Chapter 6
Memory and Information
Processing
The following are the objectives of this
chapter:
- Describe the operation of human memory and of
its individual components.
(Review Questions
1-3)
(Review Questions
6-10)
(Matching Exercises 1
and 2)
- Describe strategies for enhancing the
effectiveness of the sensory register.
- Describe strategies for transferring
information accurately and efficiently to working memory and for
keeping information in working memory.
- Describe strategies for transferring
information accurately to long-term memory and for retrieving
information from long-term memory.
- Describe the basic factors that contribute to
forgetting and describe strategies to minimize forgetting.
(Review Questions 4
and 5)
(Matching Exercise
3)
- Define automaticity and describe the role of
overlearning in human information processing.
- Define positive and negative transfer and
describe their impact on human learning and information
processing.
- Describe the process by which learners acquire
social knowledge and act in a socially competent
manner.
Possible
Problems and Solutions:
1. Students often think that long-term
memory refers to the retention of information for a lengthy
period of time.
Clarification: The key element of
long-term memory is that the information can be retained even when
the learner has stopped paying direct attention to it.
Note: Information that has been learned through
a bad strategy such as cramming for an exam has been stored in
long-term memory. The fault is that it has been stored in a
relatively non-meaningful manner, so that it will not be retrieved
effectively as time passes.
2. Students sometimes confuse proactive and
retroactive inhibition.
Clarification: Retroactive inhibition
works back toward the past. If on September 1 a person
receives a pay raise retroactive to January 1, this means that
what happened on September 1 influenced the previous paydays since
January 1. Retroactive inhibition likewise influences the past. If
information I acquire now makes it harder for me to remember what
I learned last semester, this is retroactive inhibition. Likewise,
if I learn something now but what happens between now and the
final exam makes it hard for me to remember what I am learning
now, this is retroactive inhibition: the future is working
backward to (retroactively) make me forget what I am learning
now.
Proactive inhibition projects itself into the
future. If I am having trouble learning something now
because I have in the past accidentally developed a misconception
about this topic, then I am experiencing proactive inhibition.
Likewise, if today I learn how to function within one environment
- say, my current university - this current learning may make it
more difficult a year from now to learn to function within another
environment - say, a different university.
How
It All Fits Together
How Chapter 6 Fits with the Rest of the
Book:
Academic Learning Time (Chapter
2)
Devoting sufficient ALT to an information
processing or transfer task enables the learner to engage in the
necessary steps to store it in long term memory, retrieve it, and
generalize it to new settings. Reducing the amount of time needed
for any step will weaken the overall processing of
information.
If the goal of a unit of instruction is to
process information, efficient use of ALT occurs only if
information moves from the sensory register, to working memory,
and into long-term memory. If the learner spends an hour and
encodes nothing, that learner has spent no ALT on the task.
Effective information processing greatly
enhances ALT. For example, when information is encoded and
overlearned, the efficient use of ALT for processing other
information becomes more readily possible.
Learning and Instruction (Chapter
3)
The steps of information processing
comprise events 3, 4, and 5 of instruction.
Many of the strategies for facilitating
information processing (such as advance organizers and
instructional probes) are derived from the theory of learning and
instruction.
Human Development (Chapter 4)
The idea of information processing is at
the basis of Piaget's processes of assimilation and accommodation.
Information is assimilated through the sensory register, into the
working memory, and then into the long-term memory. Long-term
memory consists of structures which have been developed as a
result of previous encoding. When this encoded information
undergoes a modification, Piaget refers to that as accommodation.
The learner's capabilities to perform the
various steps in information processing change as the result of
human development. Constructivism overlaps heavily with
information processing theory.
Motivation (Chapter 5)
Motivation increases the likelihood that
learners will perform all the steps necessary for complete
processing of information. Specifically, Chapter 5 shows how an
appropriate level of arousal makes the neurological system ready
to engage in these steps as efficiently as possible. In addition,
Chapter 5 shows how expectancies influence what information is
processed.
Thinking Skills (Chapter 7)
The steps involved in information
processing are one set of activities on which learner can focus
their metacognitive skills. As Chapter 7 shows, learners who make
deliberate attempts at the steps in information processing are
likely to process information more effectively.
