PSYCO 486 Sample examination directions and questions

GENERAL DIRECTIONS: All of your answers should be in essay form (complete sentences, not point form). Please use a pen. You may use diagrams, graphs, and/or tables to supplement and/or further illustrate your written answer. Put the number of the question you are answering at the beginning of each answer. When you are finished, turn in both this question sheet and your answer booklet(s). Do not remove any pages from your answer booklet. Be sure each answer booklet has been signed by the instructor or the proctor.

The maximum raw score on this exam is 60. The maximum score for Part 1 is 20 (answer 4 of 6 Type I questions) and the maximum score in Part 2 is 40 (answer 2 of 4 Type II questions). Note: To receive full marks for describing experimental procedures and results, it is not necessary to correctly state either the author(s) or year of publication.

Type I Questions: These are short answer questions and each answer is worth a maximum of five (5) points. I anticipate that answers to these questions would typically consist of between three (3) and five (5) sentences.

• Define and differentiate between the terms "encoding" and "retrieval".
• Define and differentiate between reminiscence and incubation.
• Define the term "forgetting". What do we mean when we say that the term "forgetting" is used in an empirical, rather than a theoretical, sense?
• Distinguish between studies of learning and studies of retention at the operational, conceptual and functional levels.
• Define "state-dependent retention" and, in two or three sentences, discuss the generally accepted explanation for state-dependent retention.
• Define the Kamin effect and, in two or three sentences, provide an explanation for the Kamin effect.

Type II Questions: These questions require longer essay answers and each answer is worth a maximum of twenty (20) points. I anticipate that answers to these questions would typically consist of an essay of between 1.5 and 2 pages in length.

• Our analysis of memory in this course is guided by a psychobiological approach. Discuss the psychobiological approach. [Hint: Recall that the psychobiological approach consists of both a comparative aspect and a living-systems aspect.]
• Discuss the retrieval conception of memory. [Hint: Recall that the retrieval conception consists of a primary assumption and a set of three interrelated ideas.]
• Klein (1972) was able to alleviate forgetting at intermediate intervals after training on passive avoidance (that is, he abolished the Kamin effect). Discuss Klein's study and, in particular, specify the treatment which alleviated forgetting at intermediate intervals. Discuss the theoretical implications of his study.
• Interference, both proactive and retroactive, are thought to constitute potent sources of forgetting. Define (or describe) both the proactive interference effect and the retroactive interference effect. Describe an experimental demonstration of each effect. [Note: You do not need to state the authors or the year of publication to receive full marks for this question.]