Deck 9: Working Memory and Cognitive Control

Question 1

The manipulation and application of working memory for planning,task switching,attention,stimulus selection,and the inhibition of inappropriate reflexive behaviors is known as:

A)sensory memory.
B)iconic memory.
C)cognitive control.
D)short-term memory.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In Atkinson and Shiffrin's model of memory,information flows from:

A)sensory memory,to short-term memory,to long-term memory.
B)short-term memory,to sensory memory,to long-term memory.
C)long-term memory,to sensory memory,to short-term memory.
D)sensory memory,to long-term memory,to short-term memory.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

When short-term memory is used as a buffer for maintaining information briefly before it is manipulated,it is referred to as:

A)depth-of-processing.
B)sensory memory.
C)working memory.
D)transient memory.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

When George Sperling (1960)used the partial report procedure,he found that participants could report _____ of the letters in the array.

A)all
B)none
C)about 30%
D)about 75%

Question 5

In Baddeley's working memory model,which system monitors and manipulates the working-memory buffers?

A)the visuo-spatial sketchpad
B)the phonological loop
C)the central executive
D)the iconic memory

Question 6

In Baddeley's working memory model,which system maintains auditory memories through subvocal rehearsal?

A)the visuo-spatial sketchpad
B)the phonological loop
C)the central executive
D)the iconic memory

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT considered to be a transient memory?

A)sensory memory
B)iconic memory
C)long-term memory
D)short-term memory

Question 8

Which memory system maintains information temporarily using active rehearsal?

A)sensory memory
B)long-term memory
C)short-term memory
D)iconic memory

Question 9

Compared to long-term memory,short-term memory is:

A)slower to access.
B)forgotten more quickly.
C)larger in capacity.
D)outside of conscious awareness.

Question 10

Suppose your roommate asks you to pick up five items at the grocery store,but you have no place to write the items down.You keep repeating the items over and over in your mind until you can get a pencil and piece of paper to write them down.In this example,you would be relying primarily on your:

A)sensory memory.
B)long-term memory.
C)short-term memory.
D)iconic memory.

Question 11

The word-length effect is when you can remember more _______ words than _______ words.

A)short;long
B)long;short
C)medium-length;short
D)long;medium-length

Question 12

In Baddeley's working memory model,which system holds visual and spatial images for manipulation?

A)the visuo-spatial sketchpad
B)the phonological loop
C)the central executive
D)the iconic memory

Question 13

The ability to hold information in short-term memory is limited by:

A)the capacity of STM.
B)what you can pay attention to.
C)how you encode the information.
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 14

George Sperling's (1960)experiments on visual sensory memory demonstrated that:

A)briefly-presented information cannot be recalled.
B)iconic memory lasts for a very long time.
C)people could not learn to associate a tone with a visual stimulus.
D)people have a very brief visual memory that decays rapidly.

Question 15

According to the findings of George Miller,the capacity of short-term memory is:

A)virtually unlimited.
B)about 7 items.
C)about 15 items.
D)about 3 items.

Question 16

Suppose your boss catches you in the hallway and asks you to attend a meeting the next day.In order to remember the time and location of the meeting,you repeat it over and over to yourself until you get back to your office and can write it down in your schedule.In your rehearsal,you are using the:

A)visuo-spatial sketchpad.
B)phonological loop.
C)long-term memory.
D)iconic memory.

Question 17

On short-term verbal memory tasks,people with slow rates of speech but normal intelligence perform:

A)better than people of normal intelligence who speak at a normal rate.
B)worse than people of normal intelligence who speak at a normal rate.
C)about the same as people of normal intelligence who speak at a normal rate.
D)worse than people of normal intelligence who speak at a normal rate,but only if rehearsal is disrupted.

Question 18

Which of the following is true regarding the phonological loop?

A)If the material is rehearsed,it can be held in the phonological loop for about 2 seconds.
B)If the material is not rehearsed,it disappears from the phonological loop after about 2 seconds.
C)If the material is rehearsed,it can be held in the phonological loop for about 10 seconds.
D)If the material is not rehearsed,it disappears from the phonological loop after about 10 seconds.

