Lesson 3.1.1.3.1

3.1.1.3.1 Theory of Reconstructive Memory and effort after meaning Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 3.1.1.3.1, Theory of Reconstructive Memory and effort after meaning: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA GCSE Psychology (8182), Unit 1: Memory, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. According to the Theory of Reconstructive Memory, what is a memory at the point of recall?

    • An exact copy of the original experience, which is simply replayed when the person recalls it
    • A trace transferred unchanged from one store to another after the learner rehearses it
    • A sensory image that fades from the store within a second if it is not recalled at once
    • A rebuilt version, put together from stored traces and existing knowledge and expectations

  2. In Bartlett's theory, what is a schema?

    • A visual image of an object held in the sensory store for a very short time after input
    • A rule for coding information in long-term memory as sounds rather than as meanings
    • An organised framework of existing knowledge and expectations used to make sense of new information
    • A list of unrelated words that a participant is asked to repeat back in the same order

  3. What is meant by 'effort after meaning'?

    • The drive to make sense of unfamiliar material by fitting it into what the person already knows
    • The effort of attending to sensory input so that it passes into the short-term memory store
    • The effort needed to rehearse a list of words so that it reaches long-term memory store
    • The effort of recalling a list of items in the exact order in which they were presented

  4. Which statement best describes the accuracy of recall according to reconstructive memory?

    • Recall is always complete, because memories are stored as exact copies in long-term memory
    • Recall is accurate only when the memory has been rehearsed in the sensory store for a while
    • Recall is accurate only for items learnt in the first few seconds of an experience being studied
    • Recall can be incomplete or altered, because memories are reconstructed rather than copied

  5. A person reads a news story and later recalls it with added details that fit their expectations. Which theory explains this best?

    • Multi-store model, because the story was held in the sensory store until recall was requested
    • Sensory decay, because the details faded from the sensory store and were replaced by others
    • Reconstructive memory, because the story is rebuilt at recall using the person's existing expectations
    • Multi-store model, because the story was rehearsed and transferred to long-term memory unchanged

  6. Why might a person recall a foreign story with details changed to fit their own culture?

    • Because familiar details were rehearsed more at encoding than the unfamiliar details of the story
    • Because unfamiliar details are stored in sensory memory and then replaced by familiar ones
    • Because the story was too short to be transferred into long-term memory at all during the reading
    • Because unfamiliar details are reshaped to fit existing schemas, making the story more meaningful

  7. A witness describes a car crash using a detail they did not see but assumed would be there. Which principle explains this?

    • Interference, where a later event replaced the detail in long-term memory before recall began
    • Coding, where the detail was stored as a visual image and then forgotten during the event
    • Reconstruction, where missing details are filled in from expectations about what usually happens
    • Primacy, where the first thing the witness heard about the crash is recalled better than later details

  8. A teacher says students make up answers to fill gaps in their memory. Which idea best matches this?

    • Effort after meaning, the drive to make a memory coherent when parts of it are missing
    • Serial position effect, the tendency to remember the first and last items in a list best
    • Rehearsal, the repetition of material so that it is moved into long-term memory store
    • Sensory decay, the rapid loss of unattended input from the senses before it is coded

  9. Why does reconstructive memory predict more distortion for unfamiliar material than for familiar material?

    • Unfamiliar material is coded acoustically, which causes it to be forgotten more quickly afterwards
    • Familiar material is stored in sensory memory, which makes it less likely to be altered at all
    • Unfamiliar material has no existing schema to guide reconstruction, so it is more likely to be changed
    • Familiar material decays faster because it has been rehearsed more often in the past by the learner

  10. Which statement best explains why reconstructive memory is described as an active process?

    • Memory is actively held in the sensory store until the person decides to transfer it onwards
    • Memory is actively copied during encoding, and recall simply plays back the copy unchanged
    • Memory is actively stored in short-term memory only when it is rehearsed out loud by the learner
    • Memory is actively rebuilt at recall, combining stored traces with existing knowledge and expectations

  11. Which researcher developed the idea of reconstructive memory described in the specification?

    • Murdock, who studied recall of word lists and the pattern of primacy and recency in them
    • Gibson, who studied direct perception of the environment and the role of motion parallax
    • Bartlett, who showed that recall of an unfamiliar story was shaped by the participants' own knowledge
    • Gregory, who studied perception as inference from visual cues and past experience of objects

  12. A participant recalls a folk story with an unfamiliar object changed into a more familiar one. What does this illustrate?

