Question

One study of the self-schema presented students with 40 questions for which they pressed yes or no. Researchers found that participants were more likely to remember the information when:

A) They pressed yes
B) They pressed no
C) The questions were personally relevant
D) The questions were unrelated to their self-schema

Answer 1

Participants remembered information better when the questions were personally relevant due to the self-reference effect and deeper processing associated with semantic encoding.

Step-by-step explanation:

Researchers found that participants in the study of the self-schema were more likely to remember information when C) the questions were personally relevant. This finding aligns with concepts such as the self-reference effect, which suggests that individuals have better memory for information that relates to oneself. Common memory theories like the levels of processing theory advocate for the idea that information processed more deeply, which often happens when it's personally relevant, is more likely to be retained long-term. Additionally, semantic encoding, which involves processing the meaning of information, is found to be more effective for memory retention than shallow processing such as acoustic or visual processing.