In addition, when students try to develop
higher order thinking skills, they need to follow the sequence
from sensory register to working memory to long-term memory
described in this chapter in order to process information about
those higher order skills.
Individual Differences (Chapter
9)
A large number of the differences among
individuals with regard to learning arise from differences in
their ability to process information. For example, Chapter 9 shows
that
- Some learning disabilities consist largely
of disruptions in the processing of information.
- Cultural diversity can have both positive
and negative impacts on the encoding of information. Positive
impacts occur because diverse learners bring to the learning
situation a wider variety of means for encoding information.
Negative impacts occur when the cultural background of learners
omits structures that would have been useful for successful
processing of information.
Behavior Modification (Chapters 10 and
11)
Reinforcing learners for steps in the
information processing model increases the likelihood that they
will perform these steps.
Successful completion of the steps of
information processing is often reinforcing.
When a larger amount of meaningful, interesting
information has been processed, there is a higher probability that
learners will find learning new information to be naturally
reinforcing.
Observational Learning (Chapter
12)
All of the principles discussed in
chapters 10 and 11 can occur vicariously as well as directly. This
means that if one student sees another successfully perform an
information-processing activity, the observer can benefit from
this process - provided that the observer can see what is
happening.
In addition, scaffolded instruction is a
good method for helping learners develop their skills at using
their information processing capabilities.
Classroom Management and Discipline
(Chapter 13)
A major purpose of effective classroom
management is to establish an atmosphere where efficient
information processing can occur.
Testing and Assessment (Chapter
14)
Information processing skills are
extremely important to successful test-taking. A person who
processes information efficiently and retrieves it effectively
will do well on tests.
Testing and evaluation often present learners
with an opportunity to prevent forgetting, as by
fading.
Tools for Delivering Instruction (Chapter
15)
A major purpose of instructional design
and the use of educational technology is to enhance these steps of
information processing.
Advance organizers and instructional probes
(described in Chapter 14) play an important part in making sure
learners process information correctly.
Unit
Review Quiz
1. In which component of
memory does active thinking take place?
a. Sensory memory
b. Short-term memory
c. Long-term episodic memory
d. Long-term semantic memory
{Check
your answer.}
2. Although the game took
place 10 years ago, Ralph finds that he can still remember most of
the details on the championship basketball game in which he played.
In which component of memory was this information stored?
a. Long-term episodic
b. Short-term
c. Long-term semantic
d. Long-term procedural
{Check
your answer.}
3. Overlearning leads to
automaticity, which makes it easier to move information into and out
of the _______________ for active use more efficiently.
a. Sensory memory
b. Short-term memory
c. Episodic memory
d. Procedural memory
e. Semantic memory
{Check
your answer.}
4. In proactive
inhibition
a. new learning interferes with previous
learning.
b. previous learning interferes with new learning.
c. information acquired through auditory learning interferes with
information acquired visually.
d. learned information becomes resistant to interference or
decay.
{Check
your answer.}
5. Last year Patrice studied
the rules of rugby. She learned these thoroughly enough to watch a
game in which her boyfriend played and to describe the game
accurately the next day. The next month, she started going with a new
boyfriend, who was a soccer enthusiast. After watching soccer twice a
week for three months and thoroughly understanding that game, Patrice
started going with her current boyfriend, who enjoys playing Frisbee
golf with her. Yesterday, Patrice saw a rugby game on television but
misunderstood several calls because she got rugby rules confused with
soccer rules. Patrice forgot the rules of rugby because of
a. overlearning
b. retroactive inhibition
c. proactive inhibition
d. failure of the information to enter long-term memory
{Check
your answer.}
6. What is the deepest level
of information processing that the rules of rugby reached for
Patrice?
a. Short-term memory
b. Long-term memory
c. Sensory register
d. None of the above
{Check
your answer.}
7. What is the deepest level
of information processing that the rules of soccer reached for
Patrice?
a. Short-term memory
b. Long-term memory
c. Sensory register
d. None of the above
{Check
your answer.}
8. The key characteristic
that describes human long-term memory is that
a. rehearsal is necessary for information
to enter long-term memory.
b. information can be retained in long-term memory for at least a
day or two.
c. it can hold only about seven pieces of information at a
time.
d. it can store information even when the person is not directly
attending to it.
e. it can receive and store information directly from the sensory
register.
