Deck 12: Development and Aging:learning and Memory Across the Lifespan

Question 1

In old age:

A) neurons in the hippocampus are lost.
B) neurogenesis no longer occurs.
C) LTP may become unstable.
D) neurons in the cerebellum are not lost.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Imagine that a native Spanish speaker tells one, "A dog beat me," when what he means is "A dog bit me." The speaker appears unable to hear the distinction between the two sounds. Based on what one has learned about the development of the ability to distinguish speech sounds in nonnative languages, explain why he would say the wrong word.

Answer 2

Discuss the need to hear sound distinctions before one year of age.

Question 3

Men would be expected to outperform women when trying to remember:

A) a list of words.
B) landmarks in a new town.
C) the way to navigate through a maze.
D) pairs of words.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In Alzheimer's disease:

A) episodic memory starts to decline before other types of memory.
B) patients cannot learn new skills.
C) the cortex shows signs of damage before other brain regions do.
D) the cerebellum shows signs of damage before other brain regions do.

Question 5

In elderly people, skill learning:

A) is as fast as young adults.
B) takes longer than in young adults.
C) declines even for highly practiced skills.
D) is slow but less error-prone than in young adults.

Question 6

Neurofibrillary tangles:

A) may cause damage by stimulating the immune system.
B) are an abnormal byproduct of a common protein.
C) are present in adults with Alzheimer's disease but not in adults with Down syndrome.
D) are collapsed proteins that normally hold neurons in place and transport nutrients.

Question 7

Humans are able to differentiate particular pairs of speech sounds:

A) only if they are exposed to the sounds before they are about 8 months old.
B) if they are exposed to the sounds sometime during their childhood.
C) if they have a great deal of exposure to the sounds as an adult.
D) only if they are exposed to the sounds before they are born.

Question 8

Individuals with Down syndrome:

A) may have an enlarged cerebellum.
B) are more likely to be female than male.
C) have visibly smaller brains at birth.
D) usually develop amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles as adults.

Question 9

What is one thing a fetus can learn? Describe the research that demonstrates this.

Question 10

Which statement is TRUE?

A) Neurogenesis is relatively uniform throughout the brain.
B) Synaptogenesis continues throughout the lifespan.
C) Synaptogenesis is a very slow process.
D) Nearly all of the neurons die during apoptosis in childhood.

Question 11

Twin studies suggest that:

A) genes play a very minor role in determining our learning and memory abilities.
B) genes play a strong role in determining our learning and memory abilities.
C) identical twins are no more similar than are fraternal twins on a variety of learning and memory measures.
D) the environment plays a very minor role in determining our learning and memory abilities.

Question 12

Give an example of a sensitive period for learning.

Question 13

Give an example of something a young child should be able to learn or remember as well as a young adult, and something a young child should NOT be able to learn or remember as well as a young adult. Identify the memory systems involved in each of these memories.

Question 14

Give an example of something an elderly person should be able to learn or remember as well as a young adult, and something an elderly person should NOT be able to learn or remember as well as a young adult. Identify the memory systems involved in each of these memories.

Question 15

Learning has been demonstrated to occur in humans beginning:

A) about a week after birth.
B) at birth.
C) at about 25 weeks gestational age.
D) at about 36 weeks gestational age.

Question 16

Which concept appears to develop the EARLIEST?

A) semantic memory
B) episodic memory
C) working memory
D) operant conditioning

Question 17

An animal that is raised with a patch over one eye will probably be completely blind in that eye as an adult. This is an example of:

A) synaptogenesis.
B) a sensitive period.
C) imprinting.
D) neurogenesis.

Question 18

A person with _____ would perform best on tests of learning and memory.

A) two copies of the Met allele
B) two copies of the Val allele
C) one copy of the Met allele
D) one copy of the Val allele

Question 19

Which structure is LARGER in men than in women?

A) the lateral frontal cortex
B) the hippocampus
C) the angular gyrus
D) the supramarginal gyrus

Question 20

Working memory develops _____ and decays _____ than other memory systems.