    • Acoustic coding, where the story was stored as sounds in the short-term memory store
    • Reconstruction, where unfamiliar elements are changed into familiar, meaningful forms
    • Sensory decay, where the unfamiliar object was lost from the sensory store before recall
    • Primacy, where the first detail heard is recalled better than the details heard later on

  13. After repeated recall, a story becomes shorter and more logical. Which process is being shown?

    • Sensory decay, making the details fade faster with each repetition of the story by the learner
    • Rationalisation through effort after meaning, making the story more coherent across repetitions
    • The serial position effect, making the middle parts of the story the most likely to be lost
    • Interference, making later parts of the story replace the earlier parts in the memory store

  14. Why is reconstructive memory a challenge to the multi-store model's view of memory?

    • Reconstruction says memories are held in sensory memory, while the model says they are held in short-term memory
    • Both views say memory is rebuilt at recall, so they cannot be contrasted in any meaningful way
    • The multi-store model says memory is rebuilt at recall, while reconstruction says it is copied unchanged
    • The multi-store model treats memory as copied and transferred, but reconstruction says recall is rebuilt

  15. Which factor makes a memory more likely to be changed when it is recalled?

    • The memory being hard to make sense of, so the person fills gaps to make it meaningful
    • The memory being stored in long-term memory for only a few seconds before the recall begins
    • The memory being rehearsed many times in a row, which fixes it as an exact copy in memory
    • The memory being recalled in the same room where it was first learnt during the experiment

  16. A student fills in a missing word in a passage they half remember, choosing the one that makes sense. Which principle is this?

    • Rehearsal, where the student repeats the passage aloud so the missing word is recalled
    • The serial position effect, where the missing word is the one from the middle of the passage
    • Effort after meaning, which fills gaps in memory with plausible material
    • Acoustic coding, where the missing word is stored only as the sound of the word in memory

  17. Which evidence would most support a reconstructive account of memory?

    • A single word's recall being perfect after one exposure of only a few seconds to the word
    • A list's recall being best at the start and end, which shows a fixed serial position curve in memory
    • A story's recall shifting towards familiar wording with each repetition, after the original is no longer present
    • A list's recall being identical each time, which shows that memory is a fixed copy of the input

  18. Which feature of reconstructive memory helps explain false memories?

    • Recall is limited to about seven items, so extra details are never included in the memory at all
    • Recall combines stored traces with expectations, so new details can be added that were never experienced
    • Recall depends on rehearsal in the short-term store, so rehearsed details are always accurate later on
    • Recall copies sensory input exactly, so only the details missing from the memory are lost over time

  19. Why can a person feel very confident about a memory that has been partly changed?

    • The memory has been rehearsed in the sensory store, which makes it feel stronger than accurate memories
    • The memory was coded only as a visual image, which makes it vivid at recall even when it is wrong
    • Recall is rebuilt from familiar material, so it can feel coherent even when some details have changed
    • The memory was retrieved from long-term memory in exactly the same form on each occasion of recall

  20. Which claim is NOT consistent with the Theory of Reconstructive Memory?

    • Recall can change over repeated reproductions, because each reproduction involves rebuilding the memory
    • Recall is shaped by what the person expects to see or hear in the situation in which it happens
    • Recall should be the same every time, because each memory is an unchanged copy of what was experienced
    • Recall can include additions that were never experienced, because prior knowledge fills gaps

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