{Check
your answer.}
9. Juanita lived in Mexico
until last year. The family has moved to the United States, and she
is in the third grade in a school where all of her classmates were
born and raised in the United States. Her teacher and her classmates
often engage in conversations that assume that listeners understand
things about American customs, but Juanita does not know about these
aspects of their culture. This unfamiliarity with the culture of her
teacher and her classmates will reduce the effectiveness of which
component(s) of Juanita's memory and information processing
system?
a. Short-term memory
b. Long-term memory
c. Sensory register
d. All of the above
d. None of the above
{Check
your answer.}
10. Information can be
stored in long-term memory more efficiently if it is meaningful. The
term meaningful refers to
a. the degree to which new information
can be related to information already stored in long-term
memory.
b. the degree to which information can be applied to real-life
activities later in a learner's life.
c. the motivational value of the context in which information is
presented.
d. the amount of rehearsal that can be applied to practicing the
new information.
{Check
your answer.}
Matching
Exercise
Set 1
Match each term with the appropriate
definition.
a. Acronym.
b. Acrostic.
c. Advance organizer.
d. Elaborative interrogation.
e. Keyword method.
f. Mnemonic strategy.
g. Negative transfer.
h. Orienting question.
i. Overlearning.
j. Positive transfer.
k. Retrieval.
l. Rote learning.
m. Transfer of learning.
- _____ The use of information or skills learned
in one situation in a different situation or with regard to a
different topic.
- _____ A mnemonic strategy that uses
abbreviations in which each of the letters stands for the first
letter in a list of words to be recalled.
- _____ A mnemonic strategy that uses the first
letter of each word in a sentence to help learners retrieve a list
of words.
- _____ A question asked at the beginning of a
unit of instruction designed to stimulate the learner to think
about information that is likely to be helpful in understanding
and organizing the information the learner will encounter.
- _____ A strategy that requires learners to
give explanations or to in some other way expand upon the
information they have been examining, with the intention of
helping them activate prior knowledge and integrate the new
information with the old.
- _____ A mnemonic strategic that facilitates
the learning of vocabulary by associating new words in graphic or
clever ways with words already known.
- _____ A systematic strategy for strengthening
long-term retention and retrieval of information.
- _____ The process of transferring information
from long-term memory back into working memory for active use by
the thinker.
- _____ The acquisition of information by a
learner without relating it to other information already stored in
long-term memory.
- _____ The type of generalization of learning
that occurs when learning from one situation interferes with
learning in another.
- _____ The type of generalization of learning
that occurs when learning from one situation assists learning in
another.
- _____ The process of continuing to practice a
skill or to study a concept beyond the point of initial mastery in
order to promote automaticity.
- _____ An introductory statement about a topic
that activates prior knowledge and provides a structure for the
new information and relates it to information already in long-term
memory.
{Click here to see
answers to matching exercises.}
Set 2
Match each term with the appropriate
definition.
a. Automaticity.
b. Chunking.
c. Distributed practice.
d. Elaboration.
e. Encoding.
f. Information-processing.
g. Long-term memory.
h. Massed practice.
i. Meaningful learning.
j. Practice.
k. Rehearsal.
l. Sensory register.
m. Short-term memory.
n. Working memory.
- _____ The process of transferring information
from working memory to long-term memory by relating it to
information already stored in long-term memory.
- _____ The process of transferring information
from the environment into the human memory and the integration and
retrieval of information that has been stored there.
- _____ The part of the human memory in which
information is stored for later retrieval.
- _____ The acquisition of information by a
learner who has related it to other information already stored in
long-term memory.
- _____ The opportunity to perform a behavior
after it has been learned in order to promote mastery of the
behavior and to receive feedback for this performance.
- _____ The use of practice sessions that take
place on a number of brief occasions, rather than a single lengthy
session.
- _____ The use of practice sessions that take
place on lengthy occasions rather than on a larger number of brief
occasions.
