AP Psychology: Introduction to Memory and Encoding (Drill 9)

Question 1. During a review session, Maya reads a long list of vocabulary terms once and then tries to recall them an hour later. She remembers almost none of them. A classmate suggests she instead connect each term to a personal experience and explain in her own words how the term applies to her life. When she tries this, her recall improves dramatically. Which type of encoding best explains her improvement?

• A) Acoustic encoding
• B) Visual encoding
• C) Semantic encoding ✓
• D) Iconic encoding

Explanation: Connecting material to personal meaning and explaining it in your own words is semantic (deep) encoding, processing for meaning rather than for surface features. (A) acoustic encoding processes the sound of words, not their meaning, and produces weaker long-term retention. (D) is a true-but-irrelevant trap: iconic memory refers to the brief visual sensory register, not to deep, meaning-based encoding strategies.

Question 2. A student claims that because she can remember a phone number perfectly for 5 seconds after hearing it, she has an excellent long-term memory. Which of the following best evaluates this claim?

• A) Her claim is correct because short-term and long-term memory function as a single integrated system
• B) Her claim is correct because short-term memory is a reliable predictor of long-term memory capacity
• C) Her claim is incorrect because short-term/working memory and long-term memory serve different functions, and brief recall over a few seconds does not by itself show strong long-term memory ✓
• D) Her claim is incorrect because phone numbers can never be stored in long-term memory at all

Explanation: Holding a few digits for a handful of seconds taps short-term/working memory, which operates differently from long-term memory; strong long-term memory requires durable encoding and storage, not just brief accurate recall. (A) and (B) share the same misconception, that these systems are unified or that one reliably predicts the other. (D) is factually wrong in the other direction: phone numbers absolutely can enter long-term memory with sufficient rehearsal or meaningful encoding.

Question 3. A researcher presents participants with a list of 20 words and asks them to recall as many as possible immediately afterward. She then graphs the probability of recall against the position of each word in the list and finds a U-shaped curve: words at the beginning and end are recalled better than words in the middle. Which of the following conclusions is best supported by this pattern?

• A) Participants used only acoustic encoding during the task
• B) The data show that sensory memory has unlimited capacity
• C) The data primarily demonstrate the levels-of-processing effect
• D) The data show a serial position effect, usually attributed to better rehearsal of early items (primacy) and the continued presence of late items in short-term memory (recency) ✓

Explanation: The U-shaped curve is the classic serial position effect: early items benefit from rehearsal into longer-term storage, and late items are still active in short-term memory at the moment of recall, leaving the middle at a disadvantage on both counts. (A) is not supported by anything in the data, the graph tells us about position, not encoding modality. (B) is true-but-irrelevant: sensory memory does have large capacity, but nothing in a delayed word-list task measures it. (C) describes a different phenomenon that would require varying encoding instructions, not position.

Question 4. Two researchers are studying encoding. Researcher A randomly assigns participants to either repeat a list of words aloud or judge whether each word describes them personally, then measures recall. Researcher B asks participants to report how good their memory is and correlates their self-rating with their recall score. Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the two studies?

• A) Both studies are able to establish a causal relationship between their variables
• B) Researcher A's design can support a causal claim about how the encoding task affects recall, while Researcher B's design can only identify a correlation ✓
• C) Researcher B's design is stronger because self-report is a more reliable measure than recall tests
• D) Neither study can produce interpretable data without a longitudinal follow-up

Explanation: Researcher A uses random assignment to manipulate an independent variable (type of encoding task) and measure its effect on recall, the structure of a true experiment, which can support a causal claim. Researcher B measures two variables as they naturally occur; correlation alone cannot establish cause. (A) is the correlation-vs-causation misconception squarely. (C) reverses the actual evidence, self-report of memory ability is notoriously unreliable. (D) is true-but-irrelevant: longitudinal designs serve other purposes, but Researcher A's experiment produces interpretable causal data without one.

Question 5. A cognitive psychologist is evaluating a study that reports a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.42) between the number of self-generated examples a student produces while studying and that student's score on a later recall test. The study had 200 participants. Which of the following is the most defensible conclusion?

• A) Generating examples and recall performance share a moderate positive correlation, but the study as described cannot establish that one causes the other ✓
• B) Generating examples causes improved recall, because the correlation is statistically meaningful with 200 participants
• C) Students who recall more material are better at generating examples, demonstrating that recall drives generation
• D) The r = 0.42 correlation is too weak to be meaningful and should simply be disregarded

Explanation: An r of 0.42 is a meaningful moderate positive correlation, and n = 200 makes it reasonably reliable, but correlation alone cannot pin down direction of causation or rule out third variables (e.g., general motivation could drive both). This is the hard question because (B) and (C) both contain true-sounding elements: (B) is right that 200 is a solid sample size, but sample size doesn't convert correlation into causation; (C) correctly notes reverse causation is possible, but the study doesn't give any reason to prefer that direction. (D) reverses the actual interpretation, r = 0.42 is moderate and meaningful in psychology, not trivial.