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Oakdale High School
Advanced Placement Psychology
Mr. Simoncini
Chapter 7 Reading Response Questions
PP. 233-238
1. Define the term “memory.”
2. How is the human memory a cognitive system?
3. Describe the information-processing model.
4. Discuss encoding, specifying the various forms of encoding.
5. If encoding is the first of memory’s three basic tasks, what are the other two and, in general,
how do they work?
6. Discuss eidetic imagery, including what it is and differences in people who possess it, based
on age and culture.
PP. 239-251
7. What three stages must memory go through to become permanent? What analogy did
Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968) associate with the three stages of memory?
8. Discuss each of the three stages noted in the previous question.
9. Discuss George Sperling’s Capacity and Duration of Sensory Memory experiment, including
what the results suggested.
10. Be prepared to list and discuss the five primary types of sensory memory. What is the job of
sensory memory?
11. What form do memory images take in the sensory stage of memory?
12. What are LeDoux’s and Shiffrin’s definitions of working memory?
13. As a central processing chip for the entire memory system, how long does the working
memory typically hold information?
14. According to Miller (1956), what is the “magic number” associated with the working
memory? What important commercial enterprise took the magic number into account in
designing an important facet of its service? Explain.
15. Discuss the limited capacity of working memory and some practical ramifications of that
limitation.
16. Why is the working memory known as the “bottleneck” of the memory system?
17. Discuss Atkinson’s and Shiffrin’s model of working memory.
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18. Discuss the main ways to overcome the working memory’s twin limitations: limited capacity
and short duration.
19. Discuss the phonological loop and sketchpad aspects of the Atkinson and Shiffrin model.
20. According to biological research, what regions of the brain house the ‘executive processes?”
21. Why is such a ‘vast amount of data” stored in the LTM so easily accessible?
22. What is the storage capacity of the LTM?
23. Summarize what the LTM contains.
24. Be prepared to discuss specific examples of procedural memory.
25. Define declarative memory and its two subdivisions.
26. Define the term engram.
27. Discuss the case of H. M. and anterograde amnesia.
28. How significant are the hippocampus and the amygdale to the process of memory?
29. About how many neurons are involved in encoding and storing a single memory?
30. What additional factor can strengthen memory consolidation?
31. What are flashbulb memories? Discuss.
PP. 252-256
32. Differentiate between implicit and explicit memory. How do those terms apply to procedural
memory and declarative memory?
33. Describe retrieval cues.
34. How did George Harrison’s composition of the hit song “My Sweet Lord’ reflect the
procedure called priming?
35. Joe hears Cinthya say: “Our project was turned in by Jessica.” A few minutes later, Mr.
Simoncini asks Joe, ‘What did Cinthya just say?” Joe replies: “Jessica turned in our project.’
According to the text, what does the above interchange tell us about memory and retrieval?
36. What key point about getting something into the long term memory do the authors want to
underscore? What practical application does that point have for you in your capacity as a
student?
37. Brandon is a witness against Vanessa, who has been accused of vandalizing (with toilet
paper) her psychology teacher’s house. Cite examples of how he would use recall and
recognition in identifying Vanessa as the perpetrator of the crime. In responding to this
question, be able to define the terms recall and recognition in the context of this chapter.
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38. Bill and Pete are attending a class reunion on the 35th anniversary of their graduation from
college. As they walk around the campus, they stop at a particular spot, where Bill reminds
Pete of an event that occurred there during their sophomore year. Pete subsequently
remembers the event vividly. How is the preceding vignette an example of the encoding
specificity principle?
39. The professor in a teacher’s preparation course tells her students that it is best to use
portfolio assessment, or evaluate students on a variety of assignments rather than just using
a few tests. How does this advice reflect the theory of Robert Bjork (2000)? Do you believe
Bjork’s theory is valid? Why or why not?
40. What is mood-congruent memory?
41. Ask some of the questions on the bottom of p. 255 to a parent, sibling or friend. Better yet,
create a few questions of your own that might elicit the TOT phenomenon. Be prepared to
discuss your findings in class as well as explain the most likely causes of the TOT
phenomenon.
