PSYCH 355 Final Exam
PSYCH 355 Final Exam Questions with
Correct Answers 2024
Patient H.M. (Henry Molaison) - A patient who, because of damage to medial temporal
lobe structures, was unable to encode new declarative memories.
But his skill learning was intact.
Has anterograde amnesia where he cannot learn new information in long-term memory
but still remembers older information learned prior to the damage.
Medial temporal lobe - A region in the cortex that includes the hippocampus and plays a
central role in memory processing.
Anterograde amnesia - An inability to form new conscious memories.
Hippocampus - A structure in the medial temporal lobe of each brain hemisphere,
important to emotion, memory, and the autonomic nervous system.
Retrograde amnesia - The inability to remember information from before brain damage
occurred.
Allocentric vs. egocentric - allocentric: referring to a spatial framework in which an
object's location is defined relative to the location of another object.
egocentric: referring to a spatial framework in which spatial layout and locations are
defined relative to the observer.
Associative vs. perceptual vs. conceptual priming - Associative: response enhancement
that results from prior exposure to related items.
Perceptual: response enhancement that results from having previously perceived a
stimulus
Conceptual: response enhancement that results from having previously processed the
meaning of a related stimulus.
Cognitive map theory - A theory according to which the hippocampus constructs a map
of the environment, providing the basis for spatial memory and navigation.
Encoding, consolidation, maintenance, retrieval - Consolidation: the solidification of
connections that enable memory storage.
,PSYCH 355 Final Exam
Contextual cueing - Learning where to attend and what to expect based on statistical
regularities in past experience. Ex: looking for a bed in a bedroom.
Distributed code - A cortical record of information processing across multiple brain
regions, which can be reactivated when remembering the initial experience.
Population coding - Representation or coding by an ensemble (population, or group) of
neurons.
Episodic vs. semantic memory - Episodic: memory that enables recall of past events
Semantic: memory for facts and common knowledge that can be stated or recounted
and that accumulate over time across repeated occasions.
Explicit vs. implicit memory - Explicit: the ability to consciously remember facts, events,
and associations; also known as declaration or conscious memory. Types:
- Episodic
- Semantic
Implicit: memory for learned skills, associations, and habits, which can manifest without
conscious recollection, also known as non-declarative or non-conscious memory.
Types:
- Procedural and motor sequence learning
- Priming
- Statistical learning
- Contextual cueing
Place cells and grid cells - Place: neurons that fire when an animal is in a particular
location within an environment.
Grid: neurons in the entorhinal cortex that track position as an individual moves.
Hebb's rule - A rule describing a mechanisms for strengthening neural connections,
often paraphrased as "cells that fire together wire together"
Long-term potentiation (LTP) - A principle by which communications across a synapse
strengths future communication between the presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons.
More common in the hippocampus but is also in other areas of the brain.
Hippocampal system and neocortex - Hippocampal system: the hippocampus and
neighboring structures in the medial temporal lobe.
Neocortex: the layers of the cortex that support higher-order brain functions such as the
initial perception and processing of experiences.
,PSYCH 355 Final Exam
Lexical decision task - An experimental task in which participants make rapid judgments
about strings of letters that are presented to them (do they spell out words or not?)
Memory retrieval -
Memory systems - Brain networks that encode different types of memories.
Motor sequence learning -
Naming task - An experimental task in which participants must name a stimulus as
quickly and accurately as possible.
Primacy vs. recency effect - Primacy: the phenomenon of having improved memory for
items at the beginning of a list. May reflect encoding in long-term memory because of
more time for rehearsal.
Recency: the phenomenon of having improved memory for items at the end of a list.
May reflect short-term memory, benefitting from being close at the end of recall with
minimal distraction.
Serial position curve - A U-shaped curve that emerges when plotting memory
performance according to serial position.
Remember/know procedure - An experimental task used to test the distinction between
recognition and familiarity.
Recollection: hippocampus
Familiarity: medial temporal lobe
Repetition priming vs. repetition suppression - Repetition priming: response
enhancement that results from repetition.
Repetition suppression: a brain signal reduction that occurs when a stimulus is
repeated, suggesting that processing requires less effort or work.
