PSY255 EVALUATION QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
2025/2026
The _____________________________ model is very well illustrated in Sperling's
model of visual sensory memory, in which the various stages were ingeniously
separated and analyzed.
-It uses the computer as a model for human thinking - The INFORMATION-
PROCESSING MODEL
Henry Molaison (H.M.) - • famous patient who suffered anterograde amnesia (cannot
form new memories) after having surgery
-temporal lobe epilepsy, which is why he got surgery
-His long term memory was grossly disruped however everything else was fine
-had is left and right hippocampus removed
double dissociation - -A term used in neuropsychology when two patient groups show
opposite patterns of deficit, e.g. normal STM and impaired LTM, versus normal LTM
and impaired STM.
CT scan - a series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by
computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Method of brain imaging that relies on detecting
changes induced by a powerful magnetic field.
- The scanner emits radio waves in a series of brief pulses of different frequency. These
are absorbed by the brain, which when the field turns off, releases absorbed energy.
-Allows a 3-dimensional image to be created that differentiates these aspects of brain
structure
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) - -Less invasive method
-creates 'temporary lesions' in the brain but passing a current through coils held close to
the head.
-advantage: allows the experimenter to control the situation comparing performance
with and without stimulation
An increasingly important aspect of MRI is the technique known as DIFFUSION
TENSOR IMAGING (DTI) - This takes advantage of the fact that the myelin sheaths that
surround the white matter fiber tracts connecting different areas of the brain are
relatively fatty, causing the water within to flow along that fiber. This approach,
sometimes known as tractography, allows the mapping of the important white matter
bundles that transfer information from one area of the brain to another, allowing the
different areas to coordinate functions across the brain.
Electrocephalogram (EEG) - An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity
that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed
on the scalp.
,-used clinically to detect epileptic foci that may result in seizures; it also plays an
important role in studying sleep
event-related potential (ERP) - The pattern of electroencephalograph (EEG) activity
obtained by averaging the brain responses to the same stimulus presented repeatedly.
-This can allow the effects of cognitive processing to be monitored over a period of
milliseconds.
-Poor spatial resolution
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) - -A system whereby the activity of neurons within the
brain is detected through the tiny magnetic fields that their activity generates.
-reflects the rapidly changing activity of the brain across time.
-poor spatial resolution
Position Emission Topography (PET) - -Injecting a radioactive tracer substance into the
bloodstream; it is conveyed to the brain, with areas of greater activity demanding
greater blood flow leading to more radiation.
-Array of detectors around head ishen able to pick up such radiation, hence localizing
areas of maximum activity.
-much poorer temporal resolution than ERP or MEG
-Major drawback - it's need for radioactive reagents
-B/C of this fMRI has largely relaced it as a
research tool
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) - -Oxygen is carried by hemoglobin .
Hemoglobin changes it's magnetic resonance signal as oxygen is depleted.
-This is picked up by a series of detectors arrayed around the brain
-better spatial resolution than PET
-Poor temporal lobe resolution
-advantage is that everything is being detected externally
Multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) - -A scan results in a visual representation of the
brain that can be divided into an array of tiny spatial areas known as voxels.
-Using this approach, the computer can be used as a pattern classifier, gradually
building up a model of the brain's response to a particular type of stimulus.
-Known by some as "mind reading", bc it appears to allow the scientist to know just
what the participant is thinking
Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) - A process whereby synaptic transmission becomes
more effective following a cell's recent activation
-In neuroscience, long-term potentiation (LTP) is a persistent strengthening of synapses
based on recent patterns of activity. These are patterns of synaptic activity that produce
a long-lasting increase in signal transmission between two neurons
, Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) - a technique used to produce images of the brain that
shows connections among different regions
-It is an extension of MRI, and is able to image the white matter tracts that CONNECT
different areas of the brain
Go to table 2.1 - sources of evidence regarding psychology and the brain
Digit Span - The longest sequence of random digits that can be repeated
- most people have a digit span of 7
Working Memory Span - Term applied to a range of complex memory span tasks in
which simultaneous storage and processing is required.
Short term memory becomes _____________er as we get older and is dramatically
impaired in patients with ____________________ disease - Short term memory
becomes poorer as we get older and is dramatically impaired in patients with
Alzheimer's Disease.
Working Memory - temporary workspace that is necessary for performing complex
cognitive activities.
Memory span measures require two things: - 1) Remembering what the ITEMS are
2) Remembering the ORDER in which they were presented
Chunking - -Organizing items into familiar, manageable units;
-breaking a sequence up into pronounceable word-like subgroups**
-George Millersuggested that memory capacity is limited not by the number of items
recalled , but by the number of chunks
Memory for sequences of consonant is substantially poorer when they are similar in
_____________. - SOUND
Conrad and Hull - Investigated the effect that the short-term memory store that relies on
an ACOUSTIC CODE which fades rapidly, resulting in forgetting and misremembering
letters like 'V' for 'P' bc of their similar sounds.
The Phonological Loop - -Term applied by Baddeley and Hitch to the component of their
model responsibile for the temporary storage of speech-like information
-Forms part of the working memory model and is assumed to have two subcomponents:
1) short term store
2)articulatory rehearsal process
2025/2026
The _____________________________ model is very well illustrated in Sperling's
model of visual sensory memory, in which the various stages were ingeniously
separated and analyzed.