- _____ The process of continuously focusing
attention on information in working memory, so that this
information will remain available for the thinker's use.
- _____ A component of the human information
processing system that accepts sensory input and screens it before
passing some of it along to the working memory.
- _____ The part of the human memory in which
all active thinking takes place (also referred to as working
memory).
- _____ The part of the human memory in which
all active thinking takes place (also referred to as short-term
memory).
- _____ The ability to chunk or to move
information between long-term and working memory so rapidly and
efficiently that the processes require practically no attention on
the part of the learner.
- _____ The process of combining separate pieces
of information into a single, more complex piece of information,
so that it can be more efficiently handled in working memory or
stored in long-term memory.
- _____ The process of encoding information in
long-term memory by adding to the new information ideas that the
learner has previously acquired.
{Click here to see
answers to matching exercises.}
Set 3
Match each term with the appropriate
definition.
a. Distortion.
b. Episodic memory.
c. Fading.
d. Forgetting.
e. Generative memory.
f. Inert knowledge.
g. Interference.
h. Meaningfulness.
i. Proactive inhibition.
j. Procedural memory.
k. Reconstructive memory.
l. Retroactive inhibition.
m. Semantic memory.
- _____ The type of forgetting that arises from
the inability of the learner to retrieve information because that
information has not been used in a long time.
- _____ The inability to recall information
because of either a failure to transfer it from working memory to
long-term memory or because of an inability to retrieve
information that is in long-term memory.
- _____ The confusion of one piece of
information with other information in long-term memory.
- _____ The misrepresentation of information
that occurs when an imperfect image is recalled from long-term
memory.
- _____ The type of forgetting that occurs when
current information is lost because it is mixed up with previously
learned, similar information.
- _____ The type of forgetting that occurs when
previously learned information is lost because it is mixed up with
new and somewhat similar information.
- _____ The focus on the human memory's ability
to recall information by reasoning about it - by making decisions
and inferences regarding what the information should be.
- _____ The focus on the human memory's ability
to retrieve the same information that was stored in it (as opposed
to making inferences about what should be stored there).
- _____ Knowledge that cannot be activated in
new situations in which it is obviously applicable.
- _____ The degree to which a given piece of
information can be related to other information in the learner's
long-term memory.
- _____ The part of the memory that enables us
to store and recall information regarding how to perform a task or
to employ a strategy. The steps in various procedures are
apparently stored in a series of steps, or stimulus-response
pairings.
- _____ The part of the memory that enables us
to store and recall personal experiences from our past.
- _____ The part of our memory that enables us
to store and recall facts and generalized information. It contains
verbal information, concepts, rules, principles, and
problem-solving skills.
{Click here to see
answers to matching exercises.}
Key
Ideas:
(These fill-in-the-blanks exercises can be a
useful way to verify that you can recall and understand the main
concepts covered in this chapter. When the answers you give differ
from those in the answer key, think about it. If your answer is as
good as mine, that's great! However, there's a good chance that in
many cases my answer may be better than yours. Try to find the logic
behind my answer. The more actively you think - by looking for
reasons and explanations - the more valuable this exercise will be
for you.)
(Also note that after you have filled in the
blanks, this set of Key Ideas provides a good summary of the
chapter.)
- Information comes from the outside world into
the ________ ________ in the human brain. This input consists of
things perceived by our ________.
- When we do focus our attention on items in our
sensory registers, they are placed in our ________ ________.
Another name for our working memory is ________
________memory.
- Our working memory has a very limited capacity
- we can attend to only about ________ items at a time. Therefore,
we must take one of the following actions with regard to each
piece of information that comes into this short-term storage area:
(a) continuously ________ it, so that it stays there; (b) move it
out of this area by shifting it to ________ ________ memory; or
(c) move it out of this area by ________it.
- The advantage of ________ ________ memory is
that we do not have to constantly rehearse information to keep it
in storage there. In addition, there is no ________ on the number
of pieces of information that we can store in long-term
memory.
- To make use of the information in long term
memory, we must move it back to our ________ ________, using a
process called ________.