Skill learning and procedural memory - Skill learning: the cognitive capacity to learn
skills, such as playing an instrument, surfing, or driving.
Procedural learning:
Spatial memory - Memory that helps an individual navigate around their environment.
Statistical learning and statistical regularities - Learning: a type of learning that encodes
patterns or regularities in the sights and sounds one experiences.
, PSYCH 355 Final Exam
Regularities: stable and predictable features of an environment, object, or task, based
on experience. Ex: remembering the layout of your room.
Subsequent memory paradigm - A way to study what supports successful memory
encoding by separating analyzing items that are subsequently remembered from items
that are subsequently forgotten--why people successfully encode some things and not
others.
Viewpoint-dependent - Referring to a property of spatial memory, meaning it is best
when the view maintains a consistent viewing angle to a spatial array.
Affective vs. semantic priming - Affective: response enhancement that results from prior
exposure to items that have the same emotional quality.
Semantic: an effect in which exposure to a word influences a response to a subsequent
stimulus. Ex: primer of doctor will increase people's reaction to "nurse" rather than
"butter."
Aphasia - A condition characterized by impaired ability to produce or understand
language.
Anomic aphasia - A condition characterized by difficulty finding the words one wants to
say.
Global aphasia - A condition characterized by difficulty both producing and
comprehending spoken language.
Broca's vs. Wernicke's aphasia - Broca's: a condition characterized by difficulty
speaking fluently, producing correct sounds, or finding the right words
Wernicke's: a condition characterized by difficulty understanding the meaning of words
and sentences.
Broca's area vs. Wernicke's area - Broca's: an area in the brain's left frontal lobe, with
functions linked to speech production.
Wernicke's: a region in the brain's left temporal lobe, important for comprehension of
language.
Anticipation error - An error in which a speech segment (e.g., a phoneme) early in a
sentence is swapped for a speech segment later in the sentence.
Monolingualism vs. bilingualism vs. polyglot - Bilingualism: fluency in two languages
N400 vs P600 waves -
PSYCH 355 Final Exam Questions with
Correct Answers 2024
Patient H.M. (Henry Molaison) - A patient who, because of damage to medial temporal
lobe structures, was unable to encode new declarative memories.
But his skill learning was intact.
Has anterograde amnesia where he cannot learn new information in long-term memory
but still remembers older information learned prior to the damage.
Medial temporal lobe - A region in the cortex that includes the hippocampus and plays a
central role in memory processing.
Anterograde amnesia - An inability to form new conscious memories.
Hippocampus - A structure in the medial temporal lobe of each brain hemisphere,
important to emotion, memory, and the autonomic nervous system.
Retrograde amnesia - The inability to remember information from before brain damage
occurred.
Allocentric vs. egocentric - allocentric: referring to a spatial framework in which an
object's location is defined relative to the location of another object.
egocentric: referring to a spatial framework in which spatial layout and locations are
defined relative to the observer.
Associative vs. perceptual vs. conceptual priming - Associative: response enhancement
that results from prior exposure to related items.
Perceptual: response enhancement that results from having previously perceived a
stimulus
Conceptual: response enhancement that results from having previously processed the
meaning of a related stimulus.
Cognitive map theory - A theory according to which the hippocampus constructs a map
of the environment, providing the basis for spatial memory and navigation.
Encoding, consolidation, maintenance, retrieval - Consolidation: the solidification of
connections that enable memory storage.
,PSYCH 355 Final Exam
Contextual cueing - Learning where to attend and what to expect based on statistical
regularities in past experience. Ex: looking for a bed in a bedroom.
Distributed code - A cortical record of information processing across multiple brain
regions, which can be reactivated when remembering the initial experience.
Population coding - Representation or coding by an ensemble (population, or group) of
neurons.
Episodic vs. semantic memory - Episodic: memory that enables recall of past events
Semantic: memory for facts and common knowledge that can be stated or recounted
and that accumulate over time across repeated occasions.