-It uses the computer as a model for human thinking - The INFORMATION-
PROCESSING MODEL
Henry Molaison (H.M.) - • famous patient who suffered anterograde amnesia (cannot
form new memories) after having surgery
-temporal lobe epilepsy, which is why he got surgery
-His long term memory was grossly disruped however everything else was fine
-had is left and right hippocampus removed
double dissociation - -A term used in neuropsychology when two patient groups show
opposite patterns of deficit, e.g. normal STM and impaired LTM, versus normal LTM
and impaired STM.
CT scan - a series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by
computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Method of brain imaging that relies on detecting
changes induced by a powerful magnetic field.
- The scanner emits radio waves in a series of brief pulses of different frequency. These
are absorbed by the brain, which when the field turns off, releases absorbed energy.
-Allows a 3-dimensional image to be created that differentiates these aspects of brain
structure
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) - -Less invasive method
-creates 'temporary lesions' in the brain but passing a current through coils held close to
the head.
-advantage: allows the experimenter to control the situation comparing performance
with and without stimulation
An increasingly important aspect of MRI is the technique known as DIFFUSION
TENSOR IMAGING (DTI) - This takes advantage of the fact that the myelin sheaths that
surround the white matter fiber tracts connecting different areas of the brain are
relatively fatty, causing the water within to flow along that fiber. This approach,
sometimes known as tractography, allows the mapping of the important white matter
bundles that transfer information from one area of the brain to another, allowing the
different areas to coordinate functions across the brain.
Electrocephalogram (EEG) - An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity
that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed
on the scalp.
,-used clinically to detect epileptic foci that may result in seizures; it also plays an
important role in studying sleep
event-related potential (ERP) - The pattern of electroencephalograph (EEG) activity
obtained by averaging the brain responses to the same stimulus presented repeatedly.
-This can allow the effects of cognitive processing to be monitored over a period of
milliseconds.
-Poor spatial resolution
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) - -A system whereby the activity of neurons within the
brain is detected through the tiny magnetic fields that their activity generates.
-reflects the rapidly changing activity of the brain across time.
-poor spatial resolution
Position Emission Topography (PET) - -Injecting a radioactive tracer substance into the
bloodstream; it is conveyed to the brain, with areas of greater activity demanding
greater blood flow leading to more radiation.
-Array of detectors around head ishen able to pick up such radiation, hence localizing
areas of maximum activity.
-much poorer temporal resolution than ERP or MEG
-Major drawback - it's need for radioactive reagents
-B/C of this fMRI has largely relaced it as a
research tool
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) - -Oxygen is carried by hemoglobin .
Hemoglobin changes it's magnetic resonance signal as oxygen is depleted.
-This is picked up by a series of detectors arrayed around the brain
-better spatial resolution than PET
-Poor temporal lobe resolution
-advantage is that everything is being detected externally
Multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) - -A scan results in a visual representation of the
brain that can be divided into an array of tiny spatial areas known as voxels.
-Using this approach, the computer can be used as a pattern classifier, gradually
building up a model of the brain's response to a particular type of stimulus.
-Known by some as "mind reading", bc it appears to allow the scientist to know just
what the participant is thinking
Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) - A process whereby synaptic transmission becomes
more effective following a cell's recent activation
-In neuroscience, long-term potentiation (LTP) is a persistent strengthening of synapses
based on recent patterns of activity. These are patterns of synaptic activity that produce
a long-lasting increase in signal transmission between two neurons
, Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) - a technique used to produce images of the brain that
shows connections among different regions
-It is an extension of MRI, and is able to image the white matter tracts that CONNECT
different areas of the brain
Go to table 2.1 - sources of evidence regarding psychology and the brain
Digit Span - The longest sequence of random digits that can be repeated
- most people have a digit span of 7
Working Memory Span - Term applied to a range of complex memory span tasks in
which simultaneous storage and processing is required.
Short term memory becomes _____________er as we get older and is dramatically
impaired in patients with ____________________ disease - Short term memory
becomes poorer as we get older and is dramatically impaired in patients with
Alzheimer's Disease.
Working Memory - temporary workspace that is necessary for performing complex
cognitive activities.
Memory span measures require two things: - 1) Remembering what the ITEMS are
2) Remembering the ORDER in which they were presented
Chunking - -Organizing items into familiar, manageable units;
-breaking a sequence up into pronounceable word-like subgroups**
-George Millersuggested that memory capacity is limited not by the number of items
recalled , but by the number of chunks
Memory for sequences of consonant is substantially poorer when they are similar in
_____________. - SOUND
Conrad and Hull - Investigated the effect that the short-term memory store that relies on
an ACOUSTIC CODE which fades rapidly, resulting in forgetting and misremembering
letters like 'V' for 'P' bc of their similar sounds.
The Phonological Loop - -Term applied by Baddeley and Hitch to the component of their
model responsibile for the temporary storage of speech-like information
-Forms part of the working memory model and is assumed to have two subcomponents:
1) short term store
2)articulatory rehearsal process
