Psychology · Study Guide

Exam 4 Study Guide

This guide covers two chapters. Chapter 7 follows a memory from your senses to a courtroom. Chapter 8 looks at how we think, talk, and measure the mind. Work one chapter at a time. Read the "what to know" part first. Then cover the right side of each table and rebuild it from memory. Say the sequences out loud, in order. Finish each chapter with its ten self-test items. The cram sheet at the end puts every name, number, and rule in one place.

Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Cram sheet Read Chapter 7 Read Chapter 8

What this guide covers

Chapter 7 · encoding, storage, and retrieval; the three memory stores; working memory; levels of processing and study methods that work; explicit and implicit memory and the brain parts behind them; recall, cues, and the serial position effect; forgetting; and why eyewitness memory fails.
Chapter 8 · concepts and prototypes; algorithms, heuristics, and roadblocks; the four big judgment biases; the building blocks of language and how children learn it; theories of intelligence; IQ tests, reliability, and validity; and nature and nurture.

Chapter 7Memory

What to know

Memory is not a video camera. It is a set of three jobs. Encoding gets information in. Storage keeps it. Retrieval gets it back out. When you "can't remember," one of the three has failed. Your first task on any question is to ask which one.

The multi-store model comes from Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). It has three stores. Sensory memory holds a near-exact copy of what your senses take in. It is huge but very brief. The visual part, iconic memory, lasts about a quarter of a second. The sound part, echoic memory, lasts three to four seconds. Sperling (1960) showed that we hold more than we can report before it fades.

Attention is the gate. Only what you attend to moves into short-term memory. Short-term memory lasts about 15 to 30 seconds if you do nothing with it. It holds about four chunks. Miller's classic estimate (1956) was seven, plus or minus two. Chunking groups items into bigger units, so you can hold more. Rehearsal and deep encoding move items into long-term memory, which has no known limit.

Baddeley and Hitch (1974) renamed the middle store working memory. It is a workbench, not a shelf. A central executive directs attention. The phonological loop holds sounds and words. The visuospatial sketchpad holds pictures and places.

Some encoding is automatic. You store place, time, and how often things happen without trying. Most school learning is effortful. Maintenance rehearsal is plain repeating. It keeps an item alive for now. Elaborative rehearsal links new material to what you know. It builds lasting memory. Craik and Lockhart (1972) called this the levels-of-processing effect. Shallow (structural) processing looks at letters. Middle (phonemic) processing looks at sound. Deep (semantic) processing looks at meaning. Deep wins, even with the same study time.

Four study methods have strong support. Use spacing: spread study over days. Use the testing effect: quiz yourself instead of re-reading. Use the self-reference effect: tie facts to your own life. Use mnemonics for lists that have no built-in order.

Long-term memory has two big branches. Explicit (declarative) memory is what you can bring to mind and say. Tulving split it into semantic memory (facts) and episodic memory (events you lived). Implicit (nondeclarative) memory shows in what you do. It includes procedural skills, classical conditioning, and priming.

Different brain parts run different systems. The hippocampus forms new explicit memories and helps consolidate them. The amygdala adds emotion. The cerebellum holds conditioned reflexes. The basal ganglia hold skills and habits. Old explicit memories are spread across the cortex. Patient H.M. proved the split. In 1953 he lost much of his hippocampus on both sides. After that he could not form new explicit memories (anterograde amnesia). Yet he still learned a mirror-tracing skill. At the cell level, long-term potentiation (LTP) is thought to store memories.

Getting memories out takes two main forms. Recall means producing the answer with no help. Recognition means picking it from choices, which is easier. Relearning shows savings: you learn it faster the second time. Retrieval cues work best when they match the learning setting. This is encoding specificity. Godden and Baddeley's divers (1975) showed context-dependent memory. A large 2021 repeat found a smaller effect. Mood and inner state can act as cues too. The serial position effect means we remember the first items (primacy) and last items (recency) of a list best.

Ebbinghaus (1880s) drew the forgetting curve. Memory falls fast, then levels off. We forget in four ways. Encoding failure: it was never stored. Storage decay: it faded from disuse. Retrieval failure: it is there but out of reach. Interference: memories compete. Proactive means old blocks new. Retroactive means new blocks old.

Memory is reconstructive. Bartlett showed we rebuild memories to fit our schemas. Loftus showed the misinformation effect. In Loftus and Palmer (1974), "smashed" instead of "hit" raised speed guesses and led to false memories of broken glass. Suggestion can even plant whole false memories. For eyewitnesses, watch for leading questions, weapon focus, stress, and the cross-race effect. Confidence tracks accuracy mainly at a first, fair, double-blind lineup. After feedback, confidence rises but accuracy does not. Mistaken identification played a part in about 70% of U.S. convictions later overturned by DNA.