A) earlier; earlier
B) earlier; later
C) later; later
D) later; earlier

Question 21

Imagine that one's friend is about to give birth to her first child. Explain to that friend why she should not spend her money on classical music CDs that claim to improve babies' intelligence.

Question 22

What is the difference between semantic and episodic memory?

A) Semantic involves factual knowledge, while episodic involves autobiographical events.
B) Semantic involves autobiographical events, while episodic involves factual events.
C) Semantic involves the conditioning of a memory, while episodic is unconditioned.
D) Semantic involves an unconditioned memory, while episodic involves a conditioned memory.

Question 23

A fetus is sufficiently developed to start perceiving and learning about sounds by about _____ week(s) gestational age.

A) 1
B) 2
C) 10
D) 25

Question 24

Summarize the rough order in which each type of learning develops and which brain substrate(s) they coincide with.

Question 25

What evidence suggests a possible link between Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome?

Question 26

A physical development that produces gradual improvements in muscle strength and perceptual motor coordination is known as:

A) conditioning.
B) complex motor skills.
C) mental age.
D) gestational age.

Question 27

Studies in which infants were conditioned to kick at a mobile to make it move showed that infants:

A) as young as 2 months could learn this response.
B) needed reminders in order to remember the response the next day.
C) maintained the response despite changes in context.
D) could remember the response for several weeks without any reminders.

Question 28

Describe how sex hormones impact learning and memory in the developing brain.

Question 29

Research has demonstrated that humans:

A) begin showing habituation to sounds at about 2 months of age.
B) show evidence of working memory abilities before they are born.
C) can demonstrate learning of basic sounds and language before they are born.
D) do not demonstrate operant conditioning until they are about 1 year old.

Question 30

Describe the mechanisms by which amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles cause problems for neurons in the brain.

Question 31

What are two areas of the brain in which neurons die off in old age? What memory systems are affected by this neural loss?

Question 32

Explain how sensitive periods are beneficial to learning and memory in the brain.

Question 33

Describe the processes of neurogenesis, apoptosis, synaptogenesis, and pruning of synapses, and how they all impact learning.

Question 34

Gestational age refers to:

A) time since birth.
B) time since conception.
C) mental age.
D) the age at which learning is particularly effective.

Question 35

Discuss the various ways in which genes have been shown to influence the ability to learn.

Question 36

Describe the neural changes seen in the brains of adolescents.

Question 37

Suppose one's grandmother wants to know whether doing crossword puzzles every day will help her avoid developing Alzheimer's disease. What should one tell her?

Question 38

What kinds of brain abnormalities are seen in children with Down syndrome? Which of these abnormalities seems to result in memory impairment?

Question 39

What kinds of changes in neural growth are seen in old age? To what extent are these changes useful in replacing lost neurons?

Question 40

Eyeblink conditioning:

A) can be learned by infants when delay conditioning is used.
B) cannot be learned by infants when delay conditioning is used.
C) can be learned by infants when trace conditioning is used.
D) is learned more slowly by infants when trace conditioning is used.

Question 41

The research on the development of episodic and semantic memory discussed in the textbook showed that:

A) semantic memory, but not episodic memory, is present in young children.
B) episodic memory, but not semantic memory, is present in young children.
C) semantic memory seems to develop more slowly than episodic memory.
D) episodic memory seems to develop more slowly than semantic memory.

Question 42

Why might communicating with gestures facilitate the development of verbal language in babies?

A) Gestures illustrate the child's interest.
B) Parents are more likely to introduce the child to something in which they show interest.
C) Neither answer is correct.
D) Both answers are correct.

Question 43

Puberty _____, while adolescence _____.

A) is a physical process; has a defined endpoint
B) is a physical process; involves psychological and social change
C) does not have precisely defined boundaries; involves psychological and social change
D) involves psychological and social change; is a physical process

Question 44

Research has shown that the use of gestures:

A) emerges before children have mastered spoken language.
B) is negatively correlated with the development of verbal language.
C) causes parents to reduce verbal communication with their children.
D) may interfere with the development of verbal language.

Question 45

The technique in which infants are shown an action and tested for their ability to mimic this action later is known as:

A) imprinting.
B) mutation.
C) neurogenesis.
D) elicited imitation.

