Question

When Teddy was young, he hated swimming lessons. It took him years to learn how to swim. Now, as an

adult, he sometimes will go years without swimming. However, when he swims, he immediately takes off
and swims well with little or no conscious effort. He is relying on__________
a. semantic memory.
b. nondeclarative memory.
c. episodic memory.
d. declarative memory.

Answer 1

Teddy's reliance on nondeclarative or procedural memory allows him to swim well without conscious effort, even after not swimming for years. This type of memory handles how to perform tasks by rote and is a robust component of long-term memory.

Step-by-step explanation:

When Teddy, as an adult, swims well with little or no conscious effort after years without practice, he is relying on nondeclarative memory. This type of memory is also known as procedural memory, part of the long-term memory responsible for knowing how to do things, such as swimming, without having to consciously recall the steps involved.

Procedural memory allows individuals to perform tasks without actively thinking about them; this can include a variety of motor tasks and cognitive skills like playing an instrument, driving, or in Teddy's case, swimming. This form of memory is robust and can remain intact even when other memory systems, like episodic memory and semantic memory, are compromised. Therefore, Teddy's ability to swim well without much conscious effort is a classic example of how procedural memory works.