7. Key Concepts
Mechanics of Memory Formation
Models of Memory
Theories of Forgetting
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
8. Key Concepts
Mechanics of Memory Formation
Models of Memory
Theories of Forgetting
Manipulation and Improvement of Memory
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
9. Question 1
Sam is able to retain the vocabulary he learned in
his French class long after the class has ended. The
main memory process that accounts for the fact
that Sam can hold information in his memory for
extended periods of time is
A.Encoding
B. Retrieval
C. Chunking
D.Storage
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
10. Suggested Solution
Sam is able to retain the vocabulary he learned in
his French class long after the class has ended. The
main memory process that accounts for the fact
that Sam can hold information in his memory for
extended periods of time is
A.Encoding
B. Retrieval
C. Chunking
D.Storage
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
11. Question 2
What is the difference between encoding of
information and retrieval of information in
memory?
(2 marks)
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
12. Suggested Solution
Encoding involves converting or
transforming information into a
meaningful form or code for storage
[1mark], whereas retrieval is the recovery
or accessing of information or memories
from storage. [1 mark]
Award 1 mark each for describing
encoding and retrieval.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
13. Question 3
The component of the neuron called the _________
receives information from the _________ and
sends it to the _________.
A. soma; dendrite; axon
B. dendrite; soma; axon
C. soma; axon; dendrite
D. axon; dendrite; soma
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
14. Suggested Solution
The component of the neuron called the _________
receives information from the _________ and
sends it to the _________.
A. soma; dendrite; axon
B. dendrite; soma; axon
C. soma; axon; dendrite
D. axon; dendrite; soma
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
15. Question 4
What are two roles of the neuron in memory
formation?
(2 marks)
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
16. Suggested Solution
Roles include:
*release more neurotransmitter e.g. glutamate
*strengthen connections within the network
forming the memory e.g. growth of dendritic
spines, synaptic formation
* LTP
Award 1 mark for each of two relevant roles.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
17. Question 5
David, a 23-year-old university student,
suffered from a brain injury and sustained
damage to his amygdala. David is most likely
to experience difficulty with
A. implicit memory.
B. explicit memory.
C. semantic memory.
D. sensory memory.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
18. Suggested Solution
David, a 23-year-old university student,
suffered from a brain injury and sustained
damage to his amygdala. David is most likely
to experience difficulty with
A. implicit memory.
B. explicit memory.
C. semantic memory.
D. sensory memory.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
19. Question 6
Nina had a long conversation over the phone with
her friend. When she finished, Nina tripped and fell
heavily. She was knocked unconscious and ended up
in hospital.
According to the consolidation theory, Nina would
not be expected to remember the telephone
conversation when she regained consciousness.
Why?
(2 marks)
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
20. Suggested Solution
Consolidation theory proposes that:
¥ physical changes to the neurons in the brain occur after learning, as
the new information consolidates in memory
¥ if the memory is disrupted during the consolidation phase, the
information may be lost before a long-term memory is formed
¥ the material being remembered is vulnerable to disruption for at least
30 minutes.
Thus, Nina is likely to forget what occurred in the conversation as
consolidation will not have taken place.
Award 1 mark for explaining that the memory has been disrupted by
Nina being knocked unconscious.
Award 1 mark for explaining that disruption of a memory during the
consolidation phase will mean that the long-term memory is not formed.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
21. Question 7
Harry is a healthy 70-year-old man who has no brain disease or injury.
Choose the statement that most probably describes his memory abilities.
A. He has joined a book club but cannot remember much about the weekly
meetings.
B. He is just as likely as a young person to recognise newly learnt
information.
C. He finds it very difficult to remember how to do activities he once
enjoyed.
D. He is likely to forget factual information that he once knew well.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
22. Suggested Solution
Harry is a healthy 70-year-old man who has no brain disease or injury.
Choose the statement that most probably describes his memory abilities.
A. He has joined a book club but cannot remember much about the weekly
meetings.