- In a large number of cases, what catches a
person's attention depends heavily on what is currently happening
in the ________ ________ and what has already been stored in
________ ________ memory.
- One of the most important activities in human
information processing is the constant selection of a current
________ of our attention.
- Human beings do ________ their active thinking
and problem solving in working memory. The quality of the input
into working memory and of the operations that go on there
determine the quality of learning and problem solving.
- There are three critical phases in the
effective use of ________ memory: (a) getting information
correctly into this short-term area, (b) handling the information
appropriately while it is there, and (c) moving information
correctly from working memory to long-term storage.
- ________ refers to the ability to chunk or to
move information between long-term and working memory so rapidly
and efficiently that the processes require practically no
attention on the part of the learner.
- The main process by which learners develop
automaticity is called ________
- ________ ________ is an effective technique
for enhancing short-term memory. Repeated practice is likely to
result in ________ , and learners can make their working memories
more efficient by making basic skills and information so familiar
(automatic) that they require only minimal attention from the
working memory.
- A major goal of education is to help learners
store information in ________ memory and to use that information
on later occasions in order to effectively solve problems.
- There are two major problems related to the
use of long-term memory: (1) to ________ the information
accurately to long-term memory and (2) to ________ the information
accurately.
- The primary strategy for transferring
information from working memory into long-term memory is referred
to as ________ or ________. These terms refer to the process of
relating information to other information that is already stored
in long-term memory.
- The key ingredient that facilitates long-term
storage is ________. This term refers not to the inherent interest
or worthiness of information, but rather to the degree to which it
can be related to information already stored in our long-term
memory.
- An ________ ________ is an introductory
statement about a topic that provides a structure for the new
information and relates it to information already in long-term
memory.
- A popular and effective alternative to the
advance organizer is the ________ question In this case, the
teacher (or textbook writer) asks questions that are likely to
stimulate the learner to think about information that is likely to
be helpful in understanding and organizing the information the
learner will encounter.
- A strategy called ________ ________ requires
learners to give explanations or to in some other way expand upon
the information they have been examining
- ________ often serve as informal but effective
advance organizers.
- Diagrams and ________ offer another way to
enable learners to organize information and relate it to existing
information by making logical, graphical connections among related
concepts.
- Underlining works if it is done properly -
otherwise, it may actually inhibit learning. The right way is to
underline very ________ ________ sentences and ideas.
- The term ________ refers to the memory's
ability to retrieve the same information that we stored in it.
|
- The term ________ refers to the memory's
ability to recall information by reasoning about it - making rapid
decisions regarding what the information should be.
- Repeated ________ is an effective technique
for enhancing both short-term and long-term memory.
- Repeated practice is likely to result in
________, which makes the working memory more efficient, since
less attention needs to be devoted to individual components of
tasks that have become automatic. In addition, practice helps
long-term memory by ________ information more effectively with
other information and by minimizing the chances that it will
________ from memory.
- The term practice does not refer merely to
rote recitation of what has been stored in memory. Using
information in order to ________ other concepts or to solve
problems constitutes practice; and such practical applications
make it more likely that useful information can be retrieved
later, when it is needed.
- ________ occurs when we can no longer recall
information from our memory because of disuse.
- ________ occurs when information gets confused
with other information in our long-term memory.
- ________ inhibition occurs when previously
learned information is lost because it is mixed up with new and
somewhat similar information.
- ________ inhibition occurs when current
information is lost because it is mixed up with previously
learned, similar information.
- ________ is a term that refers to the
misrepresentation of information that occurs when an imperfect
image is recalled from long-term memory.
- Systematic strategies for strengthening
long-term retention and retrieval of information are referred to
as ________ strategies.
- When learning from one situation assists
learning in another, this is referred to as ________ transfer.
- When learning from one situation interferes
with learning in another situation, this is referred to as
________ transfer.
- Knowledge that cannot be activated in new
situations in which it is obviously applicable is referred to as
________ knowledge.
{Click here to see
answers to Key Ideas exercise.}
Summary of Teacher Strategies to Help Learners
Process Information
In summary, to assure effective learning, the
teacher, learner, or other persons involved in the instructional
process can employ the following strategies:
- Help the learner transfer information
correctly from the external source into the ________. Specific
techniques to facilitate this transfer include the following:
- (a) Make sure the information is clearly
________ in the first place. (Don't use faulty materials that
render information partially unintelligible. Speak clearly.
