AP Psychology · Topic 2.3
Introduction to Memory Practice
Part of Cognition.
Practice questions
10
Sample questions
5 of 10 — sign in to practice the rest with adaptive difficulty and mastery tracking.
Sample 1difficulty 2/5
Memory is best defined as
- A
Long-term retention of information without any encoding process
- B
The passive storage of past experiences without active retrieval
- Ccheck_circle
The process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information
- D
The immediate sensory perception of stimuli in the environment
Why
Three core stages: encode (input), store (retain), retrieve (access).
- A
Sample 2difficulty 3/5
In a study, researchers asked participants to remember a list of 7 digits while simultaneously performing a visuospatial task such as tracking a moving dot. A second group performed a verbal suppression task (repeating "the the the") instead. The visuospatial group recalled most digits accurately, but the verbal-suppression group's digit recall dropped sharply, suggesting different subsystems were taxed.
This pattern best supports which model of memory?
- A
Atkinson-Shiffrin's unitary short-term store with no subsystems
- B
A purely sensory iconic memory system
- Ccheck_circle
Baddeley's working memory model with separate phonological and visuospatial subsystems
- D
Tulving's episodic-semantic distinction in long-term memory
Why
Differential interference from verbal vs. visuospatial secondary tasks supports Baddeley's claim that working memory has dissociable phonological-loop and visuospatial-sketchpad components.
- A
Sample 3difficulty 3/5
Iconic memory (visual sensory memory) lasts about
- A
Indefinitely once it enters the sensory register
- B
Several seconds before fading from sensory store
- Ccheck_circle
A fraction of a second
- D
Several minutes if no rehearsal occurs at all
Why
Sperling's experiment: visual sensory memory fades in less than a second; echoic (auditory) lasts a few seconds.
- A
Sample 4difficulty 3/5
In a study, researchers asked participants to remember a list of 7 digits while simultaneously performing a visuospatial task such as tracking a moving dot. A second group performed a verbal suppression task (repeating "the the the") instead. The visuospatial group recalled most digits accurately, but the verbal-suppression group's digit recall dropped sharply, suggesting different subsystems were taxed.
Verbal suppression interferes with digit recall primarily because both tasks compete for
- Acheck_circle
The phonological loop
- B
The visuospatial sketchpad
- C
Long-term semantic memory
- D
The episodic buffer's autobiographical store
Why
Repeating "the the the" occupies the phonological loop, the same subsystem used to rehearse digits, producing strong interference.
- A
Sample 5difficulty 3/5
The capacity of short-term memory is approximately
- A
20 items
- B
Unlimited
- Ccheck_circle
7 ± 2 items
- D
2 ± 1 items
Why
Miller's "magical number seven, plus or minus two" describes STM span.
- A