Deck 6: Attention and Memory

Question 1

Research findings that indicate differences between older and younger adults with issues such as memory, attentional capacity, and processing speed must be interpreted carefully.Why?

A)Memory tests are biased against younger adults.
B)A test that measures memory in a younger adult will not be valid for testing an older adult.
C)Age differences are sensitive to the conditions under which they are measured.
D)Any differences observed between the two groups are due to declining vision and hearing in older adults, not due to decreases in memory or attention per se.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What variable affects whether age differences will be obtained on divided attention tasks?

A)task complexity
B)speed of responding
C)spatial cueing
D)presentation modality

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following places minimal demands on attentional capacity and gets information into the system largely without us being aware of it?

A)divided attention
B)sustained attention
C)inhibitory loss
D)automatic processing

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Under which conditions do older and younger adults show similar patterns of attention allocation?

A)never
B)when the goal is to have familiarity with the material
C)when the task requires effortful and deliberate processing
D)when the information is presented quickly

Question 5

Neuroimaging studies indicate that age-related changes in speed of processing

A)are inevitable.
B)are dependent upon what adults are being asked to do.
C)are uniform across different types of tasks and situations.
D)vary by sex, with women showing greater declines over time than men.

Question 6

When first learning to drive a manual transmission car, we are often aware of our processing and it seems to take all of our attention to coordinate our actions.This is an example of

A)automatic processing.
B)effortful processing.
C)divided attention.
D)attentional capacity.

Question 7

Most of us cannot accurately draw either side of common coins we see everyday, such as pennies.This is most likely because

A)our memories cannot store that much detailed information at one time.
B)our processing speed is not strong enough to process all the details on the coin.
C)our retrieval skills only provide us with some of the details of the coin.
D)we have failed to pay attention to the details of the coin.

Question 8

Age differences on divided attention tasks

A)can be reduced by increasing older adults' practice with the tasks.
B)can be reduced by decreasing younger adults' practice with the tasks.
C)can be reduced by increasing task complexity.
D)cannot be reduced.

Question 9

What part of the information processing system has an unlimited capacity, takes in information rapidly, and is almost an identical representation of the stimuli as it exists in the observable environment?

A)attention
B)sensory memory
C)working memory
D)tertiary memory

Question 10

John has driven the same short route to work everyday for the last seven years.Today he arrived at work and realized he really didn't remember any of his drive.This is an example of

A)automatic processing.
B)effortful processing.
C)divided attention.
D)attentional capacity.

Question 11

Attentional control is linked to the speed of processing in the

A)parieto-frontal lobes.
B)medulla oblongata.
C)occipital lobes.
D)temporal lobe.

Question 12

A computer analogy is used to explain

A)the information processing approach.
B)the origins of source memories.
C)how prospective memory works.
D)age-related declines in speed of processing.

Question 13

Trying to complete two tasks at one time requires which type of attention?

A)selective attention
B)sustained attention
C)divided attention
D)attentional capacity

Question 14

The earliest step in information processing is

A)attention.
B)working memory.
C)primary memory.
D)sensory memory.

Question 15

Michael is trying to remember an address.He repeats it in his mind until he gets to his car and enters it into his navigation system.Michael is using his

A)sensory memory.
B)working memory.
C)secondary memory.
D)remote memory.

Question 16

Research evidence indicates that the oldest adults have more irrelevant thoughts during processing tasks and have more trouble keeping these irrelevant thoughts out of mind.This is evidence of

A)a decrease in intelligence.
B)inhibitory loss.
C)a decrease in overall memory space.
D)a decrease in sensory memory.

Question 17

A small­capacity store that deals with the items currently "in use" is

A)sensory memory.
B)working memory.
C)secondary memory.
D)remote memory.

Question 18

Which of the following is not an assumption of the information-processing approach?

A)People are active participants in the process.
B)Both quantitative and qualitative aspects of performance can be examined.
C)Information is handled in the system in an untransformed manner.
D)Information is processed through a series of processes.

