When studying for a vocabulary test, Catherine read one of her vocabulary words and its definition aloud several times. About twenty seconds later, she still remembered the word’s meaning, but then she moved on to the next word in the list without engaging in any further strategies to enhance her memory. The next day, she tested herself on the same vocabulary word at the same time, in the same mood, and in the same location as when she had first studied the word, but she could not remember its definition. It is most likely that Catherine could not remember the word because she failed to engage which of the following memory functions?

Question

A. Sensory memory, because Catherine did not pair the word with one of her senses to remember it the next day.
B. Long-term memory, because Catherine failed to encode the word; therefore, the word did not become a part of her long-term memory.
C. Retrieval, because though Catherine probably stored the memory, it was difficult for her to retrieve it.
D. State-dependent memory, because Catherine was too anxious to perform well.
E. Context-dependent memory, because Catherine did not study the word in a variety of locations.

Answer 1

Ans: B. Long-term memory, because Catherine failed to encode the word; therefore, the word did not become a part of her long-term memory.