spending the entire fall semester studying Spanish, Leighann takes an introductory French class in the spring. When she tries to converse in Spanish during summer break, she finds that French vocabulary continually creeps in, making it difficult to remember her Spanish.

Retroactive Interference

Following a severe concussion from a motorcycle accident, Brenda can easily learn new skills and form new memories about her daily recovery. However, she has no recollection of the two weeks leading up to the crash. Which type of amnesia is Brenda suffering from?

Retrograde Amnesia