April 21 Flashcards
Each type of memory has four components
Storage capacity, duration of code, nature of code, and how information is lost
Modal model
Memory is divided into three separate storage areas: sensory, short term and long term
Sensory memory
Gateway btwn perception and memory
Limited
Iconic
Info in the sensory memory only if it is visual
Only lasts for a few tenths of a second
Echoic
Info in the sensory memory only if it is auditory
Lasts for three or four seconds
Items in the sensory memory are constantly being
Replaced by new input, with only certain items entering into short term memory
Visual persistence
Quickly moving fan- perception of fan being at many points in its rotation at once
George Sperling
Experimented on memory and partial report
He first presented participants with the matrix three rows of four letters each purchase of the second one he paired each line with either high medium or low pitched sound and ask participants to recall what they had seen their memories of the letters increased significantly from the first test
Short-term visual memory for iconic memory
Sperling called this ability to recall these lines of letters
Short term memory
holds information for a few seconds to a bout a minute
Information stored here is primarily acoustically coded, despite the nature of the original source
Can hold about seven items plus or -2
Items here are maintained by rehearsal
Maintenance rehearsal
A simple repetition to keep an item in the short-term memory until it can be used
Elaborative rehearsal
Involves organization and understanding of the information that has been encoded in order to transfer the information to the long-term memory
Or effective than maintenance rehearsal for ensuring short-term memory information is sent to long-term memory and as a preferred way to study
Encoding
Stored and able to recall later
Items that are forgotten exit the short-term memory either by decay or interference
Decay: the passage of time
Interference: displaced by new information
Retro active interference
New information pushes old information out of the short-term memory
Primacy
Remembering the first items
Tends to persist longer
Recency
Remembering the last items
Tends to fade in about a day
Serial position effect
Overall effect of primacy and recency
Chunking
Grouping items of information into units
Semantically encoded
Encoded in the form of word meanings
Episodic memory
Memory for events that we ourselves have experienced
Semantic memory or declarative
Comprises facts, figures, and general world knowledge
Procedural memory
Consisting of skills and habits
Declarative (or explicit) memory
A memory a person can consciously consider and retrieve, such as episodic and semantic memory
Non-declarative (or implicit) memory
Beyond conscious consideration and would include procedural memory, priming, and classical conditioning
State dependent memory
States that information is more likely to be recalled if the attempt to retrieve it occurs in a situation similar to the situation in which it was encoded
Flashbulb memory
A very deep, vivid memory in the form of a visual image associated with a particular emotionally arousing event
Working memory
Used to process new information and it’s relationship to relevant information in the long term store
Located in the prefrontal cortex
Reconstruction
Occurs when we fit together pieces of an event that seem likely
Source amnesia
One likely cause of memory reconstruction
We attribute an event to a different source than it actually came from
Elizabeth Loftus
Study existence false memories
They have demonstrated that repeated suggestions and misleading questions can create false memories also known as framing
Pro active interference
When previously mispriced information interferes with the ability to learn and memorize new information
First key feature of language
Language is arbitrary: words rarely sound like the ideas that they convey
Second key feature of language
Language has a structure that is added to any certain sense
Third key feature of language
Language has multiplicity of structure, meaning that it can be analyzed and understood in a number of different ways
Fourth key feature of language
Language is productive, meaning that there are nearly endless meaningful combinations of words
Fifth key feature of language
Language is dynamic, meaning that it is constantly changing and evolving
Phonemes
List unit of speech sounds in a given language that are still distinct and sound from each other
Combine to form morphemes
Morphemes
The smallest semantically meaningful parts of language
Grammar
The set of rules by which language is constructed, is governed by syntax and semantics
Syntax
The set of rules used in the arrangement of morphine into meaningful sentences; this can also be thought of as word order
Semantics
Refers to word meaning or word choice
Prosody
Rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech
Holo phrases
Single words filled with meaning
Over extension
Results from the infant not knowing enough words to express something fully
Under extension
The child thinks that his or her mama is the only mama
Telegraphic speech
Two or three word group
lacks many parts of speech
Overgeneralization
Errors in which the rules of language are overextended, such as in saying I goed to the store
Noam Chomsky
Postulated a system for the organization of language based on the concept of what he referred to as transformational grammar
Transformational grammar
Differentiate between surface structure of language: the superficial way in which words are arranged in a text or in speech, and
the deep structure of language: the underlying meaning of the words
Language acquisition device
Noam Chomsky
That facilitates acquisition of language in children, and the critical period for the learning of language
Benjamin lee wharf and Edward Sapir
Theory of linguistic relativity
Theory of linguistic relativity
Speakers of different languages develop different cognitive systems as a result of the differences in language
Concept
A way of grouping or classifying the world around us
Typicality
Degree to which an object fits the average
Prototype
the typical picture that we envision
Suuperordinate concept
Very broad and encompasses a large group of items, such as the concept of food
Basic concept
Smaller and more specific, bread
Subordinate concept
Even smaller and more specific, rye bread
Cognition
Encompasses the mental processes involved in acquiring, organizing, remembering, using, and constructing knowledge
Reasoning
Drawing of conclusions from evidence, can be further divided into deductive and inductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning
Process of drawing logical conclusions from general statement
Syllogisms
Deductive conclusion drawn from two premises
Inductive reasoning
The process of drawing general inferences from specific observations
Divergent thinking
If many correct answers are possible we use this process
An example is brainstorming
Convergent thinking
The problem can be solved by only one answer
Requires narrowing of the many choices available
Heuristic
Intuitive rules of thumb that may or may not be useful in a given situation
Availability heuristic
The rule of thumb is judged by what events come readily to mind
Representativeness heuristic
we judge objects and events in terms of how closely they match the prototype of that object or event
Algorithms
Systematic mechanical approaches that guarantee an eventual answer to a problem
Insight
Sudden understanding of a problem for a potential strategy for solving a problem that usually involves conceptualizing the problem and a new way
Wolfgang Kohler
Combining sticks
Mental set
Fixed frame of mind that we use when approaching problems
Functional fixedness
The tendency to assume that a given item is only useful for the task for which it was designed
Confirmation bias
The search for information that supports a particular view, also hinders problem-solving, by distorting objectivity
Hindsight bias
Tendency after-the-fact to think you knew what the outcome would be, also distorts our ability to view situations objectively
Belief perseverance
A person only sees the evidence that supports a particular position, despite evidence presented to the contrary
Framing
The way a question is phrase, can alter the objective outcome of problem-solving or decision-making
Creativity
The process of producing something novel yet worthwhile
