Lisa puts five quarters into the parking meter every time she goes downtown. However, when asked, Lisa cannot say if the head on a quarter is facing left or right. This may be an example of __________, because Lisa never paid attention to the picture in the first place.

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Question restatement: Lisa puts five quarters into the parking meter every time she goes downtown. However, when asked, Lisa cannot say if the head on a quarter is facing left or right. This may be an example of __________, because Lisa never paid attention to the picture in the first place.

Option 1: encoding failure
This option attributes the problem to a failure to encode the information into memory in the first place. Since the prompt notes that Lisa “never paid attention to the picture in the first place,” it supports the idea that the visual detail (the orientation of the head) was not encoded, and thus cannot be retrieved later. Encoding failure is a plausible explanation for not knowing which direction the head is facing because the information never entered memory.

Option 2: enigmatic processing
This term is not a standard or recognized concept in memory theory. There is no widely accepted psychological concept called enigmatic processing, so this option is not a valid or meaningful descriptor of the situation.

Option 3: effortful processing
Effortful processing refers to deliberate, attentive encoding that improves retention (e.g., studying, mnemonics). The stem notes that Lisa did not pay attention to the picture, which suggests low engagement with the detail rather than a failure of effortful processing. Therefore, labeling this as effortful processing would mischaracterize the scenario.

Option 4: effortless processing
Effortless processing describes information that is processed automatically with little or no conscious effort (e.g., familiar tasks). The situation described involves a lack of attention to the picture, not automatic or flawless processing of the detail. Thus, this option misstates the cognitive load involved and is not a good fit.

Additional clarification: Since the key clue is that Lisa never attended to the picture, the most fitting explanation centers on whether the information was encoded. When encoding does not occur, retrieval fails not because of retrieval barriers or processing depth alone, but because the memory trace was never created in the first place. The other options either describe non-existent concepts or mischaracterize the cognitive process at play. The emphasis on attention during encoding is what ties the scenario to encoding-related explanations rather than to processing efficiency or retrieval dynamics.

Lisa puts five quarters into the parking meter every time she goes downtown. However, when asked, Lisa cannot say if the head on a quarter is facing left or right. This may be an example of __________, because Lisa never paid attention to the picture in the first place.

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