Explicit vs. implicit memory - Explicit: the ability to consciously remember facts, events,
and associations; also known as declaration or conscious memory. Types:
- Episodic
- Semantic
Implicit: memory for learned skills, associations, and habits, which can manifest without
conscious recollection, also known as non-declarative or non-conscious memory.
Types:
- Procedural and motor sequence learning
- Priming
- Statistical learning
- Contextual cueing
Place cells and grid cells - Place: neurons that fire when an animal is in a particular
location within an environment.
Grid: neurons in the entorhinal cortex that track position as an individual moves.
Hebb's rule - A rule describing a mechanisms for strengthening neural connections,
often paraphrased as "cells that fire together wire together"
Long-term potentiation (LTP) - A principle by which communications across a synapse
strengths future communication between the presynaptic and postsynaptic neurons.
More common in the hippocampus but is also in other areas of the brain.
Hippocampal system and neocortex - Hippocampal system: the hippocampus and
neighboring structures in the medial temporal lobe.
Neocortex: the layers of the cortex that support higher-order brain functions such as the
initial perception and processing of experiences.
,PSYCH 355 Final Exam
Lexical decision task - An experimental task in which participants make rapid judgments
about strings of letters that are presented to them (do they spell out words or not?)
Memory retrieval -
Memory systems - Brain networks that encode different types of memories.
Motor sequence learning -
Naming task - An experimental task in which participants must name a stimulus as
quickly and accurately as possible.
Primacy vs. recency effect - Primacy: the phenomenon of having improved memory for
items at the beginning of a list. May reflect encoding in long-term memory because of
more time for rehearsal.
Recency: the phenomenon of having improved memory for items at the end of a list.
May reflect short-term memory, benefitting from being close at the end of recall with
minimal distraction.
Serial position curve - A U-shaped curve that emerges when plotting memory
performance according to serial position.
Remember/know procedure - An experimental task used to test the distinction between
recognition and familiarity.
Recollection: hippocampus
Familiarity: medial temporal lobe
Repetition priming vs. repetition suppression - Repetition priming: response
enhancement that results from repetition.
Repetition suppression: a brain signal reduction that occurs when a stimulus is
repeated, suggesting that processing requires less effort or work.
Skill learning and procedural memory - Skill learning: the cognitive capacity to learn
skills, such as playing an instrument, surfing, or driving.
Procedural learning:
Spatial memory - Memory that helps an individual navigate around their environment.
Statistical learning and statistical regularities - Learning: a type of learning that encodes
patterns or regularities in the sights and sounds one experiences.
, PSYCH 355 Final Exam
Regularities: stable and predictable features of an environment, object, or task, based
on experience. Ex: remembering the layout of your room.
Subsequent memory paradigm - A way to study what supports successful memory
encoding by separating analyzing items that are subsequently remembered from items
that are subsequently forgotten--why people successfully encode some things and not
others.
Viewpoint-dependent - Referring to a property of spatial memory, meaning it is best
when the view maintains a consistent viewing angle to a spatial array.
Affective vs. semantic priming - Affective: response enhancement that results from prior
exposure to items that have the same emotional quality.
Semantic: an effect in which exposure to a word influences a response to a subsequent
stimulus. Ex: primer of doctor will increase people's reaction to "nurse" rather than
"butter."
Aphasia - A condition characterized by impaired ability to produce or understand
language.
Anomic aphasia - A condition characterized by difficulty finding the words one wants to
say.
Global aphasia - A condition characterized by difficulty both producing and
comprehending spoken language.
Broca's vs. Wernicke's aphasia - Broca's: a condition characterized by difficulty
speaking fluently, producing correct sounds, or finding the right words
Wernicke's: a condition characterized by difficulty understanding the meaning of words
and sentences.
Broca's area vs. Wernicke's area - Broca's: an area in the brain's left frontal lobe, with
functions linked to speech production.
Wernicke's: a region in the brain's left temporal lobe, important for comprehension of
language.
Anticipation error - An error in which a speech segment (e.g., a phoneme) early in a
sentence is swapped for a speech segment later in the sentence.
Monolingualism vs. bilingualism vs. polyglot - Bilingualism: fluency in two languages
N400 vs P600 waves -