B. He is just as likely as a young person to recognise newly learnt
information.
C. He finds it very difficult to remember how to do activities he once
enjoyed.
D. He is likely to forget factual information that he once knew well.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
23. Question 8
Sam was involved in a car accident in which he hit
his head. As a result he was unable to remember
anything about the few days before the accident.
Sam is suffering from
A. Alzheimer's disease.
B. retrograde amnesia.
C. anterograde amnesia.
D. retroactive interference.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
24. Suggested Solution
Sam was involved in a car accident in which he hit
his head. As a result he was unable to remember
anything about the few days before the accident.
Sam is suffering from
A. Alzheimer's disease.
B. retrograde amnesia.
C. anterograde amnesia.
D. retroactive interference.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
25. Question 9
Name one psychological and one physiological symptom of
Alzheimer's disease.
(2 marks)
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
26. Suggested Solution
Psychological: apathy, depression, anxiety, agitation, aggressive
behaviour, delusions, hallucinations, long and short-term memory
impairment, personality changes
Physiological: degeneration of neurons of the brain, ameloid plaques
in the brain, abnormal motor activity, impairment of basic motor
functions such as chewing and swallowing, slowed movement,
coordination may be impaired, there may be twitching or jerking.
Award 1 mark for a correct psychological symptom
Award 1 mark for a correct physiological symptom.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
27. Question 10
Describe the relationship between sensory
memory, short-term memory and long-term
memory when learning new information. Your
answer should include differences between
capacity and duration for each level of memory.
(3 marks)
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
28. Suggested Solution
Sensory memory — unlimited capacity; duration — a
fraction of a second to a few seconds
Short-term memory — capacity 7 ± 2 chunks of information;
duration — 20–30 seconds, if unattended
Long term memory — unlimited capacity; duration
relatively permanent, indefinite or up to a lifetime.
VCAA Assessment Report note:
Correct information for both capacity and duration was
required to gain 1 mark for each memory type. The most
common flaw in students' answers involved providing only
one of the two pieces of information for each memory level.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
29. Question 11
The memory system that stores information about personal events
and general knowledge is the
A. episodic system.
B. semantic system.
C. procedural system.
D. declarative system.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
30. Suggested Solution
The memory system that stores information about personal events and
general knowledge is the
A. episodic system.
B. semantic system.
C. procedural system.
D. declarative system.
Additional information
VCAA Assessment Report note:
Many students chose option A; this shows the importance of reading
all options, even though the first option may appear to be a possible
correct response.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
31. Question 12
Celia works in a busy hot bread shop that has a broken cash register. Celia
needs to use mental arithmetic to calculate the amount of money customers
must pay for their purchases.
Which component of working memory is able to combine information from
elsewhere in working memory and from long-term memory, but is not involved
in the final decision of how much Celia’s customers have to pay?
A. episodic buffer
B. central executive
C. phonological loop
D. visuo-spatial sketchpad
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
32. Suggested Solution
Celia works in a busy hot bread shop that has a broken cash register. Celia
needs to use mental arithmetic to calculate the amount of money customers
must pay for their purchases.
Which component of working memory is able to combine information from
elsewhere in working memory and from long-term memory, but is not
involved in the final decision of how much Celia’s customers have to pay?
A. episodic buffer
B. central executive
C. phonological loop
D. visuo-spatial sketchpad
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
33. Questiona part-time job in a plant nursery.
13
Marcus has just started
On his first day, he was given a list of 20 common plant names and asked to learn them. He spent some
time learning this list. At the start of his next shift, his boss gave him two tasks.
Task 1: Marcus was asked to write down as many of the plant names as he could remember from the
original list.
Marcus was then given a short break before completing Task 2.
Task 2: Marcus was given a list of 50 common plant names, including the previous 20 plant names from
the original list, and asked to circle the plants that were on the original list.
After completing the tasks, Marcus was then given the original list again and asked to study it again.
The following week he repeated the two tasks.
Which of the following statements is most likely to be correct?