Question 19

Taking notes while listening to a lecture requires

A)divided attention.
B)effortful processing.
C)external aids.
D)memory self-efficacy.

Question 20

The amount of information that can be processed at any given time is called the

A)cognitive reserve.
B)vigilance.
C)divided attention.
D)attentional capacity.

Question 21

Overall, older adults do less well than younger adults on , but on this difference between the age groups is reduced.

A)recognition tests; recall tests
B)recall tests; recognition tests
C)tests of semantic memory; test of episodic memory
D)tests of short-term memory; tests of long-term memory

Question 22

The memories of what you did last summer and the speech you gave last semester in your public speaking class are stored in

A)sensory memory.
B)working memory.
C)long-term memory.
D)remote memory.

Question 23

Which type of memory is concerned with learning and remembering the meanings of words and concepts that are not tied to specific occurrences of events in time?

A)sensory memory
B)working memory
C)episodic memory
D)semantic memory

Question 24

If 47­year­old Matt can remember the poem he memorized in Mrs.Smith's 2nd grade class, Matt is using what type of memory for this task?

A)sensory memory
B)episodic memory
C)semantic memory
D)remote memory

Question 25

A TOT (tip-of-the-tongue) experience is

A)a simple momentary retrieval failure for information that is otherwise accessible.
B)a sign of decline in episodic memory.
C)more common in younger than in older adults.
D)evidence of a failing long-term memory.

Question 26

Most evidence indicates

A)significant age-related decline in working memory.
B)loss of the ability to hold items in working memory may limit older adults' overall cognitive functioning.
C)age-related declines in working memory may vary across different tasks.
D)all of the above.

Question 27

Age-related decline in working memory tends to be greater than the decline in working memory.

A)verbal; spatial
B)verbal; mathematical
C)spatial; verbal
D)mathematical; verbal

Question 28

Implicit memory is also referred to as

A)declarative memory.
B)procedural memory.
C)intentional memory.
D)subjective memory.

Question 29

Which best describes normative age-related changes in semantic memory?

A)It increases across the life span.
B)It increases until age 55-60 and then shows a precipitous decline after age 65.
C)It increases from 35-55 years of age, levels off, and then declines after age 65.
D)It shows stability until age 65, after which it increases.

Question 30

Answering a multiple choice question on an exam like this one is an example of

A)recall memory.
B)recognition memory.
C)cued recall memory.
D)semantic memory.

Question 31

When a friend asks you to tell them everything about your weekend, this is an example of what type of memory task?

A)recall
B)recognition
C)cued recall
D)probed recognition

Question 32

Improvements in your memory as the result of being previously exposed to the information without actively trying to remember it is known as

A)implicit memory.
B)recognition memory.
C)remote memory.
D)explicit memory.

Question 33

Identifying the correct information from a larger list of information is an example of

A)recall memory.
B)recognition memory.
C)inference.
D)semantic memory.

Question 34

Semantic memory can be described as involving which type of ability?

A)being able to recall a stimuli viewed for a few seconds
B)remembering to do something in the future
C)remembering where something was heard or seen
D)recalling the definition of a word or a historical fact

Question 35

Answering short-answer or essay questions on your final exam requires the use of

A)inference.
B)recall.
C)recognition.
D)recapitulation.

Question 36

This type of memory stays fairly stable until 55-60 years of age and then shows a precipitous decline after age 65.

A)sensory memory
B)episodic memory
C)semantic memory
D)remote memory

Question 37

Evidence suggests there are no age-related deficits in memory processes such as language comprehension, the structure of language, and the activation of general knowledge.This is because is relatively spared in normal aging.

A)long-term memory
B)working memory
C)episodic memory
D)semantic memory

Question 38

Memory for implicit material reveals that, in general, age differences are

A)greater for explicit memory relative to implicit memory.
B)smaller for explicit memory relative to implicit memory.
C)are similar to that for explicit memory.
D)only found on perceptual tasks.