Lock these in

Encoding is in. Storage is keep. Retrieval is out.
Sensory: huge, under a second (iconic) to 3 or 4 seconds (echoic). Short-term: about 4 chunks, 15 to 30 seconds. Long-term: no known limit.
Attention moves items from sensory to short-term memory.
Meaning beats repetition. Elaborative beats maintenance rehearsal.
Explicit = semantic + episodic. Implicit = procedural + conditioning + priming.
Hippocampus: new explicit memories. Amygdala: emotion. Cerebellum and basal ganglia: implicit.
Proactive: old blocks new. Retroactive: new blocks old.
Confidence counts only at the first fair identification.

The three stores, drawn

The three stores. Attention is the first gate. Rehearsal and deep encoding are the second. Retrieval brings a memory back into working memory so you can use it.

The stores worth memorizing

Store	How long	How much	Key name
Sensory: iconic	About 0.25 s	Very large	Sperling (1960)
Sensory: echoic	3 to 4 s	Very large	Sperling (1960)
Short-term / working	15 to 30 s without rehearsal	About 4 chunks (classic 7 ± 2)	Miller (1956); Cowan; Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
Long-term	Minutes to a lifetime	No known limit	Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

Long-term memory, mapped

Two branches. If you can say it, it is explicit. If it shows only in what you do, it is implicit.

Why we forget, side by side

Cause	What went wrong	Clue in the question
Encoding failure	Never stored	"never paid attention," a coin's design
Storage decay	Faded from disuse	"years without using it"
Retrieval failure	Stored but out of reach	"tip of the tongue," "came back later"
Proactive interference	Old blocks new	old code, old address keeps popping up
Retroactive interference	New blocks old	new number makes you lose the old one

The forgetting curve, drawn

Spacing flattens the curve. Each review resets memory, and the next drop is slower. The no-review line follows Ebbinghaus's numbers. The review line is a teaching sketch.

Sequences, in order

A memory's trip: input → sensory memory → attention → short-term/working memory → encoding → long-term memory → retrieval back to working memory.
Levels of processing, shallow to deep: structural (looks) → phonemic (sound) → semantic (meaning).
The serial position curve: high at the start (primacy) → low in the middle → high at the end (recency). A delay with distraction wipes out recency only.
The forgetting curve: steep drop in the first hours → slower drop over days → levels off.
A fair lineup: double-blind administrator → tell the witness the culprit may be absent → record confidence right away → no feedback.

How to reason through the question types

Question type 1 · which memory system is this?

A question describes a memory and asks you to name its type.

Step 1 · can the person say it?If yes, it is explicit. If it only shows in what they do, it is implicit.

Step 2 · if explicit, is it tied to a moment?A time and place means episodic. A plain fact means semantic.

Step 3 · if implicit, what kind?A skill is procedural. A learned reflex is conditioning. A faster response after a recent exposure is priming.

Step 4 · name the brain part if askedNew explicit memory needs the hippocampus. Skills use the basal ganglia. Conditioned reflexes use the cerebellum.

Question type 2 · why did they forget?

Example: "Ana moved and keeps giving her old phone number." Which cause of forgetting is this?

Step 1 · was it ever stored?Yes. She learned the new number. So it is not encoding failure.

Step 2 · is something competing?Yes. The old number keeps pushing in. That is interference.

Step 3 · which way is the push?Old is blocking new. That is proactive interference. If the new number had wiped out the old one, it would be retroactive.

Question type 3 · should we trust this witness?

Step 1 · check what happened after the eventLeading questions, news coverage, or feedback can add details.

Step 2 · check the viewing conditionsA weapon, stress, a brief look, or a face of another race all lower accuracy.

Step 3 · check when confidence was measuredConfidence at a first, fair, double-blind lineup is a useful sign. Confidence in court, after feedback, is not.

Traps people fall into

Mixing up iconic and echoic. Icon is an image, about 0.25 s. Echo is a sound, 3 to 4 s.
Saying STM holds "exactly seven." Miller said seven, plus or minus two. Today's estimate is about four chunks.
Thinking repetition is deep. Plain repeating is maintenance rehearsal. It is shallow.
Flipping proactive and retroactive. Pro = forward: old pushes forward into new. Retro = backward: new pushes back into old.
Saying H.M. lost all memory. He kept old memories and implicit learning. He lost the ability to form new explicit memories.
Trusting a confident witness. Confidence after feedback does not track accuracy.