Draw diagrams that the students can see. Speak in a language
that the students can understand.)
(b) Minimize factors that will interfere with the proper
________ of information in the sensory register.
(c) Repeat the presentation more than a single time. It's
actually unlikely that any information will be perfectly
received, and ________ will reduce errors. (Repetition is also
useful for other reasons.)
(d) Check to ________ whether the information has been received
correctly.
- Help the learner transfer information
correctly from the sensory register to the ________. Specific
techniques to facilitate this transfer include the following:
- (a) Point out specifically the ________
________ in the presentation.
(b) Minimize factors that will interfere with ________ .
(c) Repeat the presentation more than a single time. It's
actually unlikely that any information will be transferred
perfectly on a single occasion, and ________ will reduce
errors. (Repetition is also useful for other reasons.)
(d) Check to ________ whether the information has been attended
to and transferred correctly.
- Help the learner accurately retain the
information in ________ memory as long as it is needed to work
with it. Specific techniques to facilitate this retention include
the following:
- (a) Keep the number of pieces of
information ________ enough to work with. Either present
information in small segments or employ ________ to convert
larger amounts into smaller number of pieces of
information..
(b) Keep attention constantly ________ on the information under
consideration. For example, if the information is projected
onto a screen or written on a page in front of the student,
this minimizes the demand on working memory.
(c) ________ the information often while the student is working
on it. Rephrase key points often enough to keep them active in
working memory.
(d) Allow the learner to have ________ to the information
whenever it is needed. If the information is not in long-term
memory, it is foolish to deny the learner access to this
information.
(e) Move the information to ________ ________ (Step 4) as soon
as possible, and help the learner retrieve the information to
working memory whenever it is needed. Help the learner ________
the information easily, so that it is almost as good as present
in working memory.
- Help the learner transfer the information
accurately from working memory to ________ ________ . Specific
techniques to facilitate this transfer include the following:
- (a) Treat the information ________ rather
than passively. Interact with the information in ________ ways:
ask yourself questions about it, diagram it, outline it,
etc.
(b) Look for ________ between the new information and other
information that is already in long-term memory.
(c) Look for ________ between the new information and other
information that is already in long-term memory.
(d) Use ________ strategies.
- Help the learner retrieve the information
accurately from long-term memory to ________ . Specific techniques
to facilitate this retrieval include the following:
- (a) Review or use the information ________
.
(b) Look for ________ and ________ between current and past
information.
(c) Restore the information as ________ as possible.
(d) Use ________ strategies.
{Click here to see
answers to Key Ideas exercise.}
Promoting Positive Transfer
The following are effective ways to promote
positive transfer:
- Teach subject matter in ________ rather than
rote contexts. This is a necessary but not sufficient step in
promoting positive transfer. Information that is not meaningful
will be forgotten quickly.
- Employ ________ instruction. That is, students
should learn not only to describe a concept or strategy, but also
to understand when and why the concept or strategy is useful.
- Teach subject matter in contexts as ________
as possible to that in which it will be employed. To the extent
that information is learned in settings similar to that in which
it is applied, learners can use clues from the learning situation
to trigger the use of appropriate skills and information when they
are later needed.
- Provide opportunities to ________ employing
the subject matter in settings that represent the full range of
eventual applications.
- Provide opportunities for ________ practice
after the information has been initially learned. Once information
has been initially learned, the additional opportunities for
practice in a variety of realistic settings should be spread out
over a lengthy period of time, rather than combined into a single
study session.
- Promote positive ________ toward subject
matter, so that students will feel inclined to deal with rather
than avoid topics when they are encountered elsewhere.
{Click here to see
answers to Key Ideas exercise.}
Answers
to Quiz and Exercises:
1. Answer to Question 1: (b)
Short-term memory is another word for working memory. All thinking
takes place in the working memory.
Return to Question
1.
Go to Question
2.