Question 39

Recent research into what causes working memory deficits in older adults has found that

A)older adults have more trouble accessing multiple pieces of information.
B)older adults have more trouble juggling all of the information at once.
C)verbal working memory is much more affected than spatial working memory.
D)testing at night improves older adults' performance.

Question 40

The ability to remember extensive amounts of information from a few seconds to a few hours to decades is known as

A)sensory memory.
B)working memory.
C)long-term memory.
D)remote memory.

Question 41

Older adults have more difficulty correctly identifying information as false because they have trouble linking content information to

A)its context.
B)its outcome.
C)other information in long-term memory.
D)sensory memory.

Question 42

Claiming that one had performed an activity that one had actually only observed is more common among

A)younger adults.
B)older adults.
C)children.
D)adolescents.

Question 43

Older adults perform better on episodic memory tests when instructed to use

A)automatic processing.
B)divided attention.
C)internal study strategies such as rehearsal.
D)metamemory.

Question 44

In a large cross-sectional study of source memory, adults between the ages of 21 and 80 years of age showed

A)an increase over time.
B)a gradual increase until age 60, a decrease between age 60 and 65, and then a leveling off.
C)a linear decrease over time.
D)a precipitous drop after age 75.

Question 45

You are at a cocktail party when you see a friend from college, but you can't seem to recall her name.You know it begins with an S.This is an example of

A)recapitulation.
B)familiar information being remembered more poorly.
C)a tip-of-the-tongue experience.
D)compensatory failure.

Question 46

Remembering where you were when 9/11 occurred is an example of

A)explicit memory.
B)semantic memory.
C)an implicit memory.
D)a flashbulb memory.

Question 47

Older adults are likely to have difficulties with , which involves remembering where a piece of information was acquired.

A)false memory
B)source memory
C)flashbulb memory
D)implicit memory

Question 48

Flashbulb memories feel very real, and people think they can remember them down to the smallest detail.Research on the accuracy of flashbulb memories indicates that

A)this is true.Flashbulb memories are highly accurate and are not likely to be forgotten over time.
B)this is false.Due to the highly emotional nature of flashbulb memories, they are usually forgotten quickly.
C)this is false.When comparing people's memories with independent records of actual events, people's memories are often wrong.
D)this is true for younger adults but not for older adults.

Question 49

Autobiographical memory is primarily a form of

A)sensory memory.
B)recognition memory.
C)semantic memory.
D)episodic memory.

Question 50

Remembering to call your friend on her birthday requires you to use

A)retrospective memory.
B)correlative memory.
C)anterograde memory.
D)prospective memory.

Question 51

Research on memories concerning personal health conducted by Coleman and colleagues, based on the Harvard Longitudinal Studies, showed that

A)memories improved between ages 40-50.
B)people at all ages performed poorly.
C)memories about eating were more accurate.
D)specific episodes were remembered best.

Question 52

Melena is having trouble remembering whether she took her medication or if she just thinks she did.This is an example of a(n)

A)false memory.
B)source memory.
C)flashbulb memory.
D)implicit memory.

Question 53

The use of makes tasks easier and increases the efficiency of encoding and retrieval.

A)strategies
B)metamemory
C)the information processing model
D)memory monitoring

Question 54

Older adults are more susceptible to scams and con artists because they are more susceptible to

A)false memories.
B)source memories.
C)flashbulb memories.
D)implicit memories.

Question 55

Making connections between new information and already known information is called

A)encoding.
B)imagery.
C)elaborative rehearsal.
D)recognition.

Question 56

The process of prospective memory begins with the intention to remember something in the future and depends on monitoring

A)event and time cues.
B)encoding and retrieval.
C)automatic and effortful processing.
D)implicit and explicit memory.

Question 57

Benjamin (2010) proposed that older adults have a(n) that causes problems in source memory and the inability to exclude irrelevant information.

A)global deficit
B)specific deficit
C)occipital deficit
D)hormonal deficit

Question 58

Neuroscience research shows that during encoding, the prefrontal cortex in older adults shows

A)no activity.
B)lower activity.
C)overactivity.
D)pathological functioning.

Question 59

When asked to remember life events, vivid memories from which age range are most likely to be reported?

