Key study: Brewer & Treyens (1981)

Which primary aim best describes the Brewer & Treyens (1981) study as introduced here?

• To measure the capacity of short-term memory using digit span tasks

• To investigate the role of schema in the encoding and retrieval of episodic memory

• To compare visual and auditory learning styles in classroom settings

• To examine the effects of sleep deprivation on reaction time

According to schema theory as stated in the material, what basic assumption guides the study's design?

• Individuals remember information exactly as it was presented

• Prior experiences shape how individuals encode and retrieve new information

• Memory accuracy is independent of context and prior knowledge

• Schemas only affect procedural memory, not episodic memory

Which description most accurately reflects the office setup used in the study?

• A bare room with only a desk and chair, designed to minimize distractions

• A room resembling a typical office with common items like a typewriter and coffee pot, some unusual items like a skull or toy, and some typical items omitted such as books

• A classroom with rows of desks and a whiteboard, containing only academic materials

• A laboratory full of complex equipment, with no everyday objects present

Which statement about the participant procedure is correct based on the passage?

• Participants immediately began recalling objects upon entering the office

• Participants waited in the professor’s office for 35 seconds, were moved to another room, and then asked to remember the office

• Participants were told beforehand to memorize everything in the office

• Participants spent several minutes alone in the office before the researcher returned

What was the indepndent variable (IV)?

• items in the office

• Type of recall: some did written recall then verbal recognition; some did drawing recall; some did verbal recognition only

• congruent items and incongruent items in an office

• interview

In Brewer and Treyens (1981), what did the drawing condition require participants to do?

• Select office items from a list and state if they were present

• Write a paragraph describing everything they remembered

• Draw the objects they could remember using an outline of the room

• Identify which items were schema-consistent in an office

Which finding best illustrates schema-congruent recall in Brewer and Treyens (1981)?

• Participants frequently recalled items incongruent with an office, such as a skull and bark

• Participants were more likely to remember expected office items that fit their office schema

• Participants recalled equal numbers of schema-congruent and schema-incongruent items

• Participants only recognized items when given a verbal list

According to the evaluation data for the written recall condition, which statement is accurate?

• The average number of correct objects recalled was 13.5

• Participants recalled an average of 9 correct objects out of 30

• The average number of inferred objects recalled was 13.5

• No incongruent items like a skull or bark were ever recalled

Which example from the study demonstrates reconstructive memory influenced by schema?

• Remembering a coffee cup as a telephone

• Recalling a lamp when none was present

• Changing a pad of yellow paper on a chair to being on the desk

• Identifying the skull as present during free recall

Which ethical consideration was highlighted in the study’s evaluation?

• Participants were coerced to continue after withdrawing consent

• Participants were deceived about the true nature and start of the study to avoid demand characteristics

• Participants were denied the right to confidentiality throughout the study

• Participants were paid excessively, creating undue influence