Chapter 7 self-test · ten items

1. Name the three memory processes and what each one does.

Encoding, storage, and retrieval. Encoding gets information in. Storage keeps it. Retrieval gets it back out.

2. You hear the end of a question you weren't listening to and can still "replay" it. Which store is this?

Echoic memory, the sound part of sensory memory. It lasts about three to four seconds.

3. What is the gate between sensory memory and short-term memory?

Attention. Anything you don't attend to fades in under a few seconds.

4. Name the three parts of working memory in Baddeley and Hitch's model.

The central executive, the phonological loop, and the visuospatial sketchpad. The executive directs attention. The loop holds sounds and words. The sketchpad holds pictures and places.

5. Which leads to better memory of a word: judging its rhyme, or judging whether it fits a sentence? Why?

The sentence judgment. It requires meaning, which is deep (semantic) processing. Rhyme is only phonemic.

6. Knowing how to swim is which kind of memory?

Implicit, procedural memory. It is a skill you perform, not something you can fully put into words.

7. What did patient H.M.'s case show?

That explicit and implicit memory are separate systems. Without much of his hippocampus, he could not form new explicit memories, yet he still learned a new motor skill.

8. A student learns a list in a quiet room and recalls it best in that same room. What principle is this?

Encoding specificity, shown as context-dependent memory. Cues work best when they match the learning setting.

9. Why are the last words of a list remembered well right away, but not after 30 seconds of counting backward?

The last words are still in working memory at first. Counting pushes them out, so the recency effect disappears. The first words were already rehearsed into long-term memory, so primacy stays.

10. What is the misinformation effect? Give the classic example.

Information heard after an event changes the memory of it. In Loftus and Palmer (1974), asking how fast cars "smashed" led to higher speed guesses and false memories of broken glass.

Chapter 8Thinking, Language & Intelligence

What to know

A concept is a mental group of things that share features. Natural concepts come from daily life and have fuzzy edges. Artificial (formal) concepts have a fixed rule, like a triangle. Eleanor Rosch showed that each concept has a prototype, its most typical member. A robin is a typical bird. A penguin is at the edge. Concepts link into schemas, which hold what we expect. A script, or event schema, is the usual order of events, like at a restaurant.

An algorithm is a step-by-step method that always works if followed. It is sure but slow. A heuristic is a shortcut. It is fast but not guaranteed. Working backward and means-ends analysis are useful heuristics. Trial and error and insight are two other routes. Two habits block good solutions. Mental set means using an old method when a simpler one exists. Luchins's water jar problems (1942) showed it. Functional fixedness means seeing an object only in its usual role.

Tversky and Kahneman showed that heuristics make predictable errors. The availability heuristic judges how common something is by how easily examples come to mind. Vivid news makes rare risks feel common. The representativeness heuristic judges by how much something looks like a prototype. It leads people to ignore the base rate. It also causes the conjunction fallacy, as in the Linda problem. Confirmation bias means looking for evidence that fits what you already believe. Wason's studies showed people rarely test ideas in a way that could prove them wrong. The framing effect means the same facts, worded as a gain or a loss, change the choice.

Language is built in layers. Phonemes are the smallest sounds that can change meaning. English has about 44. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning. "Cats" has four phonemes and two morphemes. Semantics is meaning. Grammar is the set of rules, and syntax is the part about word order. Thanks to generativity, we can make endless new sentences.

Children move through the same stages around the world. They coo at 2 to 4 months and babble at about 6 months. They say one word at a time at about 12 months. Telegraphic speech ("want cookie") comes at 18 to 24 months. Overregularization ("goed") shows the child has learned a rule. Skinner said language is learned by copying and reinforcement. Chomsky said children are born with a language acquisition device and a universal grammar. Today's view blends both, with a sensitive critical period. Linguistic relativity (Sapir-Whorf) is real but modest.

Intelligence is the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt. Spearman used factor analysis and proposed one general factor, g. Cattell split fluid intelligence (reasoning with new problems, which peaks in early adulthood) from crystallized intelligence (built-up knowledge, which grows with age). Thurstone named seven primary abilities. Gardner proposed eight multiple intelligences, but the theory has weak test support. It is not the same as "learning styles," which careful studies have not supported. Sternberg's triarchic theory has analytical, creative, and practical parts. Emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer; Goleman) is noticing, understanding, using, and managing emotions.

In 1905, Binet and Simon built the first practical test to find children who needed help. It used mental age. Terman made the Stanford-Binet and used the IQ formula: mental age divided by real age, times 100. Wechsler (WAIS, WISC) uses a deviation IQ on a normal distribution. The average is 100 and the standard deviation is 15. About 68% score from 85 to 115, and about 95% from 70 to 130.