A)0-10 years of age
B)10-30 years of age
C)30-50 years of age
D)vivid memories are recalled from all time periods of life in equal numbers

Question 60

Remembering something that did not really occur is known as

A)false memory.
B)source memory.
C)flashbulb memory.
D)implicit memory.

Question 61

You realize that you have an exam coming up for your biology course.Half of it is multiple choice and half of it is essay.You realize the essay section will be harder than the multiple-choice part of the exam.This is an example of

A)metamemory.
B)memory monitoring.
C)on-line awareness.
D)memory awareness.

Question 62

What feature of memory reflects an individual's confidence in being able to complete a task?

A)metamemory
B)memory self-efficacy
C)online awareness
D)source awareness

Question 63

Research has shown that when older adults are asked to predict how well they will perform on a memory task, they are more accurate when

A)the task is novel.
B)they are told how other people have performed.
C)they have direct experience with the task.
D)they have no experience with the task.

Question 64

The two groups of drugs that work to enhance memory, cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine, work through

A)neurotransmitters.
B)changing the structure of the brain.
C)reducing neural tangles.
D)their effect on the corpus callosum.

Question 65

Most memory improvement courses train people to become proficient at using

A)internal strategies.
B)external strategies.
C)exterior strategies.
D)interior strategies.

Question 66

Research suggests that all of the following external memory cues are most effective except those that

A)require a pen or pencil.
B)are active rather than passive.
C)are given close to the time action is required.
D)are specific to a particular action.

Question 67

Metamemory refers to what one knows about

A)the memory system and how it works.
B)the accuracy of the knowledge base.
C)current ongoing memory processes.
D)one's own past experiences.

Question 68

Older adults from 75 to 95 years of age who spoke languages or more showed the best cognitive state.

A)2
B)3
C)4
D)number of languages was not related to cognitive functioning

Question 69

Physical fitness training improves cognitive performance in older adults regardless of

A)the training method.
B)the intensity of the training.
C)the length of the training.
D)the initial fitness level of the adult.

Question 70

Which of the following was found to be a protective factor for maintaining one's cognitive state over time?

A)having relatives who lived to very old age
B)having parents with high IQs
C)having a large number of friends to socialize with
D)speaking multiple languages

Question 71

Neuroscience research clearly demonstrates that has a wide range of effects on the brain, including increased neural plasticity, and can be an intervention alternative for diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

A)a diet high in Omega-3 fatty acids
B)reading
C)exercise
D)working past retirement age

Question 72

Which of the following is an external memory aid?

A)imagery
B)rehearsal
C)memory drugs
D)a shopping list

Question 73

Memory aids that rely on environmental resources, such as notebooks or calendars, are known as

A)external aids.
B)implicit aids.
C)internal aids.
D)mnemonics.

Question 74

Which of the following beliefs about memory is not characteristic of older adults?

A)Memory is not stable.
B)Memory will decline with age.
C)I have little control over my memory.
D)I know a great deal about how memory works.

Question 75

Because it remains relatively unimpaired, may have an enhancement effect on for older adults.

A)implicit; explicit
B)semantic memory; episodic memory
C)sensory memory; working memory
D)encoding; retrieval

Question 76

The awareness of what we are doing with our memory right now is known as

A)metamemory.
B)memory monitoring.
C)online awareness.
D)memory awareness.

Question 77

You have an hour break between classes, and you decide to go to the library and study.Your awareness of the time while studying is an example of

A)metamemory.
B)memory monitoring.
C)online awareness.
D)memory awareness.

Question 78

An example of an internal memory strategy is

A)rehearsal.
B)a list.
C)an address book.
D)a calendar.

Question 79

One implicit internal memory aide has proven quite powerful, and those with Alzheimer's can learn new things using it.What is it?

A)EIEIO method
B)spaced retrieval
C)memory monitoring
D)memory drugs

Question 80

Negative stereotypes about aging the memory performance of older adults.

A)increase
B)decrease
C)are unrelated to
D)confuse