Question 19

How many independent short-term memory buffers are included in Baddeley's working memory model?

A)2
B)3
C)5
D)10

Question 20

Which memory system stores brief sensations of what you have just perceived?

A)short-term memory
B)sensory memory
C)phonological loop
D)visuo-spatial sketchpad

Question 21

All of the functions of the central executive involve:

A)maintaining verbal information.
B)maintaining visuo-spatial information.
C)manipulation of information in sensory memory.
D)manipulation of information in short-term memory.

Question 22

Automatic processes:

A)determine what cues should be attended to.
B)occur with minimal conscious awareness.
C)inhibit reflexive behaviors.
D)require focused attention.

Question 23

Rebecca takes a dance class in which the first exercise the class does is always the same.But one day,the dance instructor changed the first exercise.Out of habit,Rebecca persisted in doing the exercise she was used to,until she realized everyone else was doing something different.The task her central executive is MOST concerned with in this example is:

A)controlled updating of short-term memory buffers.
B)setting goals and planning.
C)task switching.
D)stimulus selection and response inhibition.

Question 24

The children's game Concentration involves finding pairs of cards that match by turning over two at a time,and replacing them if they do not match.The game requires memory for the locations of the cards.This game makes particular use of the:

A)visuo-spatial sketchpad.
B)phonological loop.
C)long-term memory.
D)sensory memory

Question 25

In Brooks's task involving visualizing a block letter F,the participants who performed the worst were those who responded by:

A)saying "yes" or "no" out loud.
B)saying "yes" or "no" silently to themselves.
C)tapping their "yes" or "no" response with their fingers.
D)pointing to "yes" or "no" on a screen.

Question 26

Which of the following is a task used to study stimulus selection and response inhibition in working memory?

A)an N-back task
B)the Tower of Hanoi
C)the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
D)the Stroop task

Question 27

Which of the following is a task used to study task-shifting in working memory?

A)an N-back task
B)the Tower of Hanoi
C)the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
D)the Stroop task

Question 28

Larissa is visiting an amusement park.She moves from ride to ride,skipping the ones with very long lines with the intent of returning later on.To make sure she gets on all the rides she wants to go on,she needs to keep track of which rides she's already been on and which ones she hasn't.The task her central executive is most concerned with in this example is:

A)controlled updating of short-term memory buffers.
B)setting goals and planning.
C)task switching.
D)stimulus selection and response inhibition.

Question 29

In the delayed nonmatch-to-sample task,the subjects must select the stimulus that is:

A)the same color and shape as the one they remember.
B)different from the one they remember.
C)the most similar to the one they remember.
D)the same size as the one they remember.

Question 30

In Brooks's task involving visualizing a block letter F,it was reasoned that:

A)remembering the F used the visuo-spatial sketchpad,while making the response used the phonological loop.
B)remembering the F used the phonological loop,while making the response used the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
C)remembering the F and making the response both used the phonological loop.
D)remembering the F and making the response both used the visuo-spatial sketchpad.

Question 31

The Tower of Hanoi puzzle is often used to examine:

A)controlled updating of the memory buffers.
B)the ability to plan and set goals.
C)the ability to switch tasks.
D)the ability to select stimuli and inhibit responses.

Question 32

What does the word-length effect demonstrate about working memory?

A)The central executive is required for storing long words.
B)The visuo-spatial sketchpad is used when long words are remembered.
C)The phonological loop can only store short words.
D)The phonological loop holds verbal information for only a short time.

Question 33

Which of the following is a task used to study the controlled updating of working memory?

A)an N-back task
B)the Tower of Hanoi
C)the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test
D)the Stroop task

Question 34

Which area of the brain seems to play an especially important role in working memory?

A)the prefrontal cortex
B)the cerebellum
C)the sensory cortices
D)the basal ganglia

Question 35

Which of the following is a characteristic of someone with dysexecutive syndrome?