A. Repeating Task 1 a week later is a more sensitive measure of retention than the original Task 1.
B. Repeating Task 2 a week later is a less sensitive measure of retention than the original Task 2.
C. Task 1 is a more sensitive measure of retention than Task 2.
D. Tasks 1 and 2 are both relearning tasks.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
34. Suggested Solution
Marcus has just started a part-time job in a plant nursery.
On his first day, he was given a list of 20 common plant names and asked to learn them. He spent some
time learning this list. At the start of his next shift, his boss gave him two tasks.
Task 1: Marcus was asked to write down as many of the plant names as he could remember from the
original list.
Marcus was then given a short break before completing Task 2.
Task 2: Marcus was given a list of 50 common plant names, including the previous 20 plant names from
the original list, and asked to circle the plants that were on the original list.
After completing the tasks, Marcus was then given the original list again and asked to study it again.
The following week he repeated the two tasks.
Which of the following statements is most likely to be correct?
A. Repeating Task 1 a week later is a more sensitive measure of retention than the original Task 1.
B. Repeating Task 2 a week later is a less sensitive measure of retention than the original Task 2.
C. Task 1 is a more sensitive measure of retention than Task 2.
D. Tasks 1 and 2 are both relearning tasks.
Additional information
VCAA Assessment Report note:
Students had difficulty understanding that a more sensitive measure of retention will be capable of
registering a low intensity or strength of retention, which would be missed by a less sensitive measure.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
35. Question 14
Frank was concerned about remembering, in the correct order, all the items he
had to discuss during his work presentation. He made up a short and funny
story which included each key word in order and then used this to assist recall
when he presented the speech.
The mnemonic device used by Frank would have assisted his memory by
A. allowing him to rehearse information in short-term memory.
B. adding state-dependent cues to the material to be learned and retrieved.
C. decreasing the amount and complexity of information to be learned and
retrieved.
D. elaborating the information and enhancing its organisation in long-term
memory.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
36. Suggested Solution
Frank was concerned about remembering, in the correct order, all the items he
had to discuss during his work presentation. He made up a short and funny
story which included each key word in order and then used this to assist recall
when he presented the speech.
The mnemonic device used by Frank would have assisted his memory by
A. allowing him to rehearse information in short-term memory.
B. adding state-dependent cues to the material to be learned and retrieved.
C. decreasing the amount and complexity of information to be learned and
retrieved.
D. elaborating the information and enhancing its organisation in long-term
memory.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
37. Question 15
A school principal wanted to work out which two languages should be taught at her school. The
school already taught French so she wanted to choose the second language from either Italian or
Chinese. She wanted to introduce a language that would not interfere with students' retention of
French. The school principal knew that Italian is a more similar language to French than Chinese
which is a very different language from French. She divided the Year 7 students in her school into
two groups and followed the procedure set out in the table below to find out what effect the study
of Italian and Chinese may have on the students' retention of French.
a. Identify and define the type of interference being tested by Groups A and B.
b. With reference to interference theory, is the principal more likely to choose Italian or Chinese as
the second language in her school, and why?
4 mark(s)
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
38. Suggested Solution
a. Group A: retroactive interference — when new information inhibits retrieval of previously learnt
material.
Group B: retroactive interference — when new information inhibits retrieval of previously learnt
material.
Award 1 mark for correctly naming and defining the type of interference for Group A and 1 mark for
group B.
VCAA Assessment Report note:
Students needed to have a good understanding of interference theory to establish that in each case the
type of interference being tested was retroactive. After identifying the type of interference, students
were not required to define it twice.
b. The principal would be most likely to choose Chinese as the second language in her school.
According to the interference theory, there will be less retroactive interference between Chinese and
French as they are not similar languages.
Conversely, there is likely to be more retroactive interference between French and Italian as they are
more similar.
Award 1 mark for choosing Chinese.
Award 1 mark for explaining that Chinese will produce less retroactive interference with French as it
is less like French than Italian.
Tuesday, 22 October 2013