A good test needs reliability (consistency) and validity (measuring the right thing). A test can be reliable but not valid. It cannot be truly valid without being reliable. Both depend on standardization and good norms. Twin studies put the heritability of IQ near 0.4 to 0.5 in childhood and 0.6 to 0.8 in adults. Heritability describes differences within a group, not a single person. The Flynn effect and stereotype threat show that environment matters too.

Lock these in

Algorithm: sure but slow. Heuristic: fast but not sure.
Availability = easy to recall. Representativeness = looks like the type, ignores base rates.
Confirmation bias = hunting for agreement. Framing = wording changes the choice.
Phoneme = sound. Morpheme = meaning. Syntax = word order.
Skinner = reinforcement. Chomsky = inborn language acquisition device.
Fluid peaks early. Crystallized grows with age.
Reliable = consistent. Valid = accurate. Reliable does not mean valid.
Heritability is about a group, never one person.

The four biases worth memorizing

Bias	The shortcut	Classic example	Clue word
Availability	How easily cases come to mind	Fearing plane crashes after news coverage	"vivid," "in the news," "recent"
Representativeness	How much it looks like the type	Shy Steve must be a librarian	"fits the stereotype," base rate ignored
Confirmation bias	Look for what fits your belief	Noticing only the coworker's snubs	"already believed," "ignored the rest"
Framing effect	Wording as gain or loss	"90% lean" beats "10% fat"	same facts, different words

Theories of intelligence worth memorizing

Theory	Theorist	Core idea	Watch out
General intelligence (g)	Spearman (1904)	One factor under all abilities	Based on test scores going together
Fluid vs. crystallized	Cattell	New reasoning vs. built-up knowledge	Fluid peaks early; crystallized grows
Primary mental abilities	Thurstone	Seven abilities, not one	Rejected the single number
Multiple intelligences	Gardner	Eight separate intelligences	Weak test support; not learning styles
Triarchic	Sternberg	Analytical, creative, practical	Practical = street smarts
Emotional intelligence	Salovey and Mayer; Goleman	Notice, use, understand, manage emotions	Hard to measure well

The bell curve, drawn

The 68-95-99.7 rule. One standard deviation is 15 points on Wechsler-style tests.

Reliability and validity, drawn

The bullseye is the true trait. Hitting the same spot every time is reliability. Hitting the right spot is validity.

Sequences, in order

Language, small to big: phoneme (sound) → morpheme (meaning) → word → sentence (grammar and syntax).
Language development: cooing (2 to 4 months) → babbling (about 6 months) → one word (about 12 months) → telegraphic speech (18 to 24 months) → fast grammar growth and overregularization (2 to 3 years).
The history of IQ tests: Binet and Simon (1905, mental age) → Terman (Stanford-Binet, ratio IQ) → Wechsler (WAIS and WISC, deviation IQ).
Heritability of IQ with age: about 0.4 to 0.5 in childhood → about 0.6 to 0.8 in adulthood (the Wilson effect).

How to reason through the question types

Question type 1 · name the bias

Example: "After seeing three news stories about lottery winners, Jon buys 20 tickets, sure he will win."

Step 1 · is there a belief being defended?No. Jon is not filtering evidence for an old belief. So it is not confirmation bias.

Step 2 · did the wording change?No. Nobody reframed the odds. So it is not framing.

Step 3 · is he judging by resemblance or by recall?Vivid winners come easily to mind. That is the availability heuristic.

Question type 2 · compute an IQ

Example: "A 6-year-old has a mental age of 9. What is the ratio IQ?"

Step 1 · set up the formulaIQ = mental age ÷ real age × 100.

Step 2 · fill it in9 ÷ 6 = 1.5. Then 1.5 × 100 = 150.

Step 3 · know the modern twistToday's tests use a deviation IQ instead. It compares you to people your age on a bell curve with a mean of 100 and an SD of 15.

Question type 3 · reliable, valid, or both?

Step 1 · does it give the same result again?If yes, it is reliable.

Step 2 · does it predict or match what it should?If scores line up with grades or job success, it has validity.

Step 3 · remember the one-way ruleReliable can be not valid. A test that is not reliable cannot be valid.

Traps people fall into

Mixing availability with representativeness. Availability is about memory ("I can think of examples"). Representativeness is about resemblance ("it fits the type").
Counting letters or syllables as morphemes. "Banana" has three syllables but one morpheme.
Treating heritability as a personal number. It describes a group. It says nothing about one person or about group differences.
Calling multiple intelligences "learning styles." They are different ideas, and learning styles have not held up.
Thinking a consistent test must be accurate. A scale that is always five pounds off is reliable and wrong.
Putting Chomsky on the reinforcement side. Skinner is reinforcement. Chomsky is the inborn device.