Question 46

The time period in which learning is MOST effective is known as:

A) a critical period.
B) a sensitive period.
C) an imprinting period.
D) the gestational age.

Question 47

The formation of an attachment to the first individual an organism sees after birth is known as:

A) neurogenesis.
B) synaptogenesis.
C) imprinting.
D) elicited imitation.

Question 48

The human language has about how many speech sounds, which are referred to as phonemes?

A) 25 to 40
B) 35 to 50
C) 45 to 60
D) 55 to 70

Question 49

Sparrows raised in isolation still learn to sing, but their songs are abnormal. This is an example of:

A) a critical period.
B) a sensitive period.
C) an imprinting period.
D) the gestational age.

Question 50

Which statement is TRUE regarding imprinting?

A) The time window for imprinting cannot be extended.
B) Imprinting can be reversed.
C) It is an example of a critical period.
D) It does not seem to affect the animal's behavior as an adult.

Question 51

During adolescence, a person's digit span:

A) declines from a higher-than-adult capacity.
B) has already reached typical adult capacity.
C) is still only three or four digits.
D) increases until it reaches typical adult capacity.

Question 52

In children, the dominant process in language learning is _____, while in adults it is _____.

A) semantic memory; social imitation
B) semantic memory; episodic memory
C) social imitation; semantic memory
D) social imitation; episodic memory

Question 53

The research on the development of episodic and semantic memory discussed in the textbook showed that:

A) 4-year-olds remembered episodic information better than semantic information.
B) 4-year-olds recalled more information than 3-year-old children.
C) 6-year-olds could remember semantic information but not episodic information.
D) 8-year-olds made more extra-experimental errors than intra-experimental errors.

Question 54

The technique of elicited imitation is used for assessing memories in infants because infants:

A) cannot use language to respond in standard recall and recognition tests.
B) do not respond to classical-conditioning situations.
C) cannot perceive sounds well enough to learn them.
D) learn more rapidly than older children do.

Question 55

The process of physical change during which the body transitions to sexual maturity is known as:

A) aging.
B) adulthood.
C) puberty.
D) adolescence.

Question 56

If children are to learn to differentiate particular sounds used in their language, they must be exposed to these sounds before they are:

A) 6 to 8 months old.
B) 2 years old.
C) 4 years old.
D) 10 years old.

Question 57

Regarding learning a second language:

A) one will learn more slowly if one learns as an adult than as a child.
B) one will be able to approximate native accents more closely if one learns as a child than as an adult.
C) it doesn't matter when one starts.
D) one will learn equally quickly at any age but will not learn the correct accent if one learns as an adult.

Question 58

Kanako is 5 years old, and her parents have just moved from Japan to the United States. Since the Japanese language does not make a distinction between the /l/ and /r/ sounds, what will happen to Kanako's and her parents' abilities to distinguish between these sounds in the United States?

A) Kanako will be able to learn to make the distinction, but her parents will not.
B) Kanako's parents will be able to learn to make the distinction, but Kanako will not.
C) Both Kanako and her parents will be able to learn to make the distinction.
D) Neither Kanako nor her parents will be able to learn to make the distinction.

Question 59

"Genie," the little girl who was tragically isolated until age 13:

A) learned to speak, but only at the level of a 3- to 4-year old.
B) could not learn to speak at all.
C) learned language slowly, but eventually could speak normally.
D) could only make very basic speech sounds.

Question 60

Which statement is a possible reason for the slow maturation of episodic memories in children?

A) The hippocampus is immature at birth and takes time to develop.
B) Very young children do not have a sense of self.
C) Very young children cannot express their memories verbally.
D) All of the statements are correct.

Question 61

People with _____ perform worse on learning and memory tests than people with _____.

A) one copy of the Val allele; one copy of the Met allele
B) one copy of the Met allele; two copies of the Met allele
C) two copies of the Val allele; two copies of the Met allele
D) two copies of the Met allele; two copies of the Val allele

Question 62

Which statement supports the idea that age-related improvement in working memory capacity at least partially reflects exposure to and familiarity with the material to be remembered?