A)disrupted ability to think and plan
B)impaired language abilities
C)below-average intelligence scores
D)disrupted ability to remember facts and events

Question 36

Suppose you are performing a 2-back task where the target is the number 9.What number would you have to report if you are presented with the sequence 2 8 5 4 7 9 1 6 3?

A)4
B)6
C)7
D)9

Question 37

Jackie is trying to balance her checkbook while at the same time helping her son with his homework.She works on her checkbook when she can,while also watching for signals that her son has finished a particular assignment;then she can stop working on her checkbook for a moment and help her son.The task her central executive is MOST concerned with in this example is:

A)controlled updating of short-term memory buffers.
B)setting goals and planning.
C)stimulus selection and response inhibition.
D)task switching.

Question 38

The Stroop task demonstrates that:

A)working memory is enhanced when information is in conflict.
B)working memory is impaired when information is in conflict.
C)reading is an attentional process.
D)reading is an automatic process.

Question 39

Charles must study for two exams and write a term paper.He needs to decide how to distribute his work during the day,including how much time to spend studying each subject,when to work on the term paper,how much he needs to accomplish before taking a break,and so forth.The task his central executive is MOST concerned with in this example is:

A)controlled updating of short-term memory buffers.
B)setting goals and planning.
C)task switching.
D)stimulus selection and response inhibition.

Question 40

The research relating working memory to intelligence has shown that:

A)speed of processing is an important determinant of one's score on an intelligence test.
B)general intelligence is associated with a strong working memory.
C)people with low scores on working memory tests tend to achieve high verbal SAT scores.
D)the ability to use the phonological loop is an important determinant of intelligence level.

Question 41

Which part of the prefrontal cortex seems to be particularly involved in working memory functions?

A)orbital prefrontal cortex
B)medial prefrontal cortex
C)lateral prefrontal cortex
D)posterior prefrontal cortex

Question 42

Which working-memory process occurs in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex?

A)central executive
B)phonological loop
C)visuo-spatial sketchpad
D)both the phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad

Question 43

The ______ is involved in manipulation of information,while the _____ is involved in maintenance/rehearsal of information.

A)ventrolateral PFC;dorsolateral PFC
B)dorsolateral PFC;ventrolateral PFC
C)dorsolateral PFC;posterior cortical areas
D)posterior cortical areas;ventrolateral PFC

Question 44

In a task requiring monkeys to move their gaze to the former position of a visual cue,it was found that neurons in the prefrontal cortex fired:

A)during presentation of the visual cue.
B)during the monkey's response.
C)during the delay between presentation of the cue and the response.
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 45

In what way does the involvement of the prefrontal cortex during delays differ from the involvement of sensory and motor cortices?

A)Only neurons in the prefrontal cortex show sustained activity during delay periods.
B)Only neurons in the sensory and motor cortexes show sustained activity during delay periods.
C)Only neurons in the prefrontal cortex maintain their activity despite distractions.
D)Only neurons in the sensory and motor cortexes maintain their activity despite distractions.

Question 46

Disruption of performance on domain-specific motor learning tasks is seen with damage to the _____ regions of the frontal lobes.

A)posterior
B)anterior
C)anterior and posterior
D)anterior and medial

Question 47

If you want to use your working memory most effectively,you should:

A)try to multitask as much as possible.
B)keep your stress levels relatively high.
C)focus on one task at a time.
D)try to use just your verbal memory store.

Question 48

Research suggests that phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad processes take place in the _______,while central executive functions take place in the ________.

A)ventrolateral prefrontal cortex;dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
B)dorsolateral prefrontal cortex;ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
C)orbital prefrontal cortex;ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
D)ventrolateral prefrontal cortex;orbital prefrontal cortex

Question 49

The existence of perseveration in patients with frontal-lobe damage provides evidence for the involvement of executive-control processes in:

A)the updating of working memory.
B)setting goals and planning.
C)stimulus selection and response inhibition.
D)task switching.