PP. 257-266
42. List Daniel Schacter’s seven sins of memory and note, in general, what they “really are.”
43. What is transience and how does the research of Hermann Ebbinghaus explain it? In your
response, be sure to incorporate what our textbook’s authors say is one of Ebbinghaus’s
most important discoveries.
44. Define absent-mindedness and be prepared to discuss a time when you or someone you
know did something absent-mindedly.
45. What is blocking and what are the three primary factors that cause it?
46. Differentiate between proactive interference and retroactive interference.
47. What is the serial position effect? Be prepared to conduct an in-class experiment that
focuses on the various aspects of this effect.
48. Discuss two aspects of misattribution.
49. Define suggestibility and then discuss the findings of the (Elizabeth) Loftus and (John)
Palmer study.
50. You are a defense attorney getting ready to try your first case in court. You will be crossexamining several prosecution witnesses who will be relying on their memories of what they
witnessed. What are some of the accuracy pitfalls you should be aware of as you prepare
your case?
51. Discuss Freud’s theory of repression. Does modern research support Freud’s theory?
52. Give examples of expectancy bias and self-consistency bias.
53. How can the sin of persistence be detrimental to a person suffering from depression?
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54. Discuss the various types of mnemonics discussed in the textbook. Can you think of other
methods for improving memory?
PP. 267-278
55. What is the basic premise of the innateness theory of language?
56. Discuss, in detail, Chomsky’s concept of the language acquisition device.
57. Be prepared to discuss, in detail, each of the following stages: babbling, acquiring
vocabulary and grammar, the naming explosion, putting words together and other language
skills.
58. What do the terms morphemes and over-regularization mean?
59. Define the term “concepts,” and differentiate between natural concepts and artificial
concepts. In your discussion of natural concepts, be sure to highlight the term “prototype.”
60. Think of a concept hierarchy other than “animal,” which is discussed in the textbook. Be
prepared to outline it for the class, if called upon to do so.
61. How can culture alter concepts?
62. Think about a topic for a cognitive map from some aspect of our environment and then
conduct an experiment by asking a parent, sibling, other relative or friend to draw or discuss
the topic.
63. What two broad findings have neuroscientists determined about thought by using PET
scans and MRIs? How would you summarize the process of thinking?
64. What role do the frontal lobes of the brain have in thinking?
65. What role does the prefrontal cortex of the brain have in thinking?
66. Briefly describe the emotional component of thinking.
67. Define the term “schema” and be prepared to provide an example of a schema.
68. Summarize Donald Norman’s and David Rumelhart’s findings about schemas.
69. Think of an example of a script and be prepared to share it with the class if called upon to do
so.
70. Conduct the “Do It Yourself” experiment on the top of p. 278 on another individual, and be
prepared to discuss the results with the class.
PP. 279-291
71. What common positive characteristics do most problem solvers share?
72. Describe one algorithm, other than those described in the textbook, which you use to solve
a common challenge in your life.
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73. What sorts of problems generally cannot be solved by using algorithms?
74. Define the term “heuristics.”
75. Note the three essential heuristics noted in the textbook, Can you think of an example of
when you have used each one?
76. Define the term “mental set” and see if you can recall a time when you or someone you
know suffered because of a mental set.
77. Define the term “functional fixedness” and see if you can recall a time when you or someone
you know suffered because of functional fixedness.
78. Summarize what the textbook’s discussion of problem solving shows.
79. The textbook discusses five different types of bias. Be prepared to demonstrate your
understanding of each.
80. Define the terms “creativity” and “genius.” What does Weisberg (1986) say is one key
characteristic of highly creative individuals?
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81. The textbook notes how Dr. Howard Gardner (1993) says that highly creative individuals
have aptitudes specific to certain domains. According to Barron and Harrington (1981) plus
Csikszentmihalyi (1996), what additional personality traits do creative people possess?
82. What two main points do experts in the field of understanding creativity agree upon?