2. Answer to Question 2: (a)
This is obviously long-term memory, because Ralph has not been
constantly thinking about the game for the entire 10 years. Episodic
memory refers to the recollection of events arranged in a narrative
or story line. That's what Ralph is remembering.
Return to Question
2.
Go to Question
3.
3. Answer to Question 3: (b)
All thinking takes place in the working memory, and short-term memory
is another word for working memory. Since the capacity of working
memory is severely limited, it is necessary to shuttle information
between it and the working memory, while also bringing information
into the working memory from the sensory registers. Overlearning
makes it easy to being shuttle information back and forth from the
long-term memory, thus enabling the working memory to function more
effectively.
Return to Question
3.
Go to Question
4.
4. Answer to Question 4: (b)
This is the definition of proactive inhibition.
Return to Question
4.
Go to Question
5.
5. Answer to Question 5: (b)
Patrice learned about soccer after she had learned about rugby. What
she learned about soccer worked backwards, interfering with what she
had previously learned about rugby. This is retroactive
inhibition.
Return to Question
5.
Go to Question
6.
6. Answer to Question 6: (b)
Because she was able to stop thinking about rugby and still remember
the rules when she wanted to (at least for a while), this information
was obviously stored in her long term memory.
Return to Question
6.
Go to Question
7.
7. Answer to Question 7: (b)
Because she was able to stop thinking about soccer and still remember
the rules when she wanted to, this information was obviously stored
in her long term memory.
Return to Question
7.
Go to Question
8.
8. Answer to Question 8: (d)
This is an exact paraphrase of what the textbook says about long-term
memory.
Return to Question
8.
Go to Question
9.
9. Answer to Question 9: (d)
It will interfere with all of these. It will reduce the effectiveness
of her long-term memory, because Juanita will have fewer related
concepts with which to integrate the new information she wants to
encode in her long-term memory. It will interfere with short-term
memory because she will not have overlearned a sufficient number of
concepts to be able to shuttle information into and out of working
memory effectively. It will reduce the effectiveness of her sensory
registers because what she already knows serves as part of the
process of establishing expectancies with regard to what she will
receive from her environment. Hence, the answer is all of the
above.
Return to Question
9.
Go to Question
10.
10. Answer to Question 10:
(a) This is an exact paraphrase of what the textbook says about
meaningfulness.
Return to Question
10.
Matching Exercises
Set 1
1. m
2. a
3. b
4. h
5. d
6. e
7. f
8. k
9. l
10. g
11. j
12. i
13. c
Set 2
1. e
2. f
3. g
4. i
5. j
6. c
7. h
8. k
9. l
10. m
11. n
12. a
13. b
14. d
Set 3
1. c
2. d
3. g
4. a
5. i
6. l
7. e
8. k
9. f
10. h
11. j
12. b
13. m
Key
Ideas
1. sensory register; senses
2. working memory; short-term memory
3. seven; attend to; long-term;
forgetting
4. long-term; limit
5. working-memory; retrieval
6. working memory ; long-term
7. focus
8. all
9. working
10. automaticity
11. overlearning
12. Repeated practice; overlearning
(automaticity)
13. long-term
14. transfer; retrieve
15. encoding; elaboration
16. meaningfulness
17. advance organizer
18. orienting
19. elaborative interrogation
20. Analogies
21. models
22. very few
23. reproductive memory
24. generative memory
25. practice
26. automaticity; integrating; fade
27. understand
28. Fading
29. Distortion
30. Retroactive
31. Proactive
32. Distortion
33. mnemonic
34. positive
35. negative
36. inert
Summary of Teacher Strategies to Help Learners
Process Information
1. sensory register
a. available
b. reception
c. redundancy
d. verify
2. working memory
a. important elements
b. attention
c. redundancy
d. verify
3. working
a. small; chunking
b. focused
c. Rehearse
d. access
e. long-term memory; retrieve
4. long-term-memory
a. actively; meaningful
b. relationships
c. differences
d. mnemonic
5. working memory
a. frequently
b. similarities; differences
c. actively
d. mnemonic
Promoting Positive Transfer
1. meaningful
2. informed
3. similar
4. practice
5. repeated
6. attitudes