Question 50

Patients with damage to the ____ side of the frontal lobe are MOST likely to show specialized deficits in ______ tasks.

A)left;visuo-spatial
B)left;verbal
C)right;verbal
D)right;analytical

Question 51

Which of the following is true regarding goal abstraction in the frontal lobes?

A)Activation of the frontal lobes during abstract goal-directed tasks proceeds from the posterior to the anterior regions.
B)Posterior regions are involved mainly in processing the most abstract goals.
C)Frontal lobe development throughout childhood proceeds from the posterior regions to the anterior regions.
D)Activation of the frontal lobes during highly-specific goal-directed tasks proceeds from the posterior to the anterior regions.

Question 52

The most abstract plans depend on the _____ areas of the frontal lobes,and the most concrete plans depend on the _____ areas of the frontal lobes.

A)posterior;lateral
B)anterior;posterior
C)lateral;anterior
D)posterior;anterior

Question 53

In a delayed response task,Fuster found that monkey prefrontal neurons fired only:

A)when a particular object was initially displayed.
B)during a delay period when the monkey had to remember the location of an object.
C)during a delay period when the monkey had to remember an object but not its location.
D)after the monkey had chosen an object in the correct location.

Question 54

People with damage to the frontal lobes are impaired on:

A)the N-back task.
B)self-ordered tasks.
C)short-term memory for objects.
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 55

The area of the brain that is active during rehearsal is the:

A)posterior parietal region.
B)occipital area.
C)ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.
D)dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Question 56

Prefrontal neurons that fire during a delay period seem to encode:

A)the prior location of a target.
B)both the prior location of a target and the motor movements needed to make a response.
C)the identity of a target.
D)both the identity of a target and the motor movements needed to make a response.

Question 57

It is often easier to remember words if we can also picture them in our minds.This is because we are using:

A)our verbal memory store.
B)our visuo-spatial memory store.
C)our central executive.
D)both our verbal and visuo-spatial memory stores.

Question 58

If you are driving to a friend's house,your specific goal of turning the steering wheel at a given moment is mainly relying on the ______ areas of the frontal lobes.

A)medial
B)anterior
C)lateral
D)posterior

Question 59

The results of functional brain imaging studies suggest that the:

A)left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is specialized for processing verbal material.
B)right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is specialized for processing verbal material.
C)left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex has a dominant role in all monitoring processes.
D)right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is specialized for processing visual material.

Question 60

Which of the following is likely to be the MOST difficult following damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex?

A)remembering the name of someone you recently met
B)recognizing you^r third grade teacher after many years
C)remembering to send a card on your mother's birthday
D)remembering which friends you've already invited to a party

Question 61

Medications for ADHD work by:

A)decreasing the amount of glutamate.
B)increasing the amount of glutamate.
C)decreasing the amount of dopamine.
D)increasing the amount of dopamine.

Question 62

If you want to retain a list of letters in your short-term memory,you should:

A)make sure there are no more than twp or three letters on the list.
B)interrupt your rehearsal frequently.
C)try to group them so they form words.
D)use the partial-report technique.

Question 63

The phonological loop can retain information for about how long?

A)1/2 second
B)2 seconds
C)10 seconds
D)2 minutes

Question 64

Functional imaging studies have shown that the _________ prefrontal cortex is activated during tasks that involve semantic processing,while the ________ prefrontal cortex is activated during tasks that involve phonological processing.

A)right-posterior ventrolateral;left-anterior ventrolateral
B)left-anterior ventrolateral;right-posterior ventrolateral
C)left-posterior ventrolateral;left-anterior ventrolateral
D)left-anterior ventrolateral;left-posterior ventrolateral

Question 65

In his studies of iconic memory,George Sperling found that participants could remember more items from an array if:

A)there was a one-minute delay between presentation of the array and recall.
B)a tone was played at the very start of each trial to catch their attention.
C)after the array disappeared,a tone was played to indicate which row to recall.
D)they were instructed to recall all of the items,rather than just a specific row.

