AP Psych Unit 6 Flashcards
What is the capacity for long-term memory?
Limitless
Part of the brain that lays down new explicit memories (names or events)
Hippocampus
Type of memories the cerebellum form
Implicit memory
What happens to memories while we sleep?
Memories processed later for retrieval
Memories formed by the basal ganglia
Procedural memory for skills
A clear memory of an emotionally significant event or moment
Flashbulb memory
What part of the brain is involved in emotional memories, like flashbulb memories?
Hippocampus
An increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation. Believed to be the neural basis for learning and memory
Long-term potentiation (LTP)
Three measures of retention
Recall, recognition, relearning
Retrieving info that isn’t currently in your conscious awareness but was learned at an earlier time (ex. Fill in the blank)
Recall
Identifying items previously learned (ex. Multichoice question)
Recognition
Learning something a second time faster than when the material was originally used. (ex. Studying for exam)
Relearning
Showed the more frequently you practice something, the less practice you’ll need to relearn it; forgetting initially is rapid, but levels off as time goes on
Ebbinghaus’ Learning Experiments
Activation, often unconsciously, of associations in memory
Priming
What we learn in one state may be easier to remember when we are again in that state
State-dependent memory
Tendency to recall experiences that are consistent w/ one’s good or bad moods (when in bad mood we remember bad events easier)
Mood-congruent memory
People remembering things at the beginning of a list (primacy) or at the end of a list (regency) rather than the middle
Serial position effect
2 examples of retrieval cues
Mood and surroundings
Two parts of the brain that are most involved in explicit memory
Hippocampus and frontal lobe
Inability to form new memories
Anterograde amnesia
Inability to retrieve info from one’s past (monster dude)
Retrograde amnesia
Disruptive effect for prior learning on the recall of new info (not knowing your new phone # b/c you keep remembering old one)
Proactive interference
In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from conscious anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories (Freud 😒)
Repression
A process in which stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again
Reconsolidation
Incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event (Elizabeth Loftus)
Misinformation effect
Attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined
Source amnesia
Eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before”, cues from current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier even
Deja vu
What controversy exists regarding repressed or constructed memories of abuse? (Chilton)
Therapist “recovered” memories
The persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information
Memory
The processing of information into the memory system
Encoding
The process of retaining encoded information overtime
Storage
The process of getting info out of memory storage
Retrieval
Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously
Parallel processing
Immediate, very brief recording of sensory info in the memory system
Sensory memory
Activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before info is stored or forgotten
Short-term memory
The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences
Long-term memory
Memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and ‘declare’
Explicit memory
Encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
Effortful processing
Unconscious encoding of incidental info, such as space, time, and freq. as well as well-learned info, such as word meanings
Automatic processing
the information that we do not store purposely and is unintentionally memorized
Implicit memory
Momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second (OTTFFSSENT)
Iconic memory
A momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli
Echoic memory
Organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically
Chunking
Memory aids, especially techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
Mnemonics
The tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice
Spacing effect
Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information
Testing effect
Memory of a specific event (episode; vivid memory)
Episodic memory
Skill memory (ex. typing)
Procedural memory
General knowledge, facts
General (semantic) memory
Elaborative rehearsal (meaning and memory demo)
Maintenance Rehearsal
Improved recall of specific events when subject is in place where memory was formed (ex. Abigail cabin)
Context-dependent memory
state in which one cannot quite recall a familiar word but can recall words of similar form and meaning (ex. the state capitals)
Tip of Tongue (TOT) phenomenon
Remembering an event better when you’re in the same state that you were during the episode (Graham during Chilton’s sessions)
State-dependent memory
Mental activities involved in acquiring, retaining and using knowledge
Cognition
Manipulation of mental representations to draw inferences and conclusions
Thinking
Mental category we form to group objects, events or situations that share common characteristics
Concept
Natural Concept
Formed by everyday experiences and don’t have strict boundaries (common sense)
Rigid rules or features that define a particular concept. (Ex. Formal definitions for solids, liquids and gases)
Formal Concept
Mental representation of an object or event not physically present
Mental image
A model or mental image, a typical best example of a particular thing
Prototype
Narrowing problem solutions to the single best solution- focused on finding a particular answer to the problem
Convergent thinking
Thinking creatively to generate as many possible answers to the problem that you can (Brainstorming)
Divergent Thinking
Ability to create new and useful ideas
Creativity
Expertise, imaginative thinking skills, venturesome personality, intrinsic motivation, creative environment
5 Components of thinking
Memory that allows for cognitive processes and contains general knowledge of information
Semantic memory