Chapter 8 self-test · ten items

1. What is a prototype? Give an example.

The most typical example of a concept. For many people, a robin is the prototype of "bird."

2. Name one advantage of an algorithm and one of a heuristic.

An algorithm is guaranteed to work. A heuristic is fast. The trade is certainty for effort, or speed for risk.

3. You need to tighten a screw and never think of using a butter knife. What is this?

Functional fixedness. You see the knife only in its usual role.

4. Why is "Linda is a bank teller and a feminist" never more likely than "Linda is a bank teller"?

Two things together can't be more likely than one of them alone. Choosing the longer version is the conjunction fallacy, caused by the representativeness heuristic.

5. A doctor tells you a treatment has a 20% failure rate. You would have agreed if she said 80% success. What is this?

The framing effect. The facts are the same. Only the gain or loss wording changed.

6. How many phonemes and morphemes are in "dogs"?

Four phonemes (d-o-g-z sounds) and two morphemes (dog + -s). Phonemes are sounds. Morphemes are units of meaning.

7. How did Chomsky use errors like "goed" against Skinner?

No adult says "goed," so the child can't be copying it. The child is using a rule. Chomsky argued this shows an inborn readiness for grammar.

8. Is fluid or crystallized intelligence more likely to keep growing in your 50s?

Crystallized intelligence. Built-up knowledge and vocabulary keep growing. Fluid reasoning peaks in early adulthood.

9. On a test with a mean of 100 and SD of 15, what share of people score between 70 and 130?

About 95%. That is within two standard deviations of the mean.

10. What does the Flynn effect suggest about intelligence?

That environment matters. Average scores rose too fast for genes to explain, pointing to schooling, nutrition, and other changes.

One pageCram sheet

Numbers to know cold

Number	What it is
About 0.25 s	Iconic (visual) memory
3 to 4 s	Echoic (sound) memory
15 to 30 s	Short-term memory without rehearsal
7 ± 2; about 4	STM capacity: Miller's classic estimate; today's estimate in chunks
About 70%	Share of DNA-overturned U.S. convictions where mistaken eyewitness identification played a part
About 44	Phonemes in English
100 and 15	IQ mean and standard deviation
68, 95, 99.7	Percent within 1, 2, and 3 SD of the mean
0.4 to 0.5; 0.6 to 0.8	Heritability of IQ in childhood; in adulthood

People and the idea that goes with them

Person	Idea
Atkinson and Shiffrin	Multi-store model (1968)
Sperling	Sensory memory holds more than we can report (1960)
Miller; Cowan	7 ± 2; about 4 chunks
Baddeley and Hitch	Working memory (1974)
Craik and Lockhart	Levels of processing (1972)
Tulving	Semantic vs. episodic memory
H.M. (Henry Molaison)	Hippocampus needed for new explicit memory
Kandel	Synapses and learning in Aplysia; Nobel 2000
Ebbinghaus	Forgetting curve; savings
Godden and Baddeley	Divers and context-dependent memory (1975)
Bartlett	Memory is rebuilt to fit schemas
Loftus and Palmer	Misinformation effect: "smashed" vs. "hit" (1974)
Rosch	Prototypes
Luchins	Water jars and mental set (1942)
Tversky and Kahneman	Availability, representativeness, framing
Wason	Confirmation bias
Skinner; Chomsky	Reinforcement; language acquisition device
Spearman; Cattell; Thurstone	g; fluid vs. crystallized; seven primary abilities
Gardner; Sternberg	Multiple intelligences; triarchic theory
Salovey and Mayer; Goleman	Emotional intelligence; made it popular
Binet and Simon; Terman; Wechsler	Mental age (1905); Stanford-Binet; WAIS and WISC
Flynn; Steele	Rising IQ scores; stereotype threat

Definitions worth having word-perfect

Term	Definition
Encoding specificity	Cues work best when they match the learning conditions
Consolidation	Steadying a new memory for long-term storage
Long-term potentiation	Lasting strengthening of links between neurons that fire together
Misinformation effect	Later misleading information changes the memory of an event
Mental set	Using a method that worked before when a simpler one exists
Functional fixedness	Seeing an object only in its usual role
Base rate	How common something really is
Morpheme	Smallest unit of meaning
Phoneme	Smallest unit of sound that can change meaning
Telegraphic speech	Two-word stage with small words dropped
Reliability	Consistency of a test
Validity	Whether a test measures what it claims
Standardization	Same giving and scoring every time, compared with norms
Heritability	Share of differences in a group linked to genetic differences