PSYCHOLOGY 8TH EDITION BY HOCKENBURY
2026 COMPREHENSIVE EXAM SCRIPT WITH
FINAL SOLUTIONS
⩥Name the three memory STORES, in order - Sensory memory,
Working memory, Long-Term memory
⩥Encoding: - Getting information into memory system
⩥Give an example of one kind of information that is encoded
automatically, and one example of information encoded effortfully -
Automatically: reading in English
Effortfully: Remembering Names
⩥What is the spacing effect, and how can you use this to memorize the
most for exams? - Spacing studying rather than cramming all at once.
Study for shorter periods of time many times, instead of one long study
session
⩥What is the serial position effect, and how can you use this to
memorize the most for exams? - The first and last items on a list are
easiest to encode. Switch order of items so that they each have a turn at
being first and last.
,⩥Give one example of using chunking to encode information: - Making
the color spectrum into an acronym: ROYGBIV
⩥Sensory memory: - Store where we register information from the
senses
⩥George Sperling studied iconic memory for groups of 9 letters that
were flashed for 1/20th of a second. Then, he asked participants to
immediately recall any given row (top, middle, or bottom). What were
the results? - Everyone could remember the three letters when asked
directly after. Proved that people with normal memory have perfect
memory of things they see for 1/20th of a second.
⩥What were the results on Sperling's iconic memory task if he delayed
asking participants to recall the letters they'd briefly registered in
sensory memory? - The participants were less able to remember the
letters.
⩥Working memory: - The store where we do work to get the info from
sensory memory transferred into long-term memory
⩥Working memory capacity is limited to a specific number of items: - 7
+/-2 (5-9)
, ⩥Define the long-term memory store, and say how this store is *not*
like a hard-drive: - store with a limitless capacity to hold information -
from seconds to lifetimes. Not like a hard drive, because never runs out
of room
⩥Old people sometimes say they can't learn anything more because
they've already filled up their memory. This is wrong because (explain):
- The more long-term memories you have/store, the more space your
brain makes for long-term memories. When you store a memory, your
brain provides more space for other memories.
⩥At least three specific changes in the brain occur so long-term storage
is easier the more we have already learned. Describe two changes that
happen at the level of the individual neural synapse that makes us ready
to learn - 1. More receptors are made
2. More serotonin is released
⩥Flashbulb memory - having an unusually clear memory of a shocking
event
⩥Retrieval - Getting information out when we need it
⩥What's a reason that brain fingerprinting could be inaccurate in telling
scientists whether someone committed a crime? - Many people other
than the perpetrator can have a reaction to the words they are given,
based off of something else, not necessarily the crime.
2026 COMPREHENSIVE EXAM SCRIPT WITH
FINAL SOLUTIONS
⩥Name the three memory STORES, in order - Sensory memory,
Working memory, Long-Term memory
⩥Encoding: - Getting information into memory system
⩥Give an example of one kind of information that is encoded
automatically, and one example of information encoded effortfully -
Automatically: reading in English
Effortfully: Remembering Names
⩥What is the spacing effect, and how can you use this to memorize the
most for exams? - Spacing studying rather than cramming all at once.
Study for shorter periods of time many times, instead of one long study
session
⩥What is the serial position effect, and how can you use this to
memorize the most for exams? - The first and last items on a list are
easiest to encode. Switch order of items so that they each have a turn at
being first and last.
,⩥Give one example of using chunking to encode information: - Making
the color spectrum into an acronym: ROYGBIV
⩥Sensory memory: - Store where we register information from the
senses
⩥George Sperling studied iconic memory for groups of 9 letters that
were flashed for 1/20th of a second. Then, he asked participants to
immediately recall any given row (top, middle, or bottom). What were
the results? - Everyone could remember the three letters when asked
directly after. Proved that people with normal memory have perfect
memory of things they see for 1/20th of a second.
⩥What were the results on Sperling's iconic memory task if he delayed
asking participants to recall the letters they'd briefly registered in
sensory memory? - The participants were less able to remember the
letters.
⩥Working memory: - The store where we do work to get the info from
sensory memory transferred into long-term memory
⩥Working memory capacity is limited to a specific number of items: - 7
+/-2 (5-9)
, ⩥Define the long-term memory store, and say how this store is *not*
like a hard-drive: - store with a limitless capacity to hold information -
from seconds to lifetimes. Not like a hard drive, because never runs out
of room
⩥Old people sometimes say they can't learn anything more because
they've already filled up their memory. This is wrong because (explain):
- The more long-term memories you have/store, the more space your
brain makes for long-term memories. When you store a memory, your
brain provides more space for other memories.
⩥At least three specific changes in the brain occur so long-term storage
is easier the more we have already learned. Describe two changes that
happen at the level of the individual neural synapse that makes us ready
to learn - 1. More receptors are made
2. More serotonin is released
⩥Flashbulb memory - having an unusually clear memory of a shocking
event
⩥Retrieval - Getting information out when we need it
⩥What's a reason that brain fingerprinting could be inaccurate in telling
scientists whether someone committed a crime? - Many people other
than the perpetrator can have a reaction to the words they are given,
based off of something else, not necessarily the crime.