Question 66

During working memory tasks,schizophrenic patients seem to:

A)recruit the ventrolateral PFC to compensate for a dysfunctional dorsolateral PFC.
B)recruit the dorsolateral PFC to compensate for a dysfunctional ventrolateral PFC.
C)use the ventrolateral PFC less than normal.
D)use all parts of the PFC less than normal.

Question 67

Deficits in working memory in people with schizophrenia may be caused by ________ in the prefrontal cortex.

A)an increased amount of dopamine
B)a lack of sufficient dopamine
C)a lack of dopamine receptors
D)inactive dopamine receptors

Question 68

In Baddeley's working-memory model,the two short-term memory buffers are called the:

A)phonological loop and central executive.
B)visuo-spatial sketchpad and iconic memory.
C)iconic memory and short-term memory.
D)phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad.

Question 69

Brain imaging studies show that people with ______ show _____ prefrontal cortex activity during a 2-back task.

A)1 or 2 copies of the COMT allele;lower
B)1 or 2 copies of the COMT allele;higher
C)0 copies of the COMT allele;lower
D)0,1,or 2 copies of the COMT allele;equal amounts of

Question 70

Which of the following suggests that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is dysfunctional in people with schizophrenia?

A)People with schizophrenia are impaired on phonological memory tasks.
B)People with schizophrenia show increased blood flow to this area when they perform the Wisconsin Card Sort task.
C)People with schizophrenia are impaired on tasks requiring memory for many items after a delay.
D)People with schizophrenia are impaired on tasks requiring memory for a small number of items after a short delay.

Question 71

When you consciously try to remember a fact or event for later retrieval,you are storing the information:

A)executively.
B)iconically.
C)intentionally.
D)incidentally.

Question 72

It has been suggested that in ADHD the basal ganglia:

A)send inappropriate signals to the prefrontal cortex.
B)do not seem to communicate with the prefrontal cortex at all.
C)suppress genes that normally regulate attention.
D)do not send enough information to the cerebellum.

Question 73

Which of the following is the result of information being stored incidentally?

A)remembering a new vocabulary term you just studied,for a French test
B)remembering a phone number someone gave you earlier in the evening
C)remembering that your friend was late for your coffee date yesterday
D)remembering that you have a doctor's appointment tomorrow

Question 74

Which component of working memory would be responsible for remembering the locations of objects?

A)the phonological loop
B)the visuo-spatial sketchpad
C)the iconic memory
D)the central executive

Question 75

Tina needs to stop at the store on her way to work one day.To go to the store,she has to remember to turn right out of her driveway,instead of turning left like she normally would when she goes straight to work.The task her central executive is MOST concerned with in this example is:

A)controlled updating of short-term memory buffers.
B)setting goals.
C)task switching.
D)response inhibition.

Question 76

Neuroimaging studies of children with ADHD have shown that these children have a(n):

A)enlarged right prefrontal cortex region.
B)enlarged left prefrontal cortex region.
C)smaller right prefrontal cortex region.
D)smaller left prefrontal cortex region.

Question 77

Sensory memory:

A)lasts for several minutes.
B)uses rehearsal to maintain information.
C)decays rapidly.
D)lasts longer when a whole-report procedure is used.

Question 78

The _____ prefrontal cortex seems to be active during _____.

A)dorsolateral;incidental encoding
B)dorsolateral;intentional encoding
C)ventrolateral;incidental encoding
D)ventrolateral;intentional encoding

Question 79

Suppose a young man is dating two different women.Which part of his working memory would be responsible for keeping track of when and where he has dates with each of them?

A)the phonological loop
B)the visuo-spatial sketchpad
C)the iconic memory
D)the central executive

Question 80

Which of the following is an example of a task that would activate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex?

A)rehearsing a phone number you just looked up
B)memorizing the definition of a new word by repeating it to yourself
C)remembering who told you about a major news event
D)remembering where you parked your car