A) Ten-year-old chess experts can remember more pieces than adults who do not play chess, even though the children's digit spans were lower.
B) Young children can remember only three to four digits, whereas teenagers can remember seven to eight digits.
C) Performance on working-memory tasks increases throughout adolescence before leveling off.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 63

For which individual would learning be the MOST difficult?

A) a 25-year-old trying to learn to play tennis
B) a 40-year-old trying to learn to type
C) a 70-year-old trying to learn to use an iPad
D) a 75-year-old expert chess player trying to improve his game

Question 64

In a paired associate test of memory, elderly adults:

A) are better than college students in a directed forgetting test.
B) experience more problems during retrieval than during encoding.
C) perform well if items are presented at a slower pace during study.
D) outperform college students under most conditions.

Question 65

As people age from their twenties to their fifties, most types of memory:

A) gradually decline.
B) increase into the thirties and decline.
C) remain relatively stable.
D) gradually increase.

Question 66

Which statement is TRUE regarding skill learning?

A) Elderly individuals are impaired in learning of basic but not in real-world skills.
B) People who are experts continue to improve their skill even into old age.
C) Middle-aged and older adults both show a decline in skill learning.
D) Older adults make more errors in learning skills but learn them as quickly as younger adults do.

Question 67

Any of the principal class sex hormone present in adult males is known as:

A) hemoglobin.
B) testosterone.
C) androgen.
D) estrogen.

Question 68

Men generally perform better than women on tasks involving:

A) verbal abilities.
B) remembering locations of objects.
C) spatial learning.
D) working memory.

Question 69

A person's digit span:

A) remains stable throughout life.
B) improves slightly in elderly adults.
C) drops slightly in elderly adults.
D) drops drastically in elderly adults.

Question 70

Which statement is TRUE regarding gender differences in learning and memory?

A) They are almost entirely due to gender stereotypes.
B) Adult rats show the same kinds of differences as adult humans do.
C) Infant rats show the same kinds of differences as adult humans do.
D) Differences emerge much later than the time when sex hormones begin increasing.

Question 71

The principal class sex hormone present in adult females is known as:

A) hemoglobin.
B) testosterone.
C) androgen.
D) estrogen.

Question 72

Performance on working-memory tasks:

A) is relatively stable throughout adolescence and improves very rapidly at the very end of adolescence.
B) increases throughout adolescence before leveling off at adult levels.
C) improves very rapidly at the very start of adolescence and then is relatively stable.
D) decreases throughout adolescence before leveling off at adult levels.

Question 73

The MOST important androgen and principal male sex hormone is known as:

A) hemoglobin.
B) testosterone.
C) androgen.
D) estrogen.

Question 74

With which memory task would elderly individuals have the MOST difficulty?

A) a paired associate test of memory
B) a test of general world knowledge
C) remembering their first kiss
D) recalling the names of storybook characters from their childhood

Question 75

Which person's skill will be the MOST resistant to decline in older adulthood?

A) Brandon, who plays golf once a year
B) Danielle, who learned to play the guitar in her forties
C) Isaiah, who shampoos his carpets about every 5 years
D) Courtney, who is a professional chef

Question 76

Which statement is TRUE regarding gender differences in learning and memory?

A) Young adult women outperform young adult men in learning the way around a maze.
B) Most gender differences emerge before adolescence.
C) At all ages males are quicker to learn a route on a fictitious map.
D) Females are better than males at remembering the positions of landmarks on a map, but this advantage does not emerge until puberty.

Question 77

In an emotional memory test, elderly adults remembered:

A) more negative than positive images.
B) more positive than negative images.
C) more of all kinds of images than young adults did.
D) the same number of all kinds of images as young adults did.

Question 78

It has been suggested that older adults might be _____ susceptible to _____ interference.

A) more; proactive
B) less; proactive
C) more; retroactive
D) less; retroactive

Question 79

Which type of memory seems to be MOST vulnerable to decline as adults age?

A) working
B) episodic
C) semantic
D) skill

Question 80

At what age does eyeblink conditioning start to decline?

A) 25
B) 35
C) 40
D) 65