PSY255 PRACTICE TEST QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
2025/2026
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
-The store is assumed to be limited in capacity, with items registered as memory traces,
which decay within a few seconds.
-However, the traces can be refreshed by subvocal rehearsal, saying items to yourself,
which depends on a vocal or subvocal articulatory process.
The phonological loop consists of the phonological store, which acts as an inner ear,
and the articulatory control process, which acts as the inner voice that rehearses
sounds.
The Phonological-similarity Effect - A tendency for immediate serial recall of verbal
material to be reduced, when the items are similar in sound.
(mad, can, man, mat, cap)
-thought to occur at retrieval, when info is read out from the short term memory trace
Articulatory Suppression - A technique for disrupting verbal rehearsal by requiring
participants to continuously repeat a spoken item.
-ex.. saying 'the' so you are not able to refresh the memory trace by subvocally
pronouncing the remembered material.
The word length effect - a sequence of long words (5-syllable) alot harder to remember
than short words
__________ music is more interfering to digit recall than ___________music - Vocal ;
Instrumental
Irrelevant sound effect - A tendency for verbal short term memory to be disrupted by
concurrent fluctuating sounds, including both speech and music
Methods of storing serial order (3) - Box 3.2:
1) Chaining
2) Context
3) Primacy
Methods of storing serial order (3) - Box 3.2:
1) Chaining - a to b - b to c - c to d
2) Context -
3) Primacy -
Free Recall - A method whereby participants are presented with a sequence of items
which they are subsequently required to recall in any order they wish.
Phonological Loop Hypothesis 2 advantages - 1) Provides a coherent account of a
range of very robust Short Term Memory phenomena
, 2) Explicitly links them to those other aspects of working memory discussed in Chapter
4
Typical SERIAL POSITION CURVE for FREE RECALL - A typical serial position curve
for free recall involves a clear advantage to the last few items (RECENCY EFFECT),
which vanishes when recall is briefly delayed.
Primacy Effect - Tendency for the firs few items in a sequence to be better recalled than
most of the following items
Recency Effect - Tendency for the last few items in a sequence to be better recalled
than most of the following items
Long-Term Recency Effect - A tendency for the last few items tobe well recalled under
conditions of long-term memory
Visual Short term vs. Long term memory - long term:
-capacity way larger
-capacity to store COMPLEX STIMULI way bigger
-benefits from longer encoding speed exposure
short term:
-capacity 3 or 4 items (small)
-capacity to store complex stimuli way smaller
-encoding speed much more rapid
The act of binding appears to be relatively ___________________.
-Memory binding refers to a person's ability to remember various features of an object, a
person, or an event together as a coherent whole - automatic
2 types of attention: - pg 57:
1) concerned with our capacity to direct and control the flow of sensory information from
the world around us, perhaps best seen as an aspect of perception
2) concerns the internally oriented aspects of attentional control (Central executive)
Corsi span - -taps a number of blocks in sequence and the participant attempts to
imitate this, with the length of sequence increasing until performance breaks down.
-Typically around 5 blocks, usually about 2 items below digit span
Visual Span - -measured using a series of matrix patterns, half the cells are filled and
half left blank.
-The participant is shown a pattern and asked to reproduce it by marking the filled cells
in an empty matrix.
2025/2026
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
-The store is assumed to be limited in capacity, with items registered as memory traces,
which decay within a few seconds.
-However, the traces can be refreshed by subvocal rehearsal, saying items to yourself,
which depends on a vocal or subvocal articulatory process.
The phonological loop consists of the phonological store, which acts as an inner ear,
and the articulatory control process, which acts as the inner voice that rehearses
sounds.
The Phonological-similarity Effect - A tendency for immediate serial recall of verbal
material to be reduced, when the items are similar in sound.
(mad, can, man, mat, cap)
-thought to occur at retrieval, when info is read out from the short term memory trace
Articulatory Suppression - A technique for disrupting verbal rehearsal by requiring
participants to continuously repeat a spoken item.
-ex.. saying 'the' so you are not able to refresh the memory trace by subvocally
pronouncing the remembered material.
The word length effect - a sequence of long words (5-syllable) alot harder to remember
than short words
__________ music is more interfering to digit recall than ___________music - Vocal ;
Instrumental
Irrelevant sound effect - A tendency for verbal short term memory to be disrupted by
concurrent fluctuating sounds, including both speech and music
Methods of storing serial order (3) - Box 3.2:
1) Chaining
2) Context
3) Primacy
Methods of storing serial order (3) - Box 3.2:
1) Chaining - a to b - b to c - c to d
2) Context -
3) Primacy -
Free Recall - A method whereby participants are presented with a sequence of items
which they are subsequently required to recall in any order they wish.
Phonological Loop Hypothesis 2 advantages - 1) Provides a coherent account of a
range of very robust Short Term Memory phenomena
, 2) Explicitly links them to those other aspects of working memory discussed in Chapter
4
Typical SERIAL POSITION CURVE for FREE RECALL - A typical serial position curve
for free recall involves a clear advantage to the last few items (RECENCY EFFECT),
which vanishes when recall is briefly delayed.
Primacy Effect - Tendency for the firs few items in a sequence to be better recalled than
most of the following items
Recency Effect - Tendency for the last few items in a sequence to be better recalled
than most of the following items
Long-Term Recency Effect - A tendency for the last few items tobe well recalled under
conditions of long-term memory
Visual Short term vs. Long term memory - long term:
-capacity way larger
-capacity to store COMPLEX STIMULI way bigger
-benefits from longer encoding speed exposure
short term:
-capacity 3 or 4 items (small)
-capacity to store complex stimuli way smaller
-encoding speed much more rapid
The act of binding appears to be relatively ___________________.
-Memory binding refers to a person's ability to remember various features of an object, a
person, or an event together as a coherent whole - automatic
2 types of attention: - pg 57:
1) concerned with our capacity to direct and control the flow of sensory information from
the world around us, perhaps best seen as an aspect of perception
2) concerns the internally oriented aspects of attentional control (Central executive)
Corsi span - -taps a number of blocks in sequence and the participant attempts to
imitate this, with the length of sequence increasing until performance breaks down.
-Typically around 5 blocks, usually about 2 items below digit span
Visual Span - -measured using a series of matrix patterns, half the cells are filled and
half left blank.
-The participant is shown a pattern and asked to reproduce it by marking the filled cells
